I know that brands in video games is not a new concept at all. In certain cases, it could even be cool for that branding to get implemented. Skate wear appeared in Tony Hawk games or Uniqlo stores made Metropolismania feel like a "more real" place. Granted that's, umm, not a great example, but I'm drawing a blank.
My point is, I think that the advent of Fortnite being built as a vessel for licenses has warped that sensibility, to where everything now feels artificial at best and money-grubbing at worst. PUBG: Battlegrounds, as the original battle royale is called now, has been scooping up its share of forceful deals this last year. Their tournaments have accepted Saudi blood money on a multitude of occasions now, in ways that I cannot delve into, lest my blood boil. It's clear that money, not synergy, is the number one priority for these "activations," which only heightens this feeling I have that real-life stuff appearing in your game is no longer a pleasant nod.
The latest event in PUBG will alter their notoriously rigid maps and litter them with KFC buildings. It's a chicken hook. Winner winner chicken dinner? In a world where I hadn't mentioned the above, this would've been a pretty cheeky implementation. "Just wiped out tomato town," but it's a place you know in real life. That kinda thing. Now, it's just another payday for Bluehole, who rebranded as Krafton. It's just like their GrubHub promotion, where you'd get a skin for your car if you ordered enough food. Halo Doritos pope reference.
I've been thinking about this frustration and I think the real thorn in my side is that I don't know how this can be fixed. I think we've burned that resource for good and that would be shitty. Kojima canonically writing in that Monster Energy is crucial to survival. Corny. Rocket League deciding that the Batmobile should be the Batman V Superman version, rather than a beloved classic. Corny. Spawn coming to Warzone. I mean, what are we even doing here? Spawn wasn't even cool in Soul Calibur. I simply can't come up with a cross-promotion that feels like it's actually a mostly harmless integration anymore. If that's the case, then I think we've really dropped the ball insanely hard, because now is the era of video games where this could actually be achieved the best. You used to have to press these things to discs and that was it. Now you can see where your game, but primarily your audience, is gravitating towards and symbiotically pair the two in an instant. Instead, video games more and more just seem like they're taking the first come, first serve approach and that makes me a lot sadder than it should.
Oh, SpongeBob. SpongeBob appeared in Fall Guys and that seemed like it was exactly the right fit. Too bad that they also implemented everything else that winked their way, which kind of soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it. Soiled it.
I haven't had a decent night sleep in almost a month, I might not be as coherent as I think, sorry
