Proving its ability to adapt, the British Army is keen on recruiting Fortnite players, or at least it was. Social media posts and a trailer promoting “Operation: Belong” appear to have been taken down following backlash to a recruitment drive aimed at the game’s youthful audience.
As reported by Eurogamer, Operation: Belong advertised a custom, boot-camp-style map created in Fortnite, and was all set to be promoted by a series of high-profile influencers before seemingly disappearing. It looked pretty good, too, which is perhaps the strangest part; the designers who worked on it knew what they were doing.
A since-deleted post by the official Army Jobs account read: “Check it out, @Elzthewitch and @yungfilly1 battle to Be The Best on our new Fortnite experience Operation: Belong.” The accompanying trailer showed Jonesy, the game’s default main character, and other Fortnite characters running, shooting, and taking on an obstacle-filled assault course. It’s unclear if the British Army’s planned livestream event will go ahead, scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, 24th January. Considering musician Yung Filly and YouTuber and presenter Elz The Witch have now deleted their posts promoting the event, we doubt it.
Eurogamer contacted Epic Games for comments and was told the promotion is currently “undergoing moderation.” As it turns out, you aren’t allowed to “promote enrollment in the military” per Epic Games ironclad Fortnite Island Creator Rules, so the British Army is going to have to rethink its strategy on this one.
Does playing Fortnite make you want to enlist in a real-world military? Are the quick building tips we picked up playing transferrable at all to something like the Royal Sappers Corp? Proceed directly to the nearest recruitment centre, located in the comments section below.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
