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You can already play as Eminem in another great shooter: Quake 3 Arena

Fortnite, you’re 20 years too late

An in-game model of Eminem in Quake 3 Arena holding a rocket launcher Image: Pete “MeatPak” Parisi/Fullerene Productions
Michael McWhertor is a journalist with more than 17 years of experience covering video games, technology, movies, TV, and entertainment.

Eminem is coming to Fortnite with the launch of the game’s The Big Bang live event. But if you simply can’t wait to frag your friends as rapper Marshall Mathers, the real Slim Shady, you can do so right now in id Software’s Quake 3 Arena.

Back in the year 2000, Interscope Records commissioned an official map for Quake 3 named Chronic that also included the very rough likenesses of Eminem and Dr. Dre. The Chronic map consisted of a small, rundown city block dressed up with signage for Interscope’s marquee hip hop artists. Designed as a promotional map for The Marshall Mathers LP and the Up In Smoke tour, it includes low-bit rate snippets of songs like “The Real Slim Shady.”

Chronic map maker Pete “MeatPak” Parisi also created skins and bots of Dre and Eminem, with the latter permanently extending his left-hand middle finger. Eminem just loved to flip the bird in press photos at the time.

The official website for Interscope’s Quake 3 Arena map (preserved thanks to Archive.org) is one of the most 2000s things you’ll ever see:

A screenshot of the archive website for Interscope Records Quake 3 Arena Chronic map Image: Interscope Records via The Internet Archive

The Chronic map and models for Dr. Dre and Eminem are still available to download (for free) from places like ModDB and LVL, the Q3A database. A copy of Quake 3 Arena will only set you back $5.99 on Steam, as part of the current Steam Autumn Sale.

Please keep in mind that you’ll need at least a Pentium II 400 or higher to enjoy the Chronic map, but that if you have the means, you’ll get to enjoy the following caliber of gameplay.

For a more narrative-driven Eminem video game experience, check out 50 Cent: Bulletproof for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. Eminem plays a corrupt cop in that one!