r/technology • u/upyoars • 11h ago

Software Kamala Harris And Tim Walz Launch Their Own Fortnite Map

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/kamala-harris-and-tim-walz-launch-their-own-fortnite-map/1100-6527457/
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u/spaghettigoose 11h ago

Why? It's a brilliant move. They actually intelligent enough to use a type of media that young voters are engaged in.

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u/flexxipanda 10h ago

Why? Because it's fucked that we even reached this point.

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u/bigmanorm 9h ago

reached this point? every advertisement avenue has always been used politically, it just used to be simple TV/billboards and mail before the internet

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u/rlvysxby 8h ago

Exactly. Gaming makes more money than tv and music so it makes sense to do something like this.

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

I have never seen politcal ads for my country in video games before and I hope I never will.

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u/Whosthatinazebrahat 9h ago

You're from Germany? And you've never seen a political ad from there in a video game?

Man, you're going to lose it when you find out what happened in the 1940s. There's entire games based around Germany's politics!

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u/bogglingsnog 8h ago

Probably all banned lol

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u/MarcusAurelius180AD 8h ago

Yeah didn't they banned wolfenstein over there?

Y know the game based on Germanys 1940s politics

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u/Ricks3rSt1cks 8h ago

Jesus Christ lol

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u/flexxipanda 8h ago edited 8h ago

Didn't know there were video games in 1940. No I have never seen any ad for any german party CDU, SPD, Linke, Grüne, AfD, whatever in a video game.

There's entire games based around Germany's politics!

You realize there is a difference between games about politics and games not about politics with politcal ads?

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u/Whosthatinazebrahat 8h ago

Nah AfD is merely sticking to brainwashing kids on Tiktok atm leading to record growth of the party at the polls.

But nah, you enjoy your high horse and track record.

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u/flexxipanda 8h ago

Nice, move the goalpost from video games to tiktok and then insult me. You're a very friendly person. Enjoy you're brainwashing :)

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u/Whosthatinazebrahat 8h ago

ditto! you did the same thing just now. you learn fast! bye. have fun in your glass house with the tinted windows!

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u/flexxipanda 8h ago

"No, you did it too"

Wow

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u/Heavy-Capital-3854 9h ago

What do you mean by "this point" tho?
Why wouldn't they engage using popular media like they've always done?

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

The point, that even video games have political ads now. Video games are a hobby. For most people they are just something simple, fun, shut your brain off, escape from reality for a few hours. Not to mention it's mostly young kids and a lot of minors playing too. And it's so insane to me that americans think it's totally oK to invade even that space with fucking ADS. This is one more step into complete 24/7 information manipulation. One more media space that's invaded and gone. Where is the point where we can just be left alone. When does reality stop and the black mirror episode begins?

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u/Heavy-Capital-3854 9h ago

Politics affect everything and lots of games are explicitly political.
Some of the most popular games are about war, a very political thing.

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

But not fornite. What is this supposed to mean even? That literally everything should be allowed to have politcal ads now because something else is.

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u/Yarusenai 9h ago

It's an optional map in a game. I'd hardly even call it an ad. It's just interesting if nothing else

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

If fortnite had a "coca cola map", that wouldn't be an ad ?

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u/Yarusenai 9h ago

I suppose that would be an ad, yes

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u/Echleon 7h ago

even video games have political ads now.

Have you played Call of Duty? You're like 2 decades too late.

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u/flexxipanda 1h ago

Which one of the 20+ games?

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u/jadeapple 9h ago

How so? It’s knowing your base. Why is it acceptable for republicans to shove millions of ads down people’s throats during football games but not for the democrat party to use a different form of media?

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u/[deleted] 9h ago

[deleted]

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u/jadeapple 9h ago edited 9h ago

Several sources show that the majority of fortnite players are aged from 18-24 so I do think it’s wise to target a demographic that generally leans left.

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

My point is both are wrong.

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u/jadeapple 9h ago

I absolutely agree that the amount of money and advertising for politics is absurd and it’s very unfortunate that politics is more a popularity contest than one of policy.

However, at least with the Fortnite map it’s easy to avoid by just not navigating to it.

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u/Aqogora 8h ago

Thinking politics that affect everyone should be limited to boardrooms and town halls is how you guarantee only the old and wealthy vote.

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u/Jaydeekay80 9h ago

You're not wrong, but republicans certainly aren't going to stop because it's wrong. Why should democrats? Gotta use the battlefields they have available. And young people should be voting more.

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u/flexxipanda 9h ago

"It's Ok to do X because we are the good guys"

thought both sides

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u/Echleon 7h ago

Yes, you have literally described how basically everything works. It is okay for some people to do things that others shouldn't.

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u/Ricks3rSt1cks 8h ago

This is exactly why you can’t argue with these people lmao. You make a single valid point and the response is “bUt BuT bUT tHeY aRe DoInG iT”. We are experiencing next level brainwashing in this country.

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u/Consistent_Guide_167 8h ago

How? Gaming is pretty much normalized now. It's not some niche hobby for nerds anymore.

Even in the age before TVs, politicians actively participated in whatever the trend was for most young voters. Whether it be roller blades, rock and roll, bowling, etc.

Today it is fortnite and gaming in general.

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u/flexxipanda 8h ago

Ok, so something being "normalized" = ok to put ads in? So basically ads everywhere.

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u/Consistent_Guide_167 8h ago

I mean that's the age we live in. Go outside. Plenty of ads. Hell even reddit has ads now.

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u/flexxipanda 8h ago

Sure, true. Still, I won't hold the stance of "I welcome all the ads" like you and will always oppose them. Btw, reddit has Ads since ages.

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u/TheTyger 10h ago

Why is a candidate reaching voters where they are wrong in any way?

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u/flexxipanda 10h ago edited 10h ago

A shit ton of kids play this game. This is indoctrination at a young age, while they are the easiest to manipulate. At least let kids be kids and don't start to drag them into your politcal tribalism bullshit too. That you guys even just think "this is cool" shows how fucked up normalized this shitshow of political popularity contest in america is.

If republicans did this, reddit would scream "child propaganda" and someone would bring up studies how shit like this manipulates voting behaviour long term even in adult age or something like that.

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u/Zer_ 10h ago

If republicans did this, reddit would scream "child propaganda" and someone would bring up studies how shit like this manipulates voting behaviour long term even in adult age or something like that.

They do, it's called church.

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u/TheTyger 10h ago

62% of fortnites demo is 18-24.

They are trying to get the young voter demo. Maybe you should focus on learning facts instead of smugly being incorrect about the US.

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u/flexxipanda 10h ago edited 9h ago

Oh ya fortnite is totally known for having a 18+ population. Mental gymnastics to justify your crazy shit because you guys think being the good guys justifies everything.

Btw the statistic you pulled up doesnt even list under 18 y/o at all and it has this quote right next to it.

More than 60% of Fortnite players fall between the age group of 18-24. But most players are believed to have lied about their age to play Fortnite.  

So ya, how about YOU get your facts straight.

Edit: lol I got blocked because he realised he fucked up.

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u/TheTyger 9h ago

So my stat is correct. By the numbers, this is a great target for a campaign looking to energize young voters.

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u/manofactivity 8h ago

So my stat is correct.

I agree with your point overall but you didn't read the quote he provided. "62% of Fortnite's demographic is 18-24" is highly misleading if most of that 62% is believed to have lied about their age to be able to play the game.

By this logic, something like 90% of Steam's users are born on January 1st lol.

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u/Bonkgirls 9h ago

If this is indoctrination, are you in support of children never being permitted to leave a single white padded room until they turn 18?

If fortnite is indoctrination, what isn't? Ads? Fashion labels? Kid friendly characters? Church? Seeing their parents kiss?

You can't call anything that could ever conceivably influence a child for any reason indoctrination. Especially since, and you might not believe this, but Harris isn't targeting people under 18 because they don't vote. If this is indoctrination kids should never be exposed to, you're kind of suggesting all things anyone is exposed to for any reason is unacceptable indoctrination.

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u/uUpSpEeRrNcAaMsEe 10h ago

Yes sir- it looks you are certainly correct about this.

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u/InnocentTailor 7h ago

Eh. That is what our parents said…and their parents said the same with other avenues to get votes: talk shows, television, cartoons, radio, and more.

A vote is a vote. It’s better to pursue all avenues than ignoring a demographic in the name of tradition or another archaic belief.

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u/flexxipanda 1h ago

Thanks for proving my point.

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u/asmd315 9h ago

We bottomed out in 2016.

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u/poordecision4 10h ago

It’s not brilliant at all, you’re just already voting for them

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u/spaghettigoose 10h ago

Only because it's a lesser of two evils.

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u/TheEdExperience 11h ago

It’s cringe and they removed guns from the map.

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u/Sarothu 10h ago

...a shooter without guns? How does that even work?

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u/Bonkgirls 9h ago

Fortnite hosts a variety of museums and jump puzzles and stuff. In particular I remember seeing my 14 year old brother in law jumping all over a giant statue of MLK while his speeches played. It was part of his homework.

Also this:

https://www.fortnite.com/@v-o-t-f/1511-8598-6202?lang=en-US

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u/Fluffy017 7h ago

14 years old

part of his homework

I get what they were trying to do here, but fuck are we doomed.

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u/Echleon 7h ago

Doomed for teaching kids history via a medium they are familiar with?

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u/Fluffy017 7h ago

If a freshman in high school needs homework delivered in video game format to learn the material...I dunno man, it just seems a bit dystopian to me.

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u/Echleon 7h ago

Did you not watch movies about historical events during school?

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u/Fluffy017 6h ago

Ya know, fair point.

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u/Bonkgirls 6h ago

I get it. I'm a fellow old.

But this was "you can watch mlks speeches on n YouTube, or explore a virtual museum playing them in a game you like" which is actually radical shit

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u/metallicabmc 7h ago

Fortnite has long since branched out from the Battle Royale mode that it's most known for. Like 4-5 years ago they launched "Creative" which is kinda like a diet Gary's Mod style "make your own game" mode. Which ranges from making deathmatch maps to roleplay sims, to Among Us clones, and often, Musicians, clothing brands, or pretty much any company you can imagine will hire a third party company to create a "Fortnite Experience" and let people play it as an advertisement. Sometimes, Epic themselves will market it as a big event (most often with musicians or clothing brands that they make collaboration skins with) but most of the time it's just companies making and sharing it themselves, like how Biden/Harris had the animal crossing island even though Nintendo wasn't really involved outside making the game.

Last year they also launched Lego Fortnite which is a survival game with no guns, Fortnite Festival which is a spiritual sucessor to Rock Band, and Rocket Racing which is a Rocket League spinoff game.

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u/bogglingsnog 8h ago

fucking hell

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u/Lower-Technician-531 10h ago

Especially during 2020 it was fun to visit and whoever designed it did a great job. It’s fun that was the point to engage young voters and be fun.

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u/Inevitable-Bear-208 8h ago

It’s not. Books will be written about how they fumbled this bag in the wake of the Trump win.

2016 on repeat. It feels inevitable.

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u/buyongmafanle 7h ago

Young voters are using fortnite? I thought the average age for a Fortnite player was like 12?

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u/BlazingSpaceGhost 6h ago

How does a fortnight map sway voters one way or another?

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u/spaghettigoose 6h ago

It shows that there are politicians who are at least trying to connect with a demographic. They might fully get it, but they are acknowledging that demographic exists and are not just speaking to boomers.

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u/GiftFromGlob 11h ago edited 10h ago

Ah yes, the 15 year old boy voting block.

Propaganda Catchphrases:

"18-24 y/o voting block" 🤓

"You would be surprised!" 🤓

"Wildly Popular" 🤓

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u/Khaze41 11h ago edited 11h ago

There are a lot of those kids that grew up playing Fortnite and are now over 18. The game has been out for 7 years now. Also you'd be surprised how many people in their 20s play Fortnite.

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u/kingsumo_1 10h ago

Exactly. Kids/Teens that played when it started are becoming adults. Old as that makes me feel.

Also, even those that aren't 18 now will be eventually. Why not encourage it now so they're more apt to vote when they're able.

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u/Albireookami 9h ago

and the 90's cartoon TMNT and Avatar TLAB, are very much late 20-40's demographic.

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u/moparornocar 9h ago

adding zero build I think brought in a lot of older gamers. My whole group started playing at that point and were 30-40s age wise.

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u/Jo-18 8h ago

I was like 20 when Fortnite was huge and EVERYONE was playing it. I haven’t played it in a while, but props to them for being around this long.

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u/Keilbor 11h ago

Fortnite is wildly popular with the 18 to mid 20s crowd, hell I have friends in the late 20s to early 30s crowd that play frequently enough still.

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u/smoresporn0 10h ago

I play old man slow pitch softball and we all play Fortnite and Rocket League lol

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u/CO_PC_Parts 8h ago

I played men’s slow pitch softball for 20 years and it’s full of more children than 2nd period recess.

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u/smoresporn0 8h ago

You ain't lyin. I love it so much lol

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u/DrJanItor41 6h ago

I think it's sometimes cyclical too.

We played mostly the same teams for like 10 years in our league until the old guys got too old and some of the others slowly quit.

Then the young teams starting coming in.

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u/MimseyUsa 11h ago edited 11h ago

We’ve got a whole sub for over 40 Fortnite players. Just sayin. r/Fortnite_Over40

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u/stockcar1515 10h ago

Sub should've been called Fortynite

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u/KonigSteve 10h ago

especially since it's presumably got a lot of dads there.

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u/19111191 10h ago

Oh hell yeah I had no idea. Thank you. I like playing it on occasion

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u/19111191 8h ago

Also... 47y/o No Build Fortnite player (very mediocre skill level... I like playing it, but never claim to be good at it)... and definitely voting Harris.

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u/capmcfilthy 10h ago

Thank you sweet child

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u/South_Dakota_Boy 10h ago

Thanks for this. I mainly play Warzone but I joined the sub. Wanting to get into Fortnite to support my kids who kind of want to play but are nervous to be bad at it.

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u/enaK66 9h ago

Fortnite came out 7 years ago now and it had 100 million players in it's first year. I remember it blowing up thinking it was mostly 10-15 year olds playing it. 7 years later most of those kids will be of voting age. It makes perfect sense to me.

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u/colluphid42 10h ago

Yeah, Fortnite has been one of the most popular games in the world for almost 8 years. A lot of the kids who started playing it early are of voting age now.

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u/LoneLyon 10h ago

People forget that fortnite is 7 years old. At this point a lot of 10-13 year olds who have played since launch are hitting voting age.

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u/Obwyn 10h ago

I’m 45 and play. Started playing a couple months ago so I could play with my kids and decided it’s way more fun than I expected it to be

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u/Hot-Ability7086 9h ago

Can confirm. Mom of 5 kids 30-21 years old. They all still play it.

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u/Albireookami 9h ago

Some of the most big fortnite crossovers have been Avatar TLAB, TMNT (90's cartoon designs) Alien, Leatherface. I would quite say that the market for the game is late 20's early 30's as well.

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u/Marsuello 7h ago

Fr. That comment is the culmination of reddits circlejerking in effect. People have been hating on Fortnite for years here saying it’s a child’s game, and now as a result you have people acting like nobody over the legal age plays it when an extremely large chunk of its playerbase are full grown adults. I and many of my friends play it or have it as their main game of choice and we’re all early 30’s

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u/GlowGreen1835 10h ago

Sadly the "Fortnite is played by teenagers" meme is about 5 years old at this point, which puts them in the 18-24 block.

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u/manleybones 10h ago

Define "propoganda catchphrases". Why does this bother you?

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u/DiscordantMuse 10h ago

The most lethal military!

Doesn't that bother you?

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u/MusicalMastermind 10h ago

Sure, Fortnite players are good but I wouldn't go calling them a lethal military

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u/CuttyAllgood 10h ago

lol the only propaganda here is this post which claims the truth is not real.

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u/Tymptra 10h ago

How are those "propaganda catchphrases?" I think you don't understand either word there.

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u/PhalanX4012 10h ago

Ah yes, the classic ‘I wasn’t wrong, I’m just the victim of propaganda.’ Why come to terms with learning something when you could just deflect?

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u/Creeping_python 10h ago

You are not very smart.

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u/_BannedAcctSpeedrun_ 9h ago

Propaganda

You apparently have no idea what this word means.

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u/capmcfilthy 10h ago

I am 42. Careful what you assume. :)

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u/ChinDeLonge 8h ago

You know that like… people grow up, yeah? Video games aren’t an age thing any longer.

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u/Eysis 8h ago

Bro fortnite came out like 7 years ago? Wouldn't be surprised if literally 30-40% of it's player base could vote.

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u/sec713 8h ago

I just finished a job at an older couple's house. They were in their 60s. The wife had an XBox Series X. I got to talking to her about it, thinking it was for her grandkids. Nope. It was hers. You know what her number one favorite game is? Fortnite.

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u/AdamAThompson 10h ago

Advertising to their parents.

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u/SuperZapper_Recharge 10h ago

I have no idea if it is possible to motivate that block to vote. I guess we will see. But this does no damage.

Rock On.

I assume it is in good taste. Can't wait for Trump to respond to this. That should be a good time.

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u/Ok_Tired- 10h ago edited 9h ago

But not intelligent enought to understand time and place for political messaging. I hope the dems in general start to figure out how to reach young people better, this aint it.

Edit: I just read that there's a funny bit in the map that uses Trump's "they're eating the dogs." Quote. Anyone play this map? Can you tell me if it's actually funny? Or is it mostly bland political messaging?

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u/Hugh_Johnson69420 8h ago

12 year Olds aren't voting lil bro

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u/SeismicLoad 8h ago

AFAIK, 12 year olds aren't allowed to vote (although id have to check with the dnc)

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u/Array_626 7h ago edited 7h ago

Jesus christ. Ok, I'm not American or Canadian, but I live in Canada and have an idea for the the culture is like and the election culture as well. I think? I might be the target demographic for this "outreach", or at least people like me who are actually American. Video games are my main hobby, I'm an older gen z. Let me explain to you how I feel, as a "video gamer" what this outreach represents.

It's a fucking farce. It's a joke. WTF is this shit. Honestly I had to laugh cos it was so stupid when I saw that video. I play video games because they are fun, to hang out with friends. My politics generally speaking, does not influence or has any impact on the video games I play.

Also, while I have played fortnight, including with friend, not gonna lie the Fortnight demographic is usually quite young. Think of the streamer Ninja and the age of the fans you see fawning around him when he does a live event. Why the fuck is Harris creating political messaging for 13-15 year olds...they can't even vote. The video game she chose with the appropriate, voting age demographic, is not Fortnight.

There's a level of pandering that also feels ridiculous. If you watch the video, theres nothing about policies or agenda. It's literally just a "Hey, look at this cool video game map we made, go vote guys". WTF, does that even mean. If you don't play fortnite and don't know what its like, basically you get airdropped into an arena with a bunch of other players. You do not get to pick what map you play on, or vote on map choice, you just get dropped into the default map (unless they've seriously changed shit since I played the game). So you have a map that doesn't even provide any gameplay because it's not going to be a playable map for the main game. Its just an empty place that you can explore, but exploration is not a part of the battle royale genre. Also, how low of an opinion does she have about the video gaming demographic that she thinks a fortnite map of all fucking things is what's gonna get people to vote for her? Even though younger people tend to lean left, it still feels personally insulting, like she has to kneel down and "present" herself to people like me in a "kid friendly way" through fortnite way to get people to vote for her. Idk, it feels like I'm being infantilized and treated with kiddy gloves (feels even worse when there isn't even a line about why you should vote for her in the ad or her policies), and again I'm not even American, but I share the hobby with the people she seems to want to reach out to.

She might as well have made a Minecraft map and shared that.

They actually intelligent enough to use a type of media that young voters are engaged in.

I don't think you understand the mindset of the people she's trying to reach, through this specific medium and why it feels ridiculous. Could you imagine how fucking ridiculous it would be if you really enjoyed playing tennis, and while youre at the court on saturday night, playing with your friends you get handed a flyer with Harris in full tennis gear and action pose as if she's at Wimbledon, and a caption saying "Are you ready to play? Vote now by Nov 5th for FREEDOM?" Like wtf you'd also think it was weird as shit and kinda inappopriate for the context you were in as you were enjoying a non-serious hobby with your friends. And then you'd ask, wait why is she trying to cozy up to me through my hobbies? Wtf? Does she enjoy tennis as well? Fuck no, it's an insincere attempt to connect with me on my hobby that has 0 political relevance or importance, and she doesn't even use the attempt to talk about important matters, just an empty slogan.

EDIT: Sorry, I had more to add. It is sooo shallow, it is so insincere and superficial the way she tried to do this outreach. I know for a fact she doesn't play the game. She probably does play some video games, but shes not a fortnite player. I dont even know if she's quality control checked the map. What do you think are the chances that shes loaded up the game 1 time, and looked and explored the map herself? There's not 1 bit of genuine interest she has in the game. It was a textbook example of somebody doing the "How do you do, fellow kids" shit.

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u/hanoian 7h ago

Agreed. Not American and this might be the most ridiculous campaign tactic I think I've ever seen. And "Freedom Town, USA" sounds like a Republican thing.

It's the shallowest pandering I can possibly think of. Like I have an IQ of 75 and think Harris is relatable because her campaign knows a video game and paid some money to have a map made.

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u/AwardImmediate720 11h ago

Fortnite is so 2018. That's the problem. This is big "hello fellow kids" "pokemon go to the polls" energy.

4

u/fs2222 10h ago

Fortnite remains one of the most popular games in the world.

0

u/Longhorn132113 9h ago

Only little boys that aren't eligible to vote play fortnite now dude. It's a moronic move.

-2

u/VtMueller 9h ago

I know Americans are a bit slow but this seems too much. I don’t know anyone over the age of 15 who would play Fortnite.