CARY – Epic Games has removed police cars from its globally popular multiplayer Fortnite game, but why it did so is not clear. Epic is not commenting.
Players began noticing that police cars had disappeared from the game as a new “season” of Fortnite was rolled out over the weekend.
Despite a lot of media attention, Epic hasn’t explained its reasoning.
Epic also recently delated a major Fortnite event and the launch of its new season due to sensitivity concerns.
As players have noted, Fortnite’s “maps” for play have frequently been loaded with police cars alongside other vehicles.
“While many of the map’s decorative vehicles are gone due to the water, some players have noticed the absence of police cars in particular,” reports gaming news site Kotaku.
“There aren’t any to be found in Creative mode either. According to a Reddit comment, police cars will fall from a junk rift thrown in Creative, but they turn to regular cars when they fall,” reported Riley MacLeod.
“I tested a dozen junk rifts in Creative mode myself, but I never saw a police car.”
The Wall Street Journal reported the “change that comes amid a national debate over law-enforcement practices in response to the killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.”
But whether the cars were removed in reaction to that event and other violence is not clear.
“I wonder if this is a response to blm [Black Lives Matter],” a player noted at Reddit.
Added another: “Fortnite defunded the police.”
A “person familiar with the game’s development” told The Journal:
“I wouldn’t say it’s a political statement. I think it’s just us being sensitive about the issues many people in our audience are dealing with, ” this person said.
Epic Games delays Fortnite’s new season, live event ‘The Device’ for third time
