Only one day are left for Fortnite to unveil its Playboi Carti collaboration, and by doing so, the rapper will be officially introduced to the battle royale. The official Fortnite Twitter account shared a rather modest hype tweet saying, ‘It’s almost time. @playboicarti comes in two days,’ and put a link as well as the #FNxPBC hashtag. Nevertheless, the replies that quickly turned into a long list of complaints and demands from gamers did not humor the team’s excitement at all. A very Fortnite scenario indeed—#hype and instant raw feedback at the same time.
What does the collaboration imply for the gaming industry? One thing is certain; Playboi Carti is an artist whose name is always in the spotlight and whose fashion is perfectly compatible with the ever-growing collection of Fortnite’s cool outfits. The teaser image shows the artist’s perception in a very stylish way which gives quite a hint of a character that players will eventually be able to buy at the Item Shop. These music collaborations are like a goldmine for Fortnite since the new players swarm it in tens of thousands, everyone gets new clothes, and Jam Tracks are introduced for Festival mode. So, it’s a win-win in general.
But gamers, oh boy! They are hard to please. Players broke the news of the collaboration with a crazy mix of hype, confusion, and pure rage over other game features. It’s like Epic Games wanted to treat their customers to a five-star meal but all the customers just started yelling about the furniture.
The most pressing issue? The discussion revolving around the potential Carti skin and the much-debated ‘[armored] style’ is still very much alive among gamers and players are calling for Epic not to take that path. One player said, ‘NO ARMOR PLEASE @fortnite’. Another one asked, ‘bro armor really @Fortnite why do y’all keep doing that 😢🤦🏽♂️’. A third even posted a picture of an unarmored skin and claimed it as his request for it to be a selectable style: ‘THE EVIL JORDAN SKIN BETTER HAVE THIS STYLE WHERE YOU CAN TAKE OFF THE ARMOR IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT 😭. PLEASE @Fortnite this will get the skin more sales.’ It seems like the players just want something light and basic instead of heavy armors. Epic, are you hearing us?
And this is only the start. The rest of the reactions portray in a very messy way the current struggles of the gaming community. Among their complaints, players are often heard calling for a fix for Ranked mode, labeling the point system ‘awful’ and outright demanding ‘FIX RANKED!!!!’. Matchmaking still concerns players and one of them just wrote, ‘Please fix matchmaking.’ Others proposed a few simple quality-of-life improvements like being able to turn off crossplay in duos or keeping the lobby from resetting to Solos after a match.
There are also voices demanding more partnerships with different artists. The John Wick skin is still among the top choices and one user has said, ‘we need john Wick skin return.’ Another one is ‘Day 1276: Asking for Michael Jackson in Fortnite!’ Someone even came up with a Mr. Robot collab idea, along with thorough costume suggestions. And in a hilariously meta moment, one player saw Carti’s silhouette and immediately thought ‘kai cenat reskin?!’—thus pointing out the strong connection between streamer culture and the game.
A few players tried to reignite the music hype. One player tagged Travis Scott, who often collaborates with Carti, and wrote, ‘it’s time to bring back his friend @trvisXX we need backrooms and fein as a jam track.’ Another one just shouted, ‘IN NEW YORK I MILLY ROCK 🗣🗣🔥🔥’. However, the positive vibes didn’t last long and were soon washed away by the flood of gamers’ complaints about XP, the ‘lazer canon’ gun, and the annoying ‘rolling down the hill’ mechanic.
It is a fascinating instance of a community around a live service game. A big announcement causes the whole community to gather and voice their concerns. Epic Games has the power to create such an extraordinary space where players feel totally engaged and hence have a direct line to complain. The Playboi Carti skin is likely to be a massive hit regardless. Still, it makes one wonder if the folks at Epic are reading the replies and thinking, ‘Maybe we should fix the ranked points before Tuesday.’
So, make sure to mark the date on your calendar. Playboi Carti will soon arrive at the Fortnite Item Shop. Whether it is a skin buy, a song dance, or a rant about armor using the announcement tweet as a springboard, it will… The gaming community on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox often shows similar passionate feedback.
