The Fortnitification of Games
Welcome to another installment of "Absurd Pirate Bitches About Something". Today I'm talking about the fortnitification of games, another reason why I have personally been burnt out with games from big publishers.
For the uninitiated, "fortnitification" (as I've opted for calling it, I know I'm not the first to use this word) can be described as the addition of mass amounts of characters/settings from other medias being shoehorned into games, seeming to detract from the game's original content. For example, Nikki Minaj/Homelander in Call of Duty, Omniman/Peacemaker/Ghostface in Mortal Kombat, etc. I don't count games like Super Smash Bros. because the game was designed on the idea of mashing celebrated characters into one game, same with a game like Marvel Rivals.
Now, pop-culture references/collaborations aren't new. You can play as Spider-Man in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, Spawn in Soulcalibur II, etc. Many games had pop-culture references in Easter eggs, "The Cake" in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Mario toys in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Halo "spartan" armor in Fable 2, and so on. The difference between then and now is novelty, restraint, subtlety, and monetization.
Back then, seeing a pop-culture reference/playable character was a novelty; an end-game reward, a subtle nod, a fun collaboration. There wasn't playable character DLC. You didn't have to pay a microtransaction to play as Spider-Man in THPS2, you just had to unlock him or put in a cheat code.
Now, it seems like you can't escape it. It isn't treated like a fun addition to the game's content, but rather a crutch for the lack of creative effort put into these games. Instead of inventing new and interesting characters, the games industry is relying on "hEy I kNoW hIm!!" factor. I think superhero movies are partially to blame too with their extended universes.
Fortnite is what I believe to be the catalyst for everything. Every new battle pass has some other IP being used as the selling point and it genuinely feels like the characters are just getting pimped out.
I miss the subtle nods to games, the minecraft heads/TMNT reference in Borderlands 2, the notched pickaxe in Skyrim, the collaborative love letter to the indie scene in Super Meat Boy. Easter eggs/special characters used to be a reward for players going the extra mile and exploring in games.
What used to be a novel reward to the players is now just a credit card swipe away. It takes the fun and drive for trying to find/unlocking the thing yourself. It isn't a matter of devs having fun, its a corporate mandate to keep eyes systematically glued to their screen and constantly returning to the game.
It sucks seeing Master Chief and Solid Snake being thrown into Fortnite, it doesn't feel like a love letter to gaming, it feels like a dangling carrot to get consumers coming back.
I miss the days when special items used to be a matter of pure dedication rather than who has the money to burn. Gold Camo used to be the peak for a CoD player, you knew someone was dedicated to the game when they rolled up with gold camo and put a lot of hours and probably tears into getting it. It still exists today in call of duty (i think? I haven't played since the MWII reboot), but its sidelined by other camos that can be purchased. Hell one of Halo 3/Reach's biggest draws for me was the unlocking of armor through gameplay, now its nonexistent in Halo infinite. Don't give me the "it's a free to play game" excuse, because the only reason they did it was so they could sucker people out of more money.
I just wanna go back. I guess I always can with my retro-game collection, it would just me nice to see that same spark in the gaming scene. I think we can make a comeback, but its going to take a lot more from us to accomplish it.
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