After the singer behind the official Fortnite anthem was charged with murder, battle royale fans urged developer Epic Games to do something about its in-game content related to David “D4vd” Burke. At first, Epic only offered refunds for players who had purchased cosmetics and songs based on the pop star. A few days later, an update for the game changed how that content is experienced by other players.
By default, all Fortnite players have a setting called See Confrontational Emotes turned on. Until recently, the setting only included four emotes: Laugh It Up, Take the L, Whipcrack, and Make It Plantain. But as of an April 30 update, Fortnite has also added two more emotes that play music by D4vd, Feel It and Trophy Drop. The content isn’t being removed from the game, and anyone who owns it can still equip it. Most players won’t see the content unless the setting is turned off while encountering an opponent who has the emotes equipped.
Epic Games appears reluctant to fully sever ties with Burke, even as increasingly upsetting details about the murder case are revealed to the public. The publisher still hosts promotional D4vd videos on YouTube, and the song Locked and Loaded is still referred to as the Fortnite anthem. Burke has not been convicted, and Epic Games has not sold his content since the news of a suspected homicide broke out. Still, fans are growing increasingly anxious about his continued existence in the game.
“7 months later still asking you to delete this,” reads one YouTube comment on the anthem’s music video. “Ain’t no way they still have this up,” states a comment on the Fortnite video showcasing the jaunty dance set to a D4vd song.
Burke, who began his career making Fortnite montages and rose to fame within nerdy video game and anime circles, is currently being held in custody without bail. The singer faces multiple charges related to the disappearance of Celeste Rivas, a 14-year-old girl with whom Burke allegedly had a sexual relationship. Seven months after Rivas’s decomposing body was reportedly found in the back of a car owned by Burke, prosecutors have steadily revealed more details about the case that paint a grim picture. According to authorities, Burke apparently purchased items from Amazon that included two chainsaws, a body bag, and a blue inflatable pool not long after Rivas was allegedly stabbed to death. The Los Angeles Police Department has also released diagrams that point out where Rivas was wounded and dismembered.
Some Fortnite players theorize that there may be legal ramifications for Epic related to the removal of any D4vd material, and hope that further action will be taken if Burke is convicted. While there are still fans who are pushing for Epic to get rid of the emotes entirely, others believe that obscuring the content behind a setting isn’t the right call.
“And so what if I want to see take the L and laugh it up because they are some of the most iconic Fortnite emotes ever made but not the emotes of a literal murderer lmao,” one commenter wrote on Reddit.
Fortnite’s Peacemaker dance pulled after show’s big plot twist, but Epic plans to rework it
Epic Games says it worked with Warner Bros. to discern ‘creative intentions’ of dance
About the Author
