Summary
Epic Games has removed one of Sabrina Carpenter’sFortniteemotes from the Item Shop. The move arrived mere hours after the unlockable debuted inFortnite.
The newly removed dance was called Caffeinated, and released as aFortniteIcon Seriesemote on October 17. Much like that name implies, the animation is based onEspresso, Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song from her 2024 studio albumShort n' Sweet.
Caffeinated was pulled from theFortniteItem Shopwithin hours of becoming available for purchase. The game’s official service Twitter update account acknowledged the change shortly thereafter, describing the move as a “temporary” measure, albeit without elaborating on what exactly prompted it. Epic promised to share details of when Caffeinated will return to the Item Shop in due time. The fact that the emote doesn’t yet have a concrete return timeline suggests one isn’t set in stone, and that the timing of its re-release will likely hinge on how quickly the developer manages to implement whatever changes it has in mind for it.
Fortnite Players Weren’t Happy With Sabrina Carpenter Emote
As for what these changes could entail, the current abundance of fan complaints over Caffeinated might offer some clues. Specifically, manyFortniteplayershave criticized Epic’s decision to use a faster version ofEspressofor its emote. As one highly upvoted Redditcommentput it: “it sounds awful sped up.” And while some of these complaints flat-out accused Epic of ruining the song, the company didn’t actually do any major editing. Instead, its emote merely used the lesser-known “Double Shot” version ofEspresso, which features higher-pitched vocals and a much faster tempo.
While this nightcore-style edit ofEspresso (Double Shot Version)might be easier to fit into an energeticFortniteemote, some fans argued that the slower original is still a good basis for a dance. After all, Epic didn’t use the official faster version of Sabrina Carpenter’sFeatherfor the Sonic Surfer emote, which was released alongside Caffeinated in mid-October 2024.
Given this state of affairs, it’s possible that Caffeinated was pulled from the Item Shop because Epic wants to rework it and deliver the version that its most vocal fans seem to prefer. But such a scenario is still far from guaranteed, as the developer isn’t exactly in the habit of redesigning emotes based on player feedback. On the rare occasion that it does that, its rework is usually motivated by underlying technical issues, like certain emotes causing bugs or crashes.
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