Hatsune Miku Coming To Fortnite Is A Very Big Deal

Hatsune Miku has come a long way. The vocaloid has been a massive hit in Japan since her creation in 2007, and slowly but surely became a niche staple overseas as her catchy music and iconic design became commonplace on the convention circuit. As a teenager I couldn’t set foot in an anime show without being bombarded by cosplayers and merchandise, while Miku’s sick tunes would echo throughout the halls like a disembodied choir.

But in the video game space, at least up until recently, she remained an enigma. Like many other small Japanese titles - especially rhythm games like Sega and Crypton’s Project Diva, they were doomed to remain on the fringes. Unless you were willing to fly over to Japan just to play the arcade machine or hack a PlayStation Portable before importing physical copies of each game, you were out of luck.

Hatsune Miku’s Global Stardom Has Been A Long Time Coming

The early PSP releases were experiences I only ever glimpsed through playing the consoles of nerdy friends at Comic-Con, hidden away in empty halls far from the hustle and bustle as we took a well-earned break from roaming stalls in search of bootleg merchandise. Despite growing up with rhythm games like Guitar Hero, Amplitude, and The Jungle Book Groove Party, nothing could have prepared me for Hatsune Miku.

Its adorable character designs, luscious visuals, and artificial Japanese pop music awakened something inside of me. But with no PSP or the knowledge to make one region-free, it wasn’t until PS Vita came around that things changed.

After working a few weeks at the local Chinese takeaway, I purchased a pre-owned PS Vita, Gravity Rush, and Uncharted Golden Abyss. I also threw a pre-order down on an imported version of Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F. With no plans for a global release, I decided to cut out the middleman and jump for the Japanese launch. After finally turning up at my door, it became an obsession. I played its dozens of songs over and over again, unlocking most of the costumes, and racking up so much time, my usual group of friends I played Call of Duty with had even more reason to call me a worthless weeaboo.

Back then it was an entirely new rhythm experience that I couldn’t find anywhere else, or at least I didn’t know how to, so I wanted to savour every second. We didn’t live in a world that saw global releases of games like Project Diva Megamix or Hatsune Miku Fitness Boxing. It was even before the time of global releases for games like Yakuza or Final Fantasy. We had grown used to waiting, to playing second fiddle, to the extent that I’m kind of jealous of many younger players who are falling in love with Hatsune Miku and friends in the here and now.

And Her Debut In Fortnite Deserves To Be Celebrated

I’ve fallen off the Hatsune Miku bandwagon in recent years, and to my shame, haven’t tried to keep up with recent rhythm games or other spin-offs. But I can’t hide my excitement about Miku coming to Fortnite as the latest Festival headliner. She is getting her own battle pass, plenty of cosmetics, emotes, and other additions that put her on the same level as stars like Lady Gaga or Snoop Dogg. Hatsune Miku is a big deal, and Fortnite wants you to know that.

In recent years, Hatsune Miku has outgrown her origins as a virtual pop star and evolved into a bizarre cultural staple ripe with memes all her own. You’ll stumble across her constantly on Twitter, TikTok, and Tumblr, and rarely does this come in the form of her music. Instead, their image, design, and mere existence are meme material enough to get a laugh out of people. It has diluted her actual purpose while simultaneously making her bigger than ever, and it feels like the entire weird cultural experiment has come full circle in Fortnite.

The vocaloid megastar will now be a constant presence in the biggest game on the planet for the next few months, with fans new and old jumping into her songs to savour a range of old favourites or fall in love with them for the very first time. I’ll be right there alongside them, and it’s surreal to look back on the not too distant past and appreciate how far Hatsune Miku has come, and what having pride of place in Fortnite could mean for her in years to come.