There politics has decided to enter the world of video games straight away. And for once, not in a satirical guise, but with the intention of addressing the ever-growing category of the so-called gamers. One of the most famous games in the world was chosen as the stage for this initiative: Fortnite.
The Democratic candidate for the White House Kamala Harris has in fact decided to launch its own map within the ultra-popular Epic Games production, called “Freedom Town, USA”. As reported by various industry publications, including Ign And PcGameryou can access this virtual city by entering the code 733155366547 on Fortnite Creative.
Obviously, the map was not designed to organize matches against Republican teams or to challenge GOP candidate Donald Trump in a one-on-one match, but to advertise the main themes on which Harris based her election campaign, such as tax breaks for small businesses or affordable housing. Users will also be able to observe the map through some streams content creators from Fornite, such as Jordan “Huskerss” Thomas, MODELMORG, Himalyahs and Khairi “Kdot” Harris.
The Democrats’ assault on the Epic Games video game, however, does not stop here. At least eight more maps of the creative mode, in fact, will include political posters and billboards, personalized templates and themed audio tracks. In short, an all-round attempt to curry favor with a segment of the population that very rarely ends up in the “targets” of candidates in any election.
The move by Harris’ team, however, raises some questions. The decision to use video games to gather support is not in itself wrong, but Fortnite may not be the best choice in the vast panorama of the sector. A non-secondary part of its users, although not precisely quantifiable, is in fact still too young to vote, while i gamers who have always fought against the Epic Games phenomenon (even in this case, quite a few) could look at this strategy as a clumsy attempt by the “boomers” to ingratiate themselves with them.
It cannot be denied, however, that theimportance of video games into the everyday lives of millions
people continue to increase. Sooner or later, campaigning on multiplayer servers will become the norm. And if Harris’s “Freedom Town” is successful, it could significantly accelerate this process.