Fortnite causes a sensation in the community with a recently launched emote, and the players, not surprisingly, have shared a wide range of emotions about it. Now, the new emote “Maps” featuring the song “Maps” by the rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs with the sentence “No love can compare,” is present in the item shop for 500 V-Bucks and social media is flooded with it, and the opinions are very diverse.
To the melody of this soft, slow, and sentimental song, the character is performing almost a slow and sentimental dance with the emote. Still, not all people seem to think the same way. One player quite openly called it “Goofy ass emote” which is indeed a reasonable point. Another player criticized, “I like the song but the dance does not fit it :/ “, which seems to be the general mood or in other words, the dance does not really mirror the song’s mood?? It looks pretty mixed up indeed.
Besides, the whole timing issue has gotten even more convoluted. Fortnite‘s emotes lagging behind trends has basically become a tradition at this point. To this, one player commented, “fortnite emotes being once again 6 months late to a trend,” while others were disputing how late we are really talking about. One user declared, “I was doing this on tik toks last September 😭” and another user answered back, “i haven’t seen this since chapter 4.” Hence, Fortnite is still the last one to arrive at the party, but as usual, in a stylish way.
The name of the emote also raised some eyebrows. When “Maps” showed up in the shop, some fans started to speculate if it was the Maroon 5 song and that it would be the emote. “I saw an emote entitled Maps and thought it would be the Maroon 5 song. Disappointed but okay,” was the confession of one user. But then another person started the best reaction chain: “Oh hell yes Maroon 5 > Oh it’s the Yeah Yeah Yeahs > Oh hell yes Yeah Yeah Yeahs.” Wow, that’s quite a roller coaster of feelings right there.
Well, there have been some comparisons made when talking about the dance itself. One gamer opined, “It sort of seems like the PPAP dance with a few more steps, lol,” which… now that you mention it, I can sort of see it? And another just said, “Come on, SPEED IT UP. like DAMN,” because the slow and emotional vibe is obviously not for everyone.
One of the angles that the people are considering is the whole Festival mode one. A user mentioned, “this could have been a jam track, but it is probably over budget for the festival now.” This makes one ponder over the reasoning behind what becomes an emote and what becomes a playable track in Festival. The question is what the criteria are?
The players have certainly caught the point of the emotional tone being expressed through the emote. One deep thinker sensed that “every emote covers a heartache🗺️,” which is… actually, kind of profound? Meanwhile, others are just poking fun at the game’s current situation with a player recalling “ICE agent Mia and her trusty sidekick Spike… sending illegals back to the lobby…” which is, okay then.
And while this is intriguing, the responses are still so varied. Some players are truly in seventh heaven, savoring the reminiscence brought by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with one even dubbing it “Rock band 1 goat” and praising highly the choice of song. On the other side, some are totally against the idea of the whole project executed like that. Then, however, the imaginers come in who are already dreaming of collaborations with one player suggesting, “now we need a peak collab” just because they are.
500 V-Bucks are the common price for emotes, although, it causes a dilemma whether people would really buy it at that price which the internet has already given the label of “old” to. But then again, to be frank, when has this issue ever been one for the Fortnite gamers?
The power of a single small emote in terms of community discussions is amazing. Discussions have started and players have shared their opinions with a big T on top regarding timing factors, dance quality, and song selection. Moreover, it’s not just a matter of scratching the surface – people are critically analyzing the very decision whether it was right or wrong, should it have been something different and how it is connected with the larger Fortnite ecosystem.
At last, Epic is still that cultural melting pot where indie rock from the 2000s goes hand in hand with current gaming trends and player creativity. The Maps emote may not be to everyone’s taste but it has certainly made some noise. And in a game where expression and fun are the key, PlayStation and Xbox players continue to enjoy these creative additions.
