Fortnite, the popular multiplayer online video game, has disabled a character dance feature — called an “emote” — following speculation that its gestures resembled a swastika.
The “Peaceful Hips Emote,” which depicts actor and professional wrestler John Cena moving his arms up and down at a right angle, was part of a collaboration between Fortnite and the DC’s new television series “Peacemaker.”
But with the show’s latest season underway, it was revealed to fans that the alternate reality that Cena’s Peacemaker character had discovered is a version of the United States where the Nazis won World War II.
The latest revelation, which culminates in Cena discovering an American flag with its stars replaced by a swastika, caused some fans to take a closer look at the emote and determine that it appeared to loosely resemble the Nazi symbol.
Following the show’s new twist, Fortnite issued a statement announcing the emote had been disabled.
“We’re disabling the Peaceful Hips Emote in Fortnite as we inquire into our partner’s creative intentions in this collab emote. Assuming it’s not coming back, we’ll issue refunds in the next few days. Sorry folks,” Fortnite said in a statement.
The show was created by filmmaker James Gunn, who also stirred controversy with his recent adaptation of “Superman,” which some fans said was an allegory for the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Gunn did not immediately comment on the Fortnite situation. But some fans on X have speculated that the dance move was inspired by a Oscar-nominated anti-Nazi wartime short featuring Donald Duck in Nazi attire, in which Donald Duck’s arms are unmistakably echo the shape of a swastika.
The emote, which was a paid feature on the children’s video game platform with over 200 million users, drew outcry from some players that felt duped by the move’s alleged symbolism.
“I get that you are subversive, and I respect that. I am also 100% certain that your intentions with the story are good. But, not everyone knows you — we paid for a Nazi dance we didn’t know about, which is a little gross, and it isn’t great,” wrote one user on X to Gunn.
Antisemitism in video games is a major concern, as millions of people connect out of public view. The Anti-Defamation League has called attention to the risks of hate speech on prominent platforms, and the platform Roblox, in which users create their own spaces, had to remove a user-generated Nazi gas chamber in 2022.
But some also see gaming platforms as an opportunity to educate about antisemitism. In 2023, a virtual Holocaust museum called Voices of the Forgotten opened inside Fortnite, allowing users to see the lives of a French-Jewish family in the years before and during the Holocaust.
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