On November 5th the United States will have to vote in the presidential elections between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. As Election Day approaches, the Democratic candidate’s staff has published a map on Fortnite. Inside there are slogans and references to Harris’ political agenda. It’s not the first time this has happened.
Kamala HarrisDemocratic candidate for president of the United States, has a map on Fortnite. Is called Freedom Town, USA. Inside there are lots of Stars and Stripes flags and slogan placards. Then there are also original audio tracks, such as the voice of the Republican opponent, Donald Trump, who says: “They’re eating the dogs, eating the cats”. It is a reference to the debate held last September between Harris and Trump, during which the latter broadcast live fake news according to which immigrants in the United States “eat dogs, eat cats”.
But Freedom Town, USA is not a place for mockery, but a space where we can talk about tax reduction for small businesses e more affordable house prices. These are some of the themes of Harris’ political agenda that emerge by exploring the map and playing the challenges hidden within it. To spread the initiative, the current vice president’s staff has chosen a few as partners Twitch streamer – Jordan “Huskerss” Thomas, Himalyahs and Khairi “Kdot” Harris – in these hours dealing with live streaming videos in which they play in Freedom Town, USA.
The precedent: Joe Biden’s experiment to reach young people
It is an innovative initiative, but it is not exceptional. Four years earlier, in 2020, the current president Joe Biden had done the same, taking advantage of the popularity among younger generations of Epic Games’ battle-royale video game. In that case the themes that characterized the map, called Build Back Better With Biden, were renewable energy, 5G, social equality. Indeed in the 2020 election, Biden had great support from the 18-29 age group. About 60% versus Donald Trump’s 35%. Although Fortnite is generally considered a game for young teenagers, it is possible that it helped attract the votes of young voters.
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Although Epic Games does not release official data on its users, based on what reported by Statista, Newzoo and Reddit, the average age of those who play Fortnite seems to be between 16 and 24 years old. In the United States you can vote once you turn 18. The initiative proposed by Harris could therefore prove important in reaching segments of voters who are distant from TV and newspapers, the media in which political debates are most relevant. The code to play Fortnite in Freedom Town, USA by Kamala Harris is 733155366547.
Those of Biden and Harris are examples that demonstrate the power that video games can have when used as political tools. As for Trump, his relationship with video games is quite critical. In 2019, after the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, the tycoon he blamed video games (and not weapons), echoing the classic alarmist rhetoric that associates video games with violence. Unlike public opinion, recent studies attest that there is no correlation between the two parties.
