Fortnite Effect: Forza Horizon 4 Update Removes Carlton and Floss Emotes Following Epic Games Lawsuit

Fortnite's popular albeit controversial dance emotes may have resulted in Microsoft-owned Playground Games from removing similar content from Forza Horizon 4. The racing game for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC received an update that removed its 'Carlton' and 'Floss' emotes. Developer Playground Games released what it refers to as the Series 5 update to Forza Horizon 4, making a mention of the removal of these emotes in the patch notes. No reason has been given though it is safe to assume this is a preventive measure to avoid any legal repercussions akin to Fortnite creator Epic Games.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's Alfonso Ribeiro has sued Epic Games over Fortnite's Carlton dance. It is present in-game as the 'Fresh' emote. In addition to this, the mother of Russell Horning, known as the Backpack Kid, also sued Epic for its 'Floss' emote which mimics his dance move.

Rapper 2 Milly has also taken Epic to court for the 'Swipe It' emote which he claims has been taken from the 'Milly Rock', a dance he came up with in 2011 that caught on as a craze in the summer of 2015 after the release of a song and video of the same name.

The Brooklyn-based rapper whose real name is Terrence Ferguson said that the game both steals his creation and as a result appropriates his likeness. He's asked for a judge's order that the game stop using the dance, and for damages to be determined later.

Although the appropriation of dance moves is a contentious subject with detractors believing free-speech rights granted by the First Amendment of the US Constitution as well as fair use claims in context of a video game, could result in no monetary compensation for the likes of Ribeiro, Horning, and Ferguson. With all this going on, it only makes sense for Microsoft and Playground Games to prevent Forza Horizon 4 from being the subject of a lawsuit by removing them entirely.

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