‘You speak like a common thug.’ Fortnite releases hotfix for cursing Darth Vader

Fortnite immediately pushed a hotfix to prevent Darth Vader from using swear words.

Earlier this month, Darth Vader was introduced to the game of Fortnite as a boss in Battle Royale. As of last Friday, when the Star Wars/Fortnite crossover event “Fortnite: Galactic Battle” was launched, players can play as the sinister Dark Lord if they can beat and recruit him.

What makes the character so special is that he can respond in real-time to your questions and remarks using conversational artificial intelligence (AI). When he does, you'll hear the iconic voice of James Earl Jones, the actor who voiced the galactic villain in the Star Wars franchise.

“Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire... or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle. The Sith Lord has opinions,” Epic Games suggests.

Shortly after release, numerous videos appeared on the internet where you can clearly hear Darth Vader using profanity. When a gamer asks Darth Vader what ‘freaking, fucking’ food he eats for nourishment, this is Vader’s answer:

"Freaking? Fucking? Such vulgarity does not become you, Padme. You inquire about sustenance and yet speak like a common thug. As for what sustains me, you would not comprehend its composition.”

For obvious reasons, this kind of obscenity isn’t allowed. To make sure it doesn't happen again, Fortnite immediately released a hotfix to solve the issue.

“While we added several specific rules and instructions as part of our guardrails to prevent Darth Vader from swearing or repeating swear words, in this instance, our filters did not catch a specific variation of an expletive. Our hotfix addresses this word specifically,” an Epic Games spokesperson told Decrypt.

If Darth Vader keeps on cursing in the future, Epic Games promises to investigate and, if needed, make adjustments to avoid similar responses.