One fan has been inspired by Drake’s rivalry with Kendrick Lamar. First, he created the “Not Like Us: The Game,” which quickly went viral. Marcus Brown II aka Richie Branson, a self-taught designer, was inspired by Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” to create the game.
In just 36 hours, his game attracted 1.2 million players. It allows users to control Lamar as he uses a baseball bat to break owl piñatas, with each level of difficulty increasing. Each strike drops candy, and players hear the word “wop” as the speed increases.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Branson, the game creator said, “I did this for the people. It was a love letter to hip-hop, designed for maximum enjoyment. Kendrick smacking owls around was my way of expressing my love for the genre.”
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About one week following the Kendrick game’s viral success, Branson once more introduced “Family Matters: The Game” for Drake enthusiasts.
The game, which debuted on an X account on July 22, according to POCIT, pokes fun at Lamar by having a challenge where players have to shoot Grammy Award trophies into Lamar’s mouth.
As the stages progress, the difficulty intensifies, with Lamar’s head moving side to side to a digital rendition of the “Family Matters” instrumental. The statement, “Made by some real ones to prove a point,” appears in the game’s credits.
According to Branson’s data, both games have been played more than three million times, with 798,980 for “Family Matters” and 2,296,848 for “Not Like Us“, The Star reported last Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Branson told Rolling Stone that, while his game was inspired by Lamar’s apparent supremacy in the public feud, he wants people to know that he is “absolutely not a Drake hater.” He stated that Drake is probably his most-played musician on Spotify, emphasizing that he simply does not allow his biases to get in the way of creating a good game.
In an interview with The Star, Branson indicated that this feud is “generational”, adding that he is “absolutely shocked” at how intense the public participation has been from the outset.
Though some online users have called the game “corny” and “lame,” Branson is unperturbed and enjoys the supportive comments he’s been receiving lately.
He told the outlet, “I’ve had people send me emails of support and a lot of fans have been giving me ideas on what I should add to the game or what game I should make next and I think that’s the funniest part.”
He explained that Coexist Gaming, where he currently works, is made up of people dedicated to representation in the gaming industry.
He stated, “We want to bring more visibility to the fact that there are people from our backgrounds, Black and brown, who also make games and who deserve a seat at that same table,” adding, “Ideally I want artists to know that you should have video games. I want record labels to know that you should be incorporating video games with your artists’ album rollouts. Maybe I’ll be the guy that I reach for that.”
However, he declared, “This won’t be the last time that I come out with something that’s related to hip-hop.”
Before Coexist Gaming, Branson was at Epic Games, where he worked on some of the biggest games in the world including “Fortnite.”
