Guns are unavailable on the Fortnite map released by Kamala Harris' presidential campaign on Monday in a bid to appeal to younger voters, sparking some criticism on social media.
According to the Fortnite GG website, which tracks the popularity of maps for the game, a maximum of 383 players have used Harris' Freedom Town, USA map at any one time over the past 24 hours. This places it well behind established maps such as Ranked Reload, which had a peak of 323,783 players during the same period.
The Harris campaign's Fortnite map was announced on Monday with an X video showing players running, jumping and collecting packages along with captions urging them to "fight for freedom" and "squad up, go vote." This was set to "Neva Play" by rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who performed at a Harris rally in July.
Fortnite has become a huge cultural phenomenon since it first launched in 2017 with the release of its Battle Royale game, in which up to 100 players fight to the death on a shrinking map until just one winner is left. To compete players can arm themselves with a range of firearms including machine guns, assault rifles and shotguns.
Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, has reported having more than 400 million registered players since the game launched seven years ago. The average age of a player is between 16 and 24 years old, and the Harris campaign team has created this map as a means of reaching out to younger voters. Youth turnout in the US is low compared to other age groups and could prove crucial in deciding the winner of the election in several battleground states.
Some Fortnite maps, particularly in Creative Mode, feature gameplay with restrictions on guns or entirely gun-free environments. In Creative Mode, players can design custom maps with specific rules and mechanics, including banning or limiting the use of weapons. In these games the focus can instead be on parkour, role-playing, escape rooms and hide-and-seek.
Players are not armed on the Freedom Town, USA Fortnite map, with footage shared on social media showing players taking part in parkour, making buildings and completing challenges like finding posters for a Harris rally which have been scattered around a map by the wind.
The map references specific pledges from the Harris campaign, starting with a message which says: "Kamala Harris's $50,000 small business tax break made it possible to start up our new construction business!" Players are then told to go and find tools to use in the construction process.
The absence of guns from Harris' map sparked some social media criticism, with one X user posting: "Kamala Harris took away our guns in Fortnite."
Another said: "Harris-Walz Fortnite map. The majority of Fortnite players are 13 years old. 'Freedom Town' but bans guns. It's hard to put this level of failure into words."
However Gene Park, a video game critic for The Washington Post, commented: "The Kamala Harris Fortnite map is more thoughtfully designed than you'd expect, and its huge."
According to Fortnite GG as of 6:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday 61 players were using Harris' Fortnite map, compared with 211,220 for Ranked Reload.
Newsweek contacted the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump presidential election campaigns for comment on Tuesday by email outside of regular office hours.
Polling suggests the contest between Harris and Trump remains razor tight with veteran pollster Nate Silver recently describing a 50-50 toss-up as the "only responsible forecast" in a piece for The New York Times, though he also said his "gut" favored the Republican winning because of the Electoral College system.
On Monday Trump held a rally at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion though according to one journalist who was present "pockets" of attendees left while the former president was still speaking.
https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-fortnite-map-bans-guns-has-less-400-people-playing-1976475 (Archive)
