How virtual TikTok star Guggimon became the latest Fortnite crossover Epic GamesVirtual celebrity Guggimon has slowly been implanting himself in the internet\u2019s collective mind, pulling off collaborations with the likes of Gucci and Rico Nasty \u2013 and now, he\u2019s even worked his way into Fortnite. With previous crossovers ranging from Star Wars to Marvel and even The Walking Dead, Epic Games\u2019 hit battle royale Fortnite is no stranger to high-profile collaborations. But the latest season treads new ground with the inclusion of \u2018virtual celebrities\u2019. Appearing in the Battle Pass alongside pop culture icons Superman and Rick Sanchez is Guggimon, an animated influencer who\u2019s racked up over 2 million followers on TikTok and given his likeness to limited-edition toys that sell out in minutes. He\u2019s the first virtual influencer to appear in Fortnite, which is a huge deal for Superplastic, the company that created Guggimon. But how did the character end up in this season\u2019s lineup? Epic Games are \u201cmassive fans\u201d of Guggimon According to Superplastic CEO and Founder Paul Budnitz, Epic Games reached out to ask about a collaboration with the brand after noticing Guggimon\u2019s animated antics on social media \u2013 which often go viral. \u201cIt turns out the Epic team are massive fans of Guggimon, and we are addicted to the game,\u201d Paul told Dexerto. \u201cGuggimon and Janky have spent hundreds of hours getting wired on Red Bull and playing Fortnite till 4AM, so when they called it was a total no-brainer.\u201d When it came to the creative process, Paul had nothing but praise for Epic Games, who happily took their suggestions on board for the skin design and cosmetics of the horror-obsessed Guggimon. \u201cWe were super excited about merging our worlds, and they\u2019re amazing creative people,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we wanted Guggimon to drop into the game on a pink skull balloon they said, \u2018hell yes\u2019. That\u2019s when we knew it was going to be great.\u201d Are virtual celebrities like Guggimon the future? Virtual influencers are becoming more popular on social media, and League of Legends even launched their own digital girl group called K\/DA. The internet is (mostly) welcoming animated celebrities with open arms. Paul thinks this is because characters like Guggimon can do things real influencers can\u2019t, while still keeping a sense of familiarity by interacting with real people through social media. \u201cGuggimon can smoke a cigar in Times Square while standing on top of a dead whale \u2013 which actually happened \u2013 and Janky has been blown up, buried in razor blades, or dropped in a Supreme wood chipper hundreds of times,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut at the same time, they influence the real world. They\u2019ve worked as Gucci models along with Dayzee, and at least 50 people have Guggimon tattoos. Fans collect NFTs and limited edition art toys Guggimon designs and that Superplastic produces and sells.\u201d More Superplastic characters could appear in Fortnite Of course, we had to ask Paul whether any more of the Superplastic lineup like Janky, Dayzee, or Staxx will join Guggimon in Fortnite. Given Epic\u2019s penchant for mass crossovers, it\u2019s certainly not out of the realm of possibility. \u201cKnowing Janky, he\u2019d probably agree to do it for a case of Mountain Dew, some chicken nuggets, and $50 in cash,\u201d Paul joked. \u201cAnyway, if something like that were planned I couldn\u2019t tell you, but we are excited about seeing where the relationship goes.\u201d Fans will have to wait and see if Janky and the rest of Superplastic\u2019s virtual celebrities get a chance to bundle into the Battle Bus, but until then, they\u2019ll no doubt enjoy wreaking havoc as Guggimon across the Fortnite Island. Beyond that? Guggimon will be collaborating with \u201ctop street artists\u201d and starring alongside Janky and Dayzee in an \u201canimated hip hop horror movie\u201d that\u2019s currently slated for release in 2022, showing that this virtual influencer\u2019s global takeover is only just beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How virtual TikTok star Guggimon became the latest Fortnite crossover Epic GamesVirtual celebrity Guggimon has slowly been implanting himself in the internet\u2019s collective mind, pulling off collaborations with the likes of Gucci and Rico Nasty \u2013 and now, he\u2019s even worked his way into Fortnite. With previous crossovers ranging from Star Wars to Marvel and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75099\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}