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Fortnite players can now join in song with their squad as they hunt for Victory Royales like they were an illusive white whale, thanks to the game’s new emote. The emote, Shanty for the Squad, is Fortnite’s spin on a sea shanty.
The song should be familiar to anyone who’s been on TikTok in the last few months, and probably quite a few people who haven’t. The emote was inspired in large part by Nathan Evans, whose version of “Wellerman” has been all over TikTok and Spotify this year. The Wellerman trend blew up in early 2021, but hasn’t slowed down much since.
One day, when the squaddin' is done,
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 4, 2021
We'll take our dub and go
Gather round the Item Shop and grab the Shanty for a Squad Emote inspired by @NathanEvanss and #shantyTok! pic.twitter.com/9UCAh531cw
Of course, Epic Games didn’t simply bring the Wellerman song over. Instead, the developer created its own version, complete with Fortnite-specific lyrics. When a player uses the emote, their character pulls out a small drum to keep the rhythm and starts singing the song as a lone voice. But if other players in the same area also use the emote, their voices will add to the chorus, giving the song the harmonies that help make shanties so captivating.
The emote is available now in the Fortnite in-game store for 500 V-Bucks.
