Rejoice! You can now play Metallica's Master Of Puppets in Fortnite

Screengrab from Forrtnite
(Image credit: Epic Games)

Just when you thought 2022 couldn't get any crazier for Metallica's 36-year-old banger Master Of Puppets, you can now play the song in Fortnite, the popular online video game. 

The Master Of Puppets emote costs 500 V-Bucks from the Fortnite items store – which  equates to about £12 in real world money, the internet tells us – and allows the purchaser to "perform" as James Hetfield in the game. The roles of the other members of Metallica can then be filled by nearby players, even if they haven't purchased the emote.

Earlier this year, Metallica had their own 'Kate Bush moment' after Master Of Puppets featured in a pivotal scene in the final episode of the latest season of Stranger Things. During the episode, metalhead character Eddie Munson shredded his way through the song, causing a distraction that enabled his friends to complete their mission.

In the days that followed, Metallia hooked up with Netflix to film a TikTok-style duet with the Munson scene and released an official video for Master Of Puppets for the first time.

Master Of Puppets' appearance in Stranger Things proved so popular that the track entered the UK and US charts for the first time, less than a month after Kate Bush scored a UK No.1 with the 37-year-old Running Up That Hill on the back of its appearance in the series.

Metallica commented on the song's success, taking to Instagram to say(opens in new tab), "The way The Duffer Brothers [the show's directors] have incorporated music into Stranger Things has always been next level, so we were beyond psyched for them to not only include Master Of Puppets in the show, but to have such a pivotal scene built around it."

Late last month, Metallica announced details of their upcoming 12th studio album, 72 Seasons, and shared its thrashy lead-off single, Lux Æterna.

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Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.