Epic Games trolls entire Fortnite fanbase to release new emote

A new emote has appeared in the Fortnite store, and the game celebrated by duping its fan base with an classic joke, almost as old as the internet itself.

It’s been over a decade since the classic bait-and-switch was introduced to the online world, but even as 2020 gets rolling, it doesn’t appear to be going away yet thanks to Fortnite.

On Valentine’s Day evening, the game’s official Twitter account posted a link to a video, with the caption “I liked a video on YouTube: Watch How This Bear Made The Unlikeliest Of Friends.” The video did show a bear and their friend, but it wasn’t what fans expected.

The anthropomorphic bear sporting armor, an eyepatch, and a leather cap danced with Fishstick to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The Fortnite community had been rickroll’d by the game itself.

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Several big names in the game’s community reacted on social media, expressing disbelief that they had been rickroll’d by Fortnite in 2020. Some were more upset than others.

However, the positive to be taken away is that the dance itself is now a purchasable, unlockable emote in the game itself. Players can now Rickroll their enemies and teammates to their heart’s content. It goes for 500 V-bucks on the store.

Tfue discovered the emote while browsing the shop on stream, and, after being rickroll’d himself, wasted no time in getting it for himself.

For those unfamiliar with what Rickroll-ing is, given that it’s a very old meme, it is the act of tricking someone into clicking open the music video for “Never Gonna Give You Up” by claiming that it is something else.

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The joke began on sites like 4chan, but over the next decade or so, it was used in movies, at sporting events, and became a staple of internet culture. If you’ve never heard of ‘rick rolling’ before, Rick Astley himself explains all right here.