Fortnite‘s become a platform for all sorts of things – DJ concerts, Star Wars previews – so it makes sense for organisations to use game as a way to reach out. And having already worked with ArmA 3 developers Bohemia, the Red Cross has now turned to Fortnite to highlight the work it does in conflict areas.
The new creative mode, which is being shown off at PAX South Monday Australian time, is called “Liferun”. It’s a mode where players have four main objectives: buggy races to distribute aid to civilians as quickly as possible, rebuilding key infrastructure, healing civilians and demining locations.
Delivering goods to villages, for instance, takes place on a snowy mountaintop where the player skis down with med kits, fish, shields and so on. The rebuilding effort starts by collecting resources and rebuilding a school, while the desert map gives you explosives so you can clear a desert map of landmines.
It’s not the most complex map every made in Fortnite. But it is a genuine attempt by the ICRC to engage with younger gamers, a lesson more organisations and brands could learn from.
“Video games have been mainstream entertainment and social platforms for a long time, and we know that many gamers are also current, past or future soldiers, army officers, armed group members, CEOs of companies, lawyers and political leaders,” the Red Cross’s Jennifer Hauseman said. “We need to talk to them in a smart and engaging way to explain that civilians suffer greatly in conflict.”
The Fortnite mode is also a sign of just how far the Red Cross’s attitude to video games has changed. In 2011, the International Committee of the Red Cross made unfortunate headlines for drawing links between video games and the war crimes committed by virtual military forces. The humanitarian group held an event to discuss whether the Geneva and Hague conventions should be applied to video games, but that simply resulted in an enormous storm of press that forced the ICRC to confirm they weren’t actually looking to prosecute video gamers for virtual war crimes.
Still, the episode caused the ICRC to change how they engaged with video games, and they started reaching out quietly to game developers to start a dialogue. Most studios ignored them – the ICRC’s Christian Rouffaer told Polygon that studios didn’t want to be seen with the ICRC for fear of angering their player base. But one studio that got in touch was Bohemia Interactive, which resulted in the creation of the Laws of War DLC for ArmA 3.
[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/09/military-shooter-expansion-shows-you-the-toll-your-battles-take/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/fschrbxjb15q2ue8u4es.jpg” title=”Military Shooter Expansion Shows You The Toll Your Battles Take” excerpt=”Playing as a young man, I run up verdant hills to a church. I’m told of this person’s disdain for local conflict-heavy politics and his love for his community. Then I step on a mine and die. No respawn. That was just the game’s opening.”]
If you want to try the mode out for yourself, the Fortnite code is 1992-1013-9260.
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