Fortnite honors Renegade creator Jalaiah Harmon with her own in-game emote
Fortnite’s newest in-game emote is a collaborative one. Epic Games this evening announced the launch of “The Renegade,” the viral TikTok dance created by Atlanta teenager Jalaiah Harmon. The Twitter account for Fortnite openly cites Harmon, writing, “Go, go, go, go, let’s go and bust out some [fire] moves by @jalaiah.”
It’s not clear whether Epic and Harmon struck some type of licensing deal, but it’s a possibility considering the developer’s rocky legal history with dance emotes. Throughout Fortnite’s meteoric rise starting in the fall of 2017, the game has featured a number of real-world dances copied from pop culture. Sometimes the emotes were inspired by dances on old television shows, like the default dance inspired by Scrubs actor Donald Faison. But quite often these dances were invented by black creators and later went viral on social media.
A number of lawsuits were filed against Epic over claims the company infringed on some variety of either likeness or copyright by using the dances without permission, and some remain ongoing. Regardless, in this case, it appears Epic is openly citing the creator of the dance its newest emote emulates, and it would be quite strange to do so without having first collaborated with Harmon to get it in the game.
It appears Epic is no longer interested in taking existing dances and turning them into emotes without credit, as was its strategy in the past for some popular dances. The company held a TikTok dance contest earlier this year with transparent licensing terms and has been turning popular streamer dance moves into emotes with the permission and collaboration of the creators themselves. Popular streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins got his own skin, emote, and other in-game items as part of a deal with Epic back in January.
The inclusion of the Renegade emote is also a nice gesture for Harmon, who largely went unrecognized for her dance even as it became one of the most popular moves on TikTok and other social platforms earlier this year. Only after articles by publications like The New York Times and Vox did Harmon get the proper credit for her massively influential contribution to pop culture. And now Harmon will be forever immortalized in the world of Fortnite.
Fortnite’s newest in-game emote is a collaborative one. Epic Games this evening announced the launch of “The Renegade,” the viral TikTok dance created by Atlanta teenager Jalaiah Harmon. The Twitter account for Fortnite openly cites Harmon, writing, “Go, go, go, go, let’s go and bust out some [fire] moves by…
Recent Posts
- Chrome report reveals which extension could be slowing down your browser the most
- Volvo teams up with Aurora to reveal an autonomous semi truck
- NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Tuesday, May 21 (game #79)
- Quordle today – hints and answers for Tuesday, May 21 (game #848)
- Have the new Apple Pencil Pro for your iPad Pro or Air? Start with these apps to try out the new skills
Archives
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011