Thanks to Sabrina Carpenter, for the first time in my life — I want to play Fortnite

Fortnite, the juggernaut of gaming that always seems to have its fingers on the pulse of pop culture, has done it again. This time, the battle royale has added Sabrina Carpenter skins and emotes bringing the 'Espresso' singers bubbly and infectious dance moves to the battlefield.

While I never thought I would be here writing about Fortnite, let alone contemplating downloading it, the sheer fun factor of this update has me completely charmed and watching video after video of players dancing in unison.

What's the big deal about Sabrina Carpenter?

For background: I've an eclectic taste in music and I'm probably going through a mid-life crisis. I enjoy System of a Down just as much as Taylor Swift, and I'm unapologetically going through a full-on pop phase as the weather warms up.

Sabrina Carpenter's Short and Sweet album has been on repeat. It's girly, it's fun and the best soundtrack to a good mood.

Sabrina being in Fortnite is the perfect "this is for the girls" energy with the absurdity of Fortnite's anything-goes universe which has seen other skins added at breakneck speed with things that are 'on trend' such as Deadpool and the dreaded Skibidi toilet. (If you don't know what that is, I envy you.)

Sure the Sabrina Carpenter skins are for everyone, and I'm under no illusion that many of these running around in sequin mini dresses are probably 13 year old boys.

But seeing videos of players refusing to shoot each other when they spot another Sabrina on the battlefield or wasting valuable in-game time to bust out a synchronized 'Please Please Please dance is a whole new level of wholesome.

If this isn’t the antidote to the tired video games make people violent trope, I don’t know what is, because what do you mean we can synchronized dance to Juno?

Will I actually download Fortnite?

Honestly, shooters in general just aren't my thing, though I did find myself having a lot of fun with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 last year. The 'battle royale' Warzone side of things just doesn't interest me as my reflexes aren't up to scratch, but the Sabrina stuff might break me.

It’s silly, it’s joyful, and it’s exactly the kind of low-stakes entertainment I want to be a part of. Who knew the thing to finally convince me to try Fortnite would be the allure of living my best pop-princess fantasy?

It's likely that my first game as Sabrina will involve getting eliminated by someone named 'I_boinked_ur_mom69' before I can even attempt to dance. But hey, if I can squeeze in one Espresso emote before that happens, it’ll be worth it.