Fortnite's Newest Feature Lets Streamers Mute Rickroll Emote
Last week, Epic introduced its new 'Never Gonna' emote that allows Fortnite players to Rickroll their friends. This emote plays part of the song "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley, but that's a big problem for streamers. The company started receiving complaints from players who were getting hit with copyright claims as a result of this emote being played on the stream.
Of course, "Never Gonna Give You Up" is a copyrighted song; YouTubers can't play this song in a video or during a live broadcast unless they have the proper license. Even a few seconds of the song is enough to trigger a copyright claim, which for some streamers is enough to put their livelihoods at risk.
PC Players: In the 12.00 update, we've added the ability to mute Licensed Emote Audio. This option is available in the game's Audio settings. pic.twitter.com/UHGYAlXKgH
— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) February 19, 2020
Though the streamers can avoid using this emote themselves, they have no control over other players, which is where the problem exists. When an opponent would play this emote during the streamer's live stream, the streamer would end up getting hit with a copyright claim. The streamers complained to Epic and now the company is back with a solution.
Fortnite players on PC now have the option of disabling the "Never Gonna" emote in their game settings, which mutes the audio from that particular emote so that it won't end up in the streamer's video. This setting isn't limited to just the "Never Gonna" emote, however; Epic says it will mute all licensed sounds and emotes going forward.
Streamers who use one of the big gaming consoles rather than a PC will also get access to this setting, but they'll have to wait for the patch to arrive. As expected, the new feature can be found in 'Settings' under the 'Audio' tab. Of course, non-streamers can turn on the setting as well if they're tired of getting Rickrolled by their friends.