Legendary rapper Snoop Dogg is expanding the iconic Death Row Records label he acquired in 2022 into the world of games publishing. As reported by Afrotech, Snoop Dogg and son Cordell Broadus have now launched Death Row Games.
Afrotech reports that it will “serve as a home for minority creators and artists to develop and publish games in Fortnite through its Unreal Editor”.
The Unreal Editor for Fortnite was released in early 2023, and is essentially a more approachable and streamlined version of Unreal Engine 5. It allows budding developers to develop bespoke works and easily publish them to an audience, accessed through the Fortnite client itself.
Anyone can develop and publish work using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, but GamesHub’s assumption here is that the Death Row Games label will be used as a promotional tool to elevate the work of artists published under its wing, potentially getting prioritised visibility within the in-game browser.
“We’ve been around games for the last five to six years,” Broadus remarked to Afrotech. “So we’ve always had the mindset of building it on our own.”
Broadus was recently the creative director on a play-to-earn cryptocurrency game called Doge Dash, and Snoop Dogg has loaned his likeness to a number of high-profile video games in the past, including Call of Duty (multiple times) and Tekken. He also made appearances in Def Jam: Fight for NY, True Crime: Streets of LA, EA’s Sports’ Madden and NHL, as well as his own game, Way of the Dogg.
According to Broadus, the imperative behind the label is to create a “home for diverse creators in the gaming ecosystem and be a part of the narrative”.
“I keep saying ‘show representation of the culture in these sectors,’ versus us just being the talent. We wanted to make sure that we’re part of the decision that’s being made and more importantly tell these stories from diverse creators and focus on creatives in underserved communities.”
