It is the last week earlier than the U.S. 2024 presidential election, and in the waning hours of her marketing campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris is making a bid to a bunch that is not typically focused in such races: avid gamers.
As we speak, Harris’ marketing campaign is launching its personal Fortnite map: Freedom City, USA. It is a customized artistic map themed round some of Harris’ marketing campaign pledges, together with tax breaks for small businesses and a focus on affordable housing. The map could be discovered in Fortnite Inventive beginning right now utilizing code 733155366547, and could be noticed in devoted accomplice streams from Fortnite content material creators resembling Jordan “Huskerss” Thomas, Morgan “MODELMORG” Pope, Lyah “Himalyahs” Barberan, and Khairi “Kdot” Harris.
Freedom City, USA is joined by political takeovers of no less than eight different Fortnite Inventive maps (Drive City, Troll Bed Wars, Meme Boxfights, Super Box PVP, Football Boxfights, Bullseye 2v2, Bullseye 1v1, and Bullseye 3v3), which can embody political in-game signage, customized fashions, and themed audio cues. One of these cues, performed when gathering a cat, performs a quote from Harris’ rival former President Donald Trump: “they’re eating the dogs, eating the cats.”
This transfer comes as half of a latest, a lot broader enchantment made by the Harris marketing campaign to succeed in younger, male voters by means of video video games. Different latest efforts embody a Geeks & Nerds for Harris fundraiser, a weekend Twitch stream the place Vice Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz performed Madden NFL and Loopy Taxi with Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and a quantity of promoting efforts throughout cellular video games, sports activities betting platforms, and YouTube channels. (The Harris marketing campaign has additionally marketed on IGN. You’ll be able to view our policy on the separation of editorial and advertising interests here.)
Whereas the Trump marketing campaign has not made an analogous focused push to gamer audiences, the former President has commented on video video games earlier than. Throughout his tenure in the White Home, President Trump blamed violent video video games for a capturing at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, Florida, saying that such video games have been “shaping younger individuals’s ideas” and publishing a reel of “violent video video games” that included clips from Name of Responsibility: Trendy Warfare 2, Wolfenstein, Lifeless by Daylight, Sniper Elite, and Fallout 4. We have reached out to former President Trump’s marketing campaign for remark.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You could find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
This text has been up to date to incorporate clarification on the streamers and Inventive maps concerned in the Fortnite marketing campaign.