Remembrance Island

Challenge

With more than 100 years having passed since the end of World War I, the significance of Remembrance Day and the importance of honouring military Veterans had become unclear to many trailing Millennial and Gen Z Canadians.

The Royal Canadian Legion needed to find new and meaningful ways to educate younger Canadians about Canada’s military history.

Inspiration

While young Canadians had little awareness of the real wars Canada (and the young Canadians before them) had fought in, many engaged in frequent virtual combat themselves, as players of the battle-based video game, Fortnite.

What if we found a way to educate them about Canada’s military history and foster respect for veterans through their go-to game?

Idea

We brought the Legion’s awareness and educational message directly to the Fortnite platform, being careful to disrupt, not interrupt.

Using available Fortnite creative platform tools, we produced a custom Fortnite “Remembrance Island,” featuring recreations of WWI trenches, D-Day beaches, a Canadian military cemetery, the well-known Vimy Ridge memorial cenotaph and more.

Unlike standard Fortnite gameplay, the only player objectives were to discover 30 museum-like info panels and follow the poppies to the memorial. No fighting, no damage, no weaponry.

Growth

“Remembrance Island” let Canada’s young gamers learn about and participate in Remembrance Day in ways they’d never considered before, with heightened meaning and relevance.

There was coverage by CBC & CTV, and front-page coverage in the Globe and Mail and it was selected to appear in the National War Museum in Ottawa.