Epic Games’ popular battle royale shooter, Fortnite, is bringing an incredibly respectful and sombre lesson to many by including a museum in the online game. The museum will contain information about the Holocaust and will act as a location gamers may use to learn the history of the tragic World War 2 event. It will also be a way for players to honour the victims of those who died due to the Holocaust and will help inform future generations.
This information comes from Luc Bernard, the Director of The Light in the Darkness, which is the first video game about the Holocaust. The video game designer and artist expressed his pride over the Fortnite Holocaust museum, announcing its existence on Twitter. His post includes pictures of the museum and says the following:
“The first Holocaust Museum in Fortnite has been approved today by Epic Games.
Super proud that we will be the first to bring something like this to Fortnite’s 400 million + players.
80% of Americans haven’t visited a [Holocaust] Museum. So this is game changing.”
Attached to the post are images from Fortnite showing memorials and the content they include. There are pieces on Kristallnach (The Night of Broken Glass), Abdol Hossein Sardari, The Holocaust in Greece, and The Jews of Tunisia. There is also information next to the images, just like a real life museum. For example, The Jews of Tunisia exhibit image says the following:
“In June 1940, Tunisia became part of Vichy, France. Under Pétain’s collaborationist regime the Jews of Vichy Tunisia were subjected to the laws of Vichy, France.
As per a French and German document they were considered part of Europe relevant to the final solution of the Jewish question.
They were forced to wear the yellow badge (Star of David) and more than 5,000 were sent to forced labor camps. An additional 160 Jews of Tunisia living in France were sent to extermination camps.
Because of the distance from the Nazi camps in Central and Eastern Europe, they avoided the fate of Jews living in France due to the allies defeating Nazi Germany.”
The Fortnite Holocaust Museum Is A New and Important Piece of History
Although some might be surprised that Fortnite would introduce a Holocaust museum to the game, given its lighthearted content, it is nonetheless an important step for gaming. As mentioned by Bernard, Fortnite brings in over 400 million players, a majority of which are under 24 years old. The Fortnite museum will spread truth about the six million who died and will be a way for younger generations to learn about those horrors.
Video games have been utilized as a valuable form of communication and learning for children and adults. Even some schools have utilized gaming to teach certain subjects and help students understand difficult concepts. The Fortnite Holocaust museum will work in the same way and will hopefully get players asking more questions about our world’s history.
Those who might be concerned the action based gameplay in Fortnite could get in the way of such an impressive memorial should rest assured certain features will be removed in the museum. According to Bernard:
“Emotes and destruction and no weapons are enabled in this map.
It’s more protected than even memorials where people take selfies.”
It is clear Epic Games wants Fortnite to encourage the study of history and is taking precautions to ensure it is respected. Although it has just been approved and is unclear when Fortnite plans to open the museum to the public, Bernard is hopeful it will be in the next few weeks. Epic Games has created something to honor those who are gone and has made a mark on video game history .
Leave a comment and tell us what you think of this important Fortnite memorial and the positive impact it will have on gamers around the world.
Source: Twitter
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