Kamala Harris is using her 'Fortnite' card to find young voters

Tim Kroplin/watson.de

From time to time, political election campaigns are transferred into the world of video games. During the last U.S. election (2020), the Democratic campaign team set up an island in “Animal Crossing” with Biden as the focus. While the coronavirus rages on in the real world, cows graze next to friendly “Vote” signs.

US presidential candidate Kamala Harris is now following in those gamepad-sized footsteps. However, unlike US President Joe Biden, her name doesn't lure you into a nice idyll, but into a more competitive shooter, even if it's not exactly brutal.

Harris' campaign created a “Fortnite” map in a corresponding “Vote Kamala” style. Clearly, the campaign leadership wants to attract as many young people as possible. The obvious thought is that, after all, Joe Biden is the President of the United States, and dabbling in the game clearly isn't hurting him.

Unlike the rest of Fortnite's trivial Wild West, the Kamala map isn't about shooting until only one character remains. Instead, players should complete a number of missions in Liberty City, USA. The reward is information about the candidate's campaign.

Players must acquire construction equipment and build houses. It's all about Harris' housing policy. Their stated goal is: to increase inventory by 3 million. Good idea.

On the one hand, the U.S. housing deficit is about 3 million in 2022. On the other hand, the tight housing market is likely to cause young voters to resent U.S. President Biden. Rents have increased 24% in recent years, but average hourly wages have nearly stagnated over the past decade.

Crafting games like Fortnite can serve as tools for political projects that address the housing crisis. However, due to the simplicity of the mission and the obvious purpose of the card itself being to promote Harris, the response was rather lackluster.

The Harris strategy is not popular among young people

In the first 24 hours, only about 300 players streamed through Freedom Town USA. Compare this: During the same period, popular maps such as “Ranked Reloaded” had over 300,000 players.

Maybe it’s not just the task that’s a little daunting. The city of Harris also has a gun ban. As smart as it is, Fortnite is also action-focused, and Harris isn't in favor of a total gun ban anyway. If you're still interested in this map, you can find it in the “Fortnite” database using the code 7331-5536-6547.

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