Chapter 2, Season 3 of Fortnite has brought a lot of changes to the iconic game, including plunging a good chunk of its game map underwater. As fans have navigated the new map, they’ve begun to notice a lot of new modifications — including a pretty significant aesthetic one. Over the weekend, Fortnite players noticed that the game’s array of defunct vehicles no longer includes police cars. As fans began to notice, the police cars have been replaced by default cars, or taken out of the game’s map entirely.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The police cars have also been removed from the game’s Creative Mode, which allows fans to craft their own setting or gameplay. According to one Reddit comment, if a police car falls from the “Junk Rift” feature used in Creative Mode, it will turn into a default car once it hits the ground.
In the days since the move was first noticed, fans have begun to speculate about the reason behind it, especially in light of the worldwide protests surrounding police brutality and racial inequality in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders. As some had suggested, the mere presence of police cars in the game – especially as driveable cars will seemingly be introduced at some point in Season 3 – could have potentially gotten problematic.
The Wall Street Journal confirmed the change, with a source claiming that the move was not setting out to make a “political statement”, but was a sign of Epic Games being “sensitive about the issues” that its players are dealing with.
Fortnite is just the latest piece of pop culture to make a change amid the ongoing protests – and the conversation they have sparked surrounding the role of the police. In recent weeks, reality shows such as Cops and Live PD have been canceled by their respective networks.
What do you think of Fortnite removing police cars from its game? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
