hellokittyrifle

Although most online first-person shooters these days allow players to customize their avatar to an extent, with only limited options it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd on the battlefield. You might spot someone with the occasional paid-DLC hat or weapon, but nothing we’ve seen comes anywhere close to the awesomeness of this Hello Kitty-inspired assault rifle.

But just who exactly is the genius behind this masterpiece? You might be surprised to find out they have closer connections to the gaming industry than you might have first expected.

Sadly, this rifle probably won’t be appearing in Call of Duty anytime soon (Sanrio might not be too fond of the idea of their beloved mascot being used to pull off head-shots), but with any luck game developers across the world will be taking note of its awesomeness.

The man responsible for this breathtaking ode to cuteness and warfare is Reno Levi, a freelance 2D/3D graphic designer from Israel who specializes in creating custom weapon designs.

Although some gamers might not be familiar with his name, many are probably familiar with some of his firearms that have appeared in games like Darkness II, Killzone 2, Crysis 3, and Call of Duty—he sure knows his way around a digital weapon!

Levi, who goes by the nickname “Lonewolf”, initially began sketching weapon art as a hobby for the Counter-Strike community. His designs were so well received that he was eventually scouted by a French studio for work, and became a turning point that spawned his entire career.

Even though a large portion of his design work is professional, he still enjoys coming up with different custom ideas, including this Hello Kitty-themed assault rifle:

hellokittyrifle2

Gamer girl or gamer guy, how cool would it be to see more weapon variations like these available in your favorite shoot ‘em up? Hopefully we won’t have to wait much longer for it to become a reality.

If you’re interested in seeing more of Levi’s fantastic work, be sure to visit his Artstation page here.

Source: Artstation/Reno Levi H/T Kotaku US
Feature/insert images: Artstation/Reno Levi