There’s a big tent in the bayou, and the cowboys are fighting clowns. The [Expletive] Circus event is shaking up Hunt: Showdown, and its ringleader is Post Malone. The Hollywood’s Bleeding rapper isn’t just the poster child, however; he also brings brand new weapons, stamped with his initials. Yet Malone arguably isn’t even the most jarring presence in the game, since Crytek already dropped a Ghost Face DLC. The problem is neither Scream‘s stabby funnyman nor Malone fit well. It’s a dark fantasy western, so bee-possessed corpses and demon bears I’m here for. A Diamond-Certified popstar is too much.
Why Is Malone in the Swamp?
Immersion-breaking skins, characters, and events are nothing new. DJ Marshmello’s Fortnite appearance cracked that door. Then Travis Scott and Ariana Grande kicked it in. Play the biggest PvP games long enough, and you’ll run into (and get gunned down by) one famous face or another. You team up with Lady Gaga to hold an angle in Seaport City. You suppress the four John Wicks across the street while Mr. Beast revives Eminem. I don’t object to the mere presence of famous faces in certain games, but they destroy the suspension of disbelief here. In a battle royale with Loot Lamas, that doesn’t matter. In Hunt: Showdown, it does.
Even if you ignore everyone playing as Post Malone, every gun in the new collection wears a PM stamp. It’s a signature, an homage, product placement, and ego glazing all at once. I look at the “Sunflower” singer’s initials on the new Post Mortem rifle, and I feel something familiar. It’s the way I felt looking at that infamous Game of Thrones coffee cup, forgotten on the table beside Daenerys. Watching videos of Post Malone talk about his role in the new collection, the singer’s enthusiasm for the project is obvious. I’m happy he’s happy. I’m unhappy that the price of his happiness is the ongoing degradation of immersion. Yet banning celeb appearences from games is obviously the wrong solution.
The Norman Reedus Difference
There’s no fine line between Norman Reedus in Death Stranding and Post Malone in Fortnite. They’re separated by a multi-lane highway, numerous concrete barricades, and a dozen traffic cops. Sam Porter Bridges is an almost follicle-for-follicle reproduction of Reedus, but he fits Kojima’s world. Post Malone’s presence in Hunt: Showdown never feels like more than an ad. Yet I suspect that ad will be successful. Crytek will sell skins, further incentivizing devs to seek collabs and brand deals even when they grind against the very soul of the project. The circus is in town, and the clowns aren’t leaving.
