Epic Games takes action days after Astroworld incident on Fortnite with removing Out West Emote.
As Travis Scott took to the stage for his Houston, Texas concert, Astroworld, on Friday, November 5, 2021, he was met with a frenzy of tightly packed 50,000 fans. Reports indicated the tragedy unfolded with audiences being unable to breathe or being trampled on—eight victims died, ranging from the ages between 14 and 27 years old. 25 people were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, one being a ten-year-old child.
In Epic Games’ Fortnite, the “Out West” emote was added to the Daily Item Shop but has now been removed in light of the tragedy that took place just days before. Shortly afterwards, the whole daily shop feature was removed, and Epic released a statement that said, “It’s been reported that the Item Shop’s ‘Daily’ area has been deactivated…This was done on purpose, and the ‘Daily’ part will be reinstated with the next Item Shop update.”
The Out West emote would play a clip the song “Out West” by JACKBOYS (which includes Travis Scott, Sheck Wes, Don Toliver, Luxury Tax, and Scott’s DJ Chase B), featuring Young Thug. Those who currently own the Out West emote can still use it in-game, along with the Astro Jack and Travis Scott clothes, two backblings, the ‘Rage’ emote, sprays, and loading screens.
Scott rose to prominence in Fortnite because of his in-game concert, “Astronomical”, in 2020. This also marked the release of ICON Series products that include some in-game items stated above.
There have not been any more updates from Epic Games to take further action against the musician in terms of Fortnite proprieties. Scott has cancelled their next concert appearance at Day N Vegas Festival 2021, on November 12-14, following the disaster at Astroworld. Scott himself is currently facing multiple lawsuits and has issued full refunds to every Astroworld ticket owners that became victims on that fateful night.
