We are on the cusp of the 2024 presidential election and both parties are trying their best to win over those all-important undecided voters. The Harris/Walz campaign explores an unusual option: a map in Epic Games’ massive online multiplayer hit. Fortnite.
The “Freedom Town, USA” map found at 7331-5536-6547 is a little different from the norm. Fortnite the same. Forbes main contributor Paul Tassi played the new map and reported that there are no guns in Freedom Town (probably for obvious reasons). Instead, the game focuses on car racing and parkour style. The map also features campaign signs and decorations for Vice President Kamala Harris and the presidential post of Gov. Tim Walz.
Video games have become a staple of the Harris/Walz campaign. Harris’ camp has its own Twitch page that has been streaming matches like this one Military World and the latest Madden title as a way to spark conversations with the voting public. I Fortnite The map, however, doesn’t seem to do a good job of getting the message out to the players. As of the publication of this story, the map has less than 300 players.
Political ads and video game recruitment are not limited to this campaign cycle. Candidate Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign introduced the idea to politics when it bought ads in 18 sports including Need for Speed: Carbon again Madden NFL 13 on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service and the mobile version of Tetrisaccording to NPR.