Fortnite Item Shop Removes Travis Scott Emote & Daily Section After Astroworld

Epic Games has removed Fortnite’s Travis Scott emote and daily section from the game’s item shop after eight people died at the music artist’s Astroworld Festival. Jacques “Travis Scott” Webster has a long history with the battle royale game, having partnered with the battle royale to put on the Astronomical Fortnite concert in 2020, which garnered over 12 million concurrent players and earned Scott a $20 million paycheck. Epic also sold a Travis Scott skin alongside the concert, which many Fortnite players still use. Now, it seems the game is looking to distance itself from the rapper after preventable tragedy struck Scott’s latest festival.

The deadly incident took place in Houston, Texas on Friday night when eight people died and dozens more were injured while Scott was performing onstage during the Astroworld Festival. It was suggested a crowd of people – many reportedly without festival tickets to the concert – rushed towards the stage during Scott’s performance, crushing concertgoers as the venue was filled beyond capacity. The rapper, along with Live Nation and other Astroworld Festival organizers, were sued after the incident. Scott has since been the target of increased media scrutiny. Fortnite made its Travis Scott-themed cosmetics available in November 8’s item shop (presumably to coincide with Astroworld), but the music event was canceled after Friday’s mass casualty incident.

According to the Fortnite Status Twitter account, the Fortnite item shop removed the Travis Scott emote and Monday’s daily section (via Eurogamer). This information came after it was revealed the rapper could face legal action for the Astroworld Festival tragedy. The emote, titled Out West, played a piece of the rap song of the same name. The Out West emote and all other items featured in the Daily section were removed from the game, but Epic Games did not confirm the reason for the change.

Because of the timing, Twitter commenters quickly began to speculate that Fortnite disabling the daily section of the item shop was done in response to the backlash against Travis Scott and his Astroworld Festival. While Epic Games did not provide a specific reason for the emote’s removal, Fortnite’s tweet did confirm that the action was intentional. The daily section of the Fortnite item shop will reappear with the next refresh. Fortnite’s apparent response to Astroworld seems to have been well-received so far, as there seems to be support for the Out West’s removal. While the Travis Scott skin and Out West emote can still be equipped and used in-game, disabling the daily section prevents more players from accessing the items for now.

Since Fortnite and Travis Scott have a history of collaboration, it’s surprising to see the battle royale game’s seeming reaction to the controversial incident. It’s not clear whether Travis Scott-themed items will return to the Fortnite item shop or if the decision could be permanent. It’s also unclear whether Epic Games will shed ties with the rapper altogether or if Fortnite will feature Travis Scott in-game again at a later date.

Fortnite is available on all platforms.

Source: Fortnite Status/Twitter (via Eurogamer)

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Alden Etra
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Alden is a freelance gaming news writer for Screen Rant. He has a love for video games and tabletop board games, and is an avid fan of all things sci-fi/fantasy.

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