Epic and Time Magazine hosting Martin Luther King experience in Fornite, not without controversy

Epic is hosting March Through Time, an interactive experience within Fortnite designed in collaboration with Time Magazine.

The experience transports players to D.C. 63, a reimagined Washington, DC, where Dr. King gave the iconic I Have a Dream speech. You can listen to it, too, because Epic and Time were able to license the speech from Dr. King’s family’s estate.

“The experience extends with museum-inspired points of interest, and collaborative mini-game quests you complete with others. These activities progress players through the experience and bring to life important themes of Dr. King’s speech: we move forward when we work together,” the Fortnite team said.

It’s not the first time that Fortnite has featured serious content like this. Last year, Epic hosted a discussion about race in the US in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

However, multiple media outlets have questioned if Fortnite is really the best venue to pay tribute to Dr. King’s legacy.

“I think Rick Sanchez and the xenomorph from Alien learned something today, and have been given a lot to reflect on,” tweeted video game critic Chris Franklin. “You can’t sell licensed skins for your social Battle Royale Party one minute, then expect it to be a serious place to learn about history the next. Fortnite by its nature can’t be everything.”

In an unfortunate coincidence, Franklin also came across a loading screen for the Martin Luther King tribute that said: “Headshots do significant damage! Aim for the head!” What is clearly a random piece of content simply could not have been more inappropriate in the context of Dr. King’s assasination.

On the other hand, there’s no denying that given Fortnite‘s massive audience, the title can really be an effective as an educational tool.