Curious things are happening in the Item Shop of Fortnite. The rarest emotes in the history of the BR shooter are appearing for a short time, only to be taken off the market again after a few hours. Players suspect that Epic is doing this on purpose.
Why are these items “banned”? Fortnite has ported many things into the Item Shop, including emotes and skins that have caused controversial discussions. Especially in the early days of the BR shooter, famous moves from Snoop Dog, Will Smith, and Alfonso Ribeiro (also known as Carlton from the show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) were brought into the game and sold for V-Bucks.
This, however, had consequences, as Epic Games did not ask permission from the creators behind the dance moves. They were quickly taken to court to clarify the copyright violations.
As a result, Epic Games banned these emotes, as well as other problematic skins, to ensure they never see the light of day again and cause problems – until now. Two of these emotes have still made it back into the shop consecutively. Players suspect: this is intentional.
Epic is playing a game and fans don’t know which
Which emotes were brought to the shop? These are two of the three rarest emotes in Fortnite:
- Clean – Moves from Snoop Dog, it hasn’t been in the shop for 1455 days
- Exuberance – Moves from Will Smith, it hasn’t been in the shop for 1500 days
These two emotes were also considered items that were “put on the blacklist” and were not supposed to return. However, on December 6 and 7, they were temporarily displayed in the shop for a few hours and then removed again. The emote “Clean” was the first of the two. Players thought it was a mistake and raised no suspicion.
However, today on December 7, the emote “Exuberance” made it into the shop before it was also removed a few hours later.
Epic simply says about the removal of “Exuberance” on Twitter: “We are aware that the ‘Daily’ section in the Item Shop is currently missing and will return in the next update of the Item Shop.” Now fans believe this is no longer a coincidence.
Fans are now commenting under the Twitter post from Fortnite Status with the following comments:
- @Acevedo92David: “I don’t know what kind of sick game Epic is playing, but if my assumption is correct, let’s be prepared to be able to buy the next rare item in the shop. […]”
- @Justin_Neagle: “Hahahaha, I love this era of ‘accidentally’ releasing things for an hour or so, keep going and ‘accidentally’ release the emote ‘Fresh’ tomorrow.”
- @RespxctRyan: “I know what they’re doing, they bring the emotes back for 1-2 hours and remove them before copyright issues arise.”
- @realNumberSets: “They’re doing this on purpose.”
What items are players hoping for? While many players now suspect that Epic Games is doing this on purpose, many fans also hope that some of the rarest items will return to the shop. These include:
- The Mako Glider
- The Skin “Renegade Raider”
- The Pickaxe “Raiders Revenge”
- The Emote “Fresh”
If you still need these items for your collection, keep an eye out in the coming days and stay awake at least until 1:00 AM CET to experience the shop reset. This way, you can ensure you grab the items before they are taken off the market again.
What do you think about Epic Games playing such games with players? Do you find it amusing, or do you think it’s a shame that your OG items are no longer OG? Let us know!
