The best (and worst) gaming jokes from April Fools Day 2019

April Fools Day is upon us, which means anyone and everyone is going to try their best to pull off a prank – be it good or bad, elaborate or pretty easy. These are the best jokes from the gaming world.

Each year on April 1st, the internet comes alive with April Fools’ day gags, jokes, and pranks – doing everything from baffling fans with strange new content to the ‘Why I’m quitting YouTube’ tweets, among plenty of other ideas. 

So, we’re compiling a list of the best and worst gaming and esports pranks from April Fools Day 2019.

Google Maps Snake

Google chimed in with their annual joke by adding a version of the classic game ‘Snake’ to it’s Maps service – both in the app and as a standalone website. 

• Read More: Watch PewDiePie roast T-Series with epic new ‘Congratulations’ diss track

Players can take their ‘Snake’, which, in Google’s version, resembles more of a public transport vehicle and wriggle their way around some of the world’s biggest cities.

PUBG Update 27a

Bluehole released an unannounced update for PUBG, specifically update 27a. While believable at first, the contents of the update quickly make you realize, at least for most people, that is an April Fools’ joke.

The sincerity of the update is lost almost immediately with the announcement of a new PUBG map: the moon. It is then also confirmed the map will be 3,476 square kilometres, well over 50 times bigger than Erangel.

Items such as a revenge bomb, which goes off when an enemy opens your loot box, and the addition of a limousine and party bus would test the belief of even the most gullible PUBG players.

Two others hilarious updates for the game are:

• Added an option for “Winner Winner Tofu Dinner” for our vegetarian and vegan fans.
• Thanks to the dedicated work of several fans, “Wadu Hek” is now a selectable language option.

League of Legends Cats and Dogs

Riot Games used League of Legends skins for their prank. Hilarious cat and dog themed skins were released for a number of Champions, as was a collection of different Icons and Borders – all packaged together in their own trailer.

In addition to the “Cats vs Dogs” prank, Riot have also released a list of supposed balance changes coming in the next major League of Legends update. Though they’re obviously ridiculous, they’re worth a read as most play to a particular aspect or stereotype of the champion in question.

Lee Sin, for instance, “the Blind Monk”, will take 40% more damage from enemies he can’t see. The notoriously feast-or-famine Yasuo will deal 10% more damage for every kill he gets, but 10% less every time he dies. Only Riven is left unchanged, playing into the recent complaints about Riot being too hesitant to adjust her despite criticisms of her power level.

Nintendo changes Kirby’s look

Nintendo took a different approach with their jokes. The game developer swapped the shapes of the characters Kirby and Qbby to confuse fans. All artwork on the Kirby website, including advertisements for games, immediately became Square Kirby while Qbby started looking a little rounder.

Ash appears in Pokémon Go!

new ‘rare’ Pikachu that wears the iconic hat of it’s trainer Ash Ketchum.

Ash has also appeared in-game, photobombing photos of Pokemon when players us the GO Snapshot feature.

Redeye loses ‘esports’ spelling debate

Esports host Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner jokingly stated that his war on the spelling of the word esports was over following “discussions with Oxford English Dictionary folk.”

Fans will be glad to know that the correct spelling of the phrase is now eSports.

Overwatch League transfer madness

Several Overwatch League teams have been getting in on the April Fools action with false announcements.

Seoul Dynasty have claimed that they’ve entered a partnership with the Chengdu Hunters that will see the two teams – whose logos feature a tiger and panda respectively, and share a black and gold color scheme – merge under the name “The Endangered”, with a logo that appears to be an attempt at crossing the two species.

Meanwhile, esports reporter Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau, who’s been known for leaking Overwatch League roster moves in recent years, claimed that Boston Uprising had been able to sign Los Angeles Valiant support ‘Custa’ for Noh ‘Gamsu’ Young-jin, Park ‘Neko’ Se-hyeon, and Kwon ‘Striker’ Nam-joo.

Aside from the fact that trading three players for one would be suspicious in its own right, those paying attention should be tipped off to the joke by the fact that Gamsu, Neko, and Striker no longer play for the Boston Uprising.

Those who keep up with Overwatch League-related social media may also have come across a post supposedly by the Shanghai Dragons announcing that the team has signed New York Excelsior fan-favorite Kim ‘Pine’ Do-hyeon, who earned the nickname “Big Boss Pine” for his explosive showing in Season One.

While the graphic might look convincing, and may be shared by those looking to spread the joke, the post itself is in fact by imposter account “@ShanghaiDragoms”.

Reinhardt Roleplay

Once again, Overwatch players will be able to – or rather, forced to – get into character if they wish to communicate in text chat while playing Reinhardt.

In keeping with Reinhardt’s exuberant manner, every message that players of the hero type in-game will be automatically capitalized, punctuated with excessive exclamation marks, and end in a signature voice line like “I AM THE ULTIMATE CRUSHING MACHINE!!!!”.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator easter egg

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator [TABS] released on April Fools day into Early Access, but it’s not an April Fools joke and is a fully-fledged release. 

However, fans who boot the title up for the first time, on April Fools day, will be met with a performance of the classic ‘Never Gonna Give You up’ song by Rick Astley by one of the in-game characters. 

KFC Gravy G FUEL flavor

KFC weighed in with their amusing April Fools day joke by linking up with the popular energy drink G FUEL to jokingly release a new flavor based on their Gravy. 

“Gravy fuels every plate,” began the video announcement, “but now it fuels every gamer.” 

compLexity adds Farming Simulator pro

Joke roster announcements are a staple of esports April Fools day pranks, with some going above and beyond to bamboozle fans.

CompLexity Gaming joined those ranks with the announcement of a Farming Simulator professional named ‘CornDaddy’, complete with announcement video and detailed press release. The organization even put a spin on their own ColFamilia hashtag, by welcoming the player to their ColFARMilia. 

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This post will continue to be updated as the day goes on and as more companies and people decide to release their own ideas onto the world.