Cybertrucks are coming to Fortnite. The popular free-to-play battle royale shooter announced the arrival of the memetic nightmare vehicle in a Monday post on X. Those interested in driving or destroying a digital Cybertruck can get access on July 23.
The Cybertruck is a Tesla product and its fate and image are tied up in the company’s owner—Elon Musk. The vehicles experienced mechanical failures the minute they hit the road, but it had been a culture war flashpoint long before then.
The trucks are so hated that the sight of them sometimes draws open scorn and mockery. One Cybertruck owner told The New York Times that passersby in Ford F-150s routinely flipped him the bird on the road. “A guy in his big, super-heavy diesel truck drove up and as he was driving past he started laughing,” the owner said of a recent encounter at a charging station. “It was weird. You’ll get someone just break out, uncontrollably laughing.”
Pulls ♾️
Catch a ride in the @tesla Cybertruck in Fortnite tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/CA8xuYQreS
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) July 22, 2024
The Cybertruck was mocked as an ugly polygonal aesthetic crime when it was first revealed. As the very real and dangerous mechanical issues with the truck have mounted, Musk haters reveled in sharing clips of the cars dying on the road, bricking after getting a car wash, and nearly severing the finger of someone messing with the trunk.
The Cybertruck has become a cringe symbol of Musk’s cultural decline. Musk makes himself the mascot of every company he’s associated with—SpaceX, X, and Tesla among them—and the fortunes of the company shift along with public perception. Musk still has die-hard fans, but he’s increasingly alienating people who might buy expensive stuff from him.
After the failed assassination attempt against Donald Trump, Musk openly endorsed the candidate and promised he’d commit $45 million a month to a new Super PAC focused on re-electing Trump. The news hasn’t sat well with potential Tesla customers. “This final stance of Elon has put me in a really difficult moral position,” Tesla investor Ross Gerber told Yahoo Finance. “I’m driving a Cybertruck and now it’s like a MAGA truck.”
A savvy company can always make money off of a culture war. Musk advertised the Cybertruck as bulletproof. It’s not, and its video game equivalent won’t be either. Starting tomorrow, Musk haters can attempt some kind of catharsis by hunting the ugly trucks down and blowing them up in Fortnite. Musk fans can buy the vehicles to show support for their aging meme-lord.
Everyone wins. Everyone gets to feel something.
