The Biden/Harris campaign is using a custom Fortnite map to teach young voters about key parts of the Democratic platform.
On Oct. 30, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ camp debuted Build Back Better with Biden, a custom, adventure-style, in-game map where players complete a range of challenges related to historically Black universities, clean energy, and environmental conservation.
“With voting underway and days until Election Day, we are continuing to meet people everywhere they are online and offline,” Christian Tom, director of digital partnerships for the campaign, told Mashable. Their goal with the map is “engaging players in a substantive, approachable, and fun way to reach and mobilize voters,” he added.
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Per Mashable, the map’s challenges are thus:
- Help Build a New Research Facility at Champ’s Construction Site: “Build a new research facility at the local Historically Black College. Build to the top, and stay inside the blueprints.”
- Install Three Scranton Towers: “Help install these new 5G Broadband Towers to ensure every American has access to broadband.”
- Restore the Aviator River: “Race to collect industrial waste and restore the river. This challenge highlights Biden’s plan to mobilize the next generation of conservation and resilience workers through a Civilian Climate Corps.”
- Visit Joe’s Famous Ice Cream Shop: “Visit the Ice Cream shop and slide down the colors (flavors) to get as much ice cream as you can.”
- Help Make Major’s Auto Factory Run Clean: “They modified the line to produce electric cars and are now retrofitting the offices before reopening. Install new high efficiency AC units and unwrap the solar panels on the roof.”
- Complete Kamala’s Sneaker Run: “Find all 10 of Kamala’s sneakers around the city.”
Finishing all the challenges takes around 20-30 minutes. While they’re running around, players will see signs within the map urging them to get voting information via makeaplan.com (a Democratic National Committee-funded voter action site) or support the Biden/Harris bid by texting “Fortnite” to 30330 (the number for their “Team Joe” campaign).
Build Back Better with Biden is one of many user-generated, non-combat locations available in Fortnite’s Creative mode. Players can access this mode and the maps within it by selecting it in the matchmaking lobby.
This is the Biden/Harris campaign’s second time squadding up with gamers; in September, they rolled out a line of yard signs for Animal Crossing: New Horizons players. And they aren’t the only Democrats connecting to internet denizens: Sen. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) launched her own Twitch channel last month by streaming hit game Among Us with popular digital creators.
