Fortnite's Holocaust Museum Sparks Debate Among Players

Gamezo writes "Jewish developer Luc Benard along with a team of developers have created a virtual museum within Fortnite Creative to educate players about the Holocaust."

[aaronaton]

Education should be done in school, games are escapism. Slippery slope for sure.

[VenomUK]

I remember watching a YouTube clip somebody made in Fortnite as they tried to watch the recording of Martin Luther King give his 'I have a dream' speech being played on a giant outdoor screen. And there was this little c*** who kept going up to him and dancing in front of his character, and when he moved he was following him.

As a kid I can see there would be humour in annoying others but this kind of thing is not appropriate if you're trying to discuss the sombre issue of the Holocaust. Featuring serious issues in games like Fortnite does seem gimmicky, but on the other hand educating young people on these topics to an initial level through games could be an appropriate method to reach them. Maybe the best way to balance it all is for Epic Games to enforce a different set of controls when in the Holocaust museum - eg, not allow frivolity such as dance moves.

[KrystofKage1]

A video game where you shoot each other to death until only 1 person or team is left standing. And they thought putting black history month in it was a good idea.

Nah man, that was a dumb move by Epic. The kids playing fortnite don't want to be educated, they want to play the damn game. If Epic doesn't like it, then another developer is more than happy to have those players join their game instead.

[EvertonFC]

Then we wouldn't get gems like "The light in the darkness" or "valiant hearts".
Nowt wrong with educating in games.

I've learnt more playing games and watching films about war more than I ever did in school with useless teachers who couldn't give to shits.

[ChasterMies]

100% wrong. Games can be anything, including educational. The Assassin’s Creed Origin museum mode is fantastic. You can learn a lot about objectivism from Bioshock. Oregon Trail will always be a classic,

[dumahim]

I was going to mention the AC thing. Using popular games to add some educational content is a good way to get people interested in something they might not want or able to. I can see how an interactive medium like AC would be much easier to access and more interesting than say, going there and visiting the ruins or just reading some text in a book or on a website.

[Christopher]

Games can be anything. Let's not try and gate keep gaming. TV Shows are also escapism, as are movies, but they can be educational as well.

[Killa78]

This seems very inconsiderate though.

People who had family suffering during the Holocaust surely don't want them to be remembered in a battle royale game!?

[goldwyncq]

Inconsiderate how? If it's done in a book, film, or a tv show, people don't raise an eyebrow, but if a game does it it's suddenly inconsiderate?

I'm pretty sure the Jewish developer behind this project have already given it plenty of thought and doesn't need the opinion of a non-Jew telling them that they're being inconsiderate to their own people...

[Killa78]

You don't know if I'm Jewish or not.

And books, TV etc don't shoe-horn in the holocaust memorial as an afterthought in an action movie. Fortnight is a battle royale game with indiscriminate violence and a poison gas cloud/storm which shrinks the map.

I don't have to explain how that could be construed as inconsiderate.

[anast]

"I'm pretty sure the Jewish developer behind this project have already given it plenty of thought.."

This doesn't make one person an authority over events that have affected millions up millions of lives.

[CrimsonWing69]

It’s weird for sure. Like, you see this and then what, go murder a bunch of people? Honestly, why would you include this in a game that doesn’t have a contextual need for it? I haven’t played Fortnite, so maybe I’m off base. Is there a learning center or something where this makes sense to be included?

[ThichQuangDuck]

Terrible idea for so many reasons