Clearly, Epic Games Did Not Expect This.
Fortnite: Battle Royale is a game filled with emotes – its a key part of the game’s monetization. The flashy, stylistic art direction is embraced by those emotes, with many of them (the dances especially) becoming mainstays in internet culture. They’re a major reason why Fortnite has become the iconic game we all know today.
But an abundance of emotes has a downside. When options for communication are limited, players will strive to break those limits. And in an environment like this, it was only a matter of time until the players did what they do best. The Bear Hug emote provided the opening people were looking for.
HELLO????
WHY DID SHE GO IN TO HUG LIKE THAT pic.twitter.com/BGYdTjGIud— That Jackalope Liv (@DatOneJackalope) August 6, 2021
This… interesting scientific discovery was created by combining the hug with a well-timed crouch – two simple ingredients with an unforgettable result.
Needless to say, Epic Games wasn’t too happy. The players took an otherwise wholesome emote and gave it a sudden, less-wholesome twist. The corrupted emote existed for just a few hours before Epic pulled the plug – disabling it and removing it from their in-game store.
Considering Fortnite’s target demographic, this was probably a reasonable choice.
The twitter post announcing the emote’s removal was sparse in detail (for obvious reasons), and a refund policy was put in place for those unfortunate enough to have an emote pulled away from them.
The Bear Hug emote will remain disabled while we fix an issue with the emote.
Players who have already purchased the emote will be able to make a tokenless refund sometime next week.
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) August 6, 2021
This announcement disappointed a number of players, however. The emote was pulled so quickly after release, that many never got the chance to use it. A few players have even said that they’d rather keep the now-disabled emote on their account, for various reasons.
At the very least, they said the emote would only be disabled temporarily. Once the NSFW elements of the Bear Hug emote are cut out, players will be welcomed into the wholesome fun of a big, comfy hug once more.
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