Fortnite launches Martin Luther King interactive event to mixed reactions from players
March Through Time event takes place inside the game’s non-violent Creative Mode
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The hit battle royale game Fortnite is hosting an interactive experience themed around the late civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
Entitled March Through Time, the event is being held in the game’s non-violent Creative Mode, and allows players to journey around recreations of locations in Washington DC, where King delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech six decades ago.
Players are able to watch the speech in full, and attend museum-like areas in which they can learn about the US civil rights movement.
Reaction to the event has been mixed, with many players suggesting they found the juxtaposition of Fortnite and King’s speech tonally bizarre.
Clips were shared on social media of players incongruously attending the event with avatars designed to look like pop culture figures like Superman or Rick and Morty’s Rick Sanchez.
“The main problem is that Fortnite as it exists is an aesthetically uncanny platform for brand integration so putting Martin Luther King in there, even under the best intentions, will always have a weird vibe,” wrote one Twitter user.
“Losing my mind about how the biopic Selma couldn’t get the licenses to use actual speeches from the estate of Martin Luther King Jr but Fortnite could,” wrote another.
“I understand and believe there is a way to educate younger audiences through games and services, and it will be important to do so in the future, but goodness me this new Fortnite stuff really isn’t it,” wrote someone else.
Others, however, were more positive about the idea, with one person writing: “Just had a quick run through the @FortniteGame MLK content and it’s a really interesting piece of content. It needs some tweaks to fully drive the message home, but at least for me it wasn’t something to start a http://change.org petition about lol.”
March Through Time can be accessed in Fortnite now.