Honestly, I thought I could no longer be surprised by the off-the-wall collaborations between Fortnite and various other IPs. At this point in Fortnite’s very lucrative lifespan, the general rule of thumb seems to be, “If it’s popular, it’s gonna end up in Fortnite.” Damn near every Marvel Cinematic Universe character has made an appearance, countless musical artists have held in-game concerts, and Epic has always been very good at making sure that whatever the internet is obsessed with at any given moment ends up tied to the game in one way or another.
The problem is that the internet is currently obsessed with Curry Barker’s wildly successful horror film, Obsession. Epic Games and Blumhouse Productions apparently thought this would be a good time to release a collaborative ad for both Fortnite and Barker’s film, which just hit streaming services after an extended theatrical run. The one-minute ad features various “jump-scare” moments from Obsession, but replaces the film’s female lead, Nikki (Inde Navarrette), with a Galaxy Zero Point Sprite (the rarest collectible Sprite in Fortnite, with a drop rate of roughly 1 in 300 million). Instead of using a One Wish Willow as he did in the film, main character Bear (Michael Johnston) is shown snapping a “One Llama Luck” stick in half, causing the Sprite to become obsessed with him.
Editor’s note: The following includes major spoilers for Obsession, and also contains references to sexual assault.
If you haven’t seen the film, the video reads as a silly little nod to how obsessed Fortnite players are with the extremely rare Sprite. If you have seen the film, this entire ad spot is baffling at best and offensive at worst. In Obsession, Nikki loses her autonomy after Bear wishes that Nikki “loved [him] more than anyone in the f***ing world.” Bear gets his wish, but it quickly becomes apparent that the real Nikki is trapped inside her body, unable to control it as she has been possessed by whatever magic lies within the One Wish Willow. Even after it becomes painfully clear that the version of Nikki that “loves” him isn’t the real Nikki, Bear continues to act as if she is his girlfriend, repeatedly raping her and pretending they have a normal relationship, despite the fact that the real Nikki occasionally claws her way to the surface and begs him to free her.
In short, Bear is the villain, but he’s not the sort of villain the audience is meant to like or relate to. He is dangerously obsessive, dishonest, and manipulative, and consistently makes the most selfish move every time he’s presented with a choice. He’s also, y’know, a rapist. Obsession’s “twist” is the fact that, despite her horrific behavior while possessed, Nikki is the victim, and Bear is the aggressor. By the time the film ends, Nikki has regained her autonomy but is all alone, surrounded by the corpses of the people she once called friends–one of whom turned out to be a rapist, and two of whom Nikki killed against her will while possessed. The credits roll not to the tune of an outro song, but to the sound of Nikki’s horrified sobs. How anyone watched this film and came to the conclusion it would pair well with a humorous Fortnite ad is beyond me.
The ad completely misses the point of Obsession: Bear is the monster. Nikki’s only “scary” because she’s possessed, and whatever entity is controlling her doesn’t know how to human quite right (plus the real Nikki is trapped inside, fighting it every step of the way). This leads to strange behavior that freaks Bear out, as seen in the ad. But putting this cutesy Sprite in Nikki’s place, framing it as, “Oooh, the adorable sprite is so menacing, haha!” and playing it for laughs is frankly disgusting.
I get that players are “obsessed” with the Sprites. But an ad that puts the playerbase into Bear’s shoes–you know, the shoes of a rapist and all-around asshole–as if to say, “Your obsession with these sprites is cute and harmless, just like Bear’s obsession with Nikki!” is wildly inappropriate and off-putting. It really feels as though Epic pounced on the chance to associate a popular film with its game, without considering the content or context of that film at all.
Even if Epic had considered the context of the film and somehow managed to make a slightly less offensive ad, it would still feel out of place (and out of touch). Fortnite’s playerbase tends to skew younger, with Epic’s own materials stating the target demographic is 13- to 26-year-old players, and Obsession is an R-rated horror film about the nuances of rape culture. Fortnite has run into trouble with its crossovers before, and this one maybe won’t cause a stir in part because it’s apparently only an ad meant to drive Peacock subscriptions and not represented in the game itself. But it points to a startling lack of foresight and empathy on the part of Epic Games, which cannot seem to comprehend the fact that not every popular film IP is appropriate fodder for the ever-growing world of Fortnite, especially if the marketing team is going to miss the point this badly.