Presidential Gaming: Kamala Harris’ Campaign Launches a Fortnite Map

Video games and presidential campaigns are two sectors we never expected to cross paths with, but Kamala Harris and Fortnite have entered the fray. 

We’re only a few days from the 2024 US presidential election, and in her campaign’s last-ditch efforts, VP Kamala Harris is targeting an area that’s rarely approached in these races: video gaming.

Earlier this week, Harris’ campaign announced its collaboration with Fortnite, which includes an all-new map: Freedom Town, USA. This custom creative Fortnite map has themes inspired by Harris’ campaign, such as a focus on affordable houses and tax cuts for small businesses.

Fortnite Political Takeover

Harris’ campaign strategy to position her name among avid gamers is a slick move, but Freedom Town, USA, is just one of more than seven Fortnite Creative maps that the game developers Khairi Harris, Jordan Thomas, and Morgan Pope have introduced political signage to.

Political campaign themes will be found in the following Fortnite Creative maps:

• Football Boxfights
• Meme Boxfights
• Troll Bed Wars
• Drive City
• Super Box PVP
• Bullseye 1v1
• Bullseye 2v2
• Bullseye 3v2

The aforementioned maps will feature political-themed signage, audio cues, and custom models. Humorously, one of the audio ques – triggered by collecting a cat – plays a quote from Kamala Harris’ political rival and former US President, Donald Trump:

“They’re eating the dogs, eating the cats.”

Kamala Harris Targeting Broader Audiences

This strategic action is part of the Harris campaign’s recent, extensive initiative to engage young male voters via video games. Recent initiatives encompass a Geeks & Nerds for Harris fundraiser, a weekend Twitch stream featuring Vice Presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz playing Madden NFL and Crazy Taxi alongside Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as various advertising campaigns across sports betting, mobile gaming, and YouTube gaming platforms.

Donald Trump Hasn’t Been So Keen on Video Games

Regarding the Trump campaign, his team has remained clear of video gaming audiences during this election. However, during his previous presidential run in the White House, Trump accused violent games of polluting the minds of young people and even went as far as to claim that the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, was due to violent video games.

Trump dropped a highlight reel of “violent gaming clips” at the time, including scenes from Fallout 4, Dead by Daylight, Modern Warfare 2, and Sniper Elite.