Call it the age of PlayStation politics.
Where Bill Clinton went on MTV and Barack Obama seized on social media, modern-day Democrats see online video gaming as the next high-tech frontier for reaching young voters.
And a Canadian company is helping to lead the virtual charge.
Toronto-based Enthusiast Gaming was at the cusp of the presidential effort last year, helping to stitch Joe Biden鈥檚 brand and message into a customized map for the wildly popular game 鈥淔ortnite.鈥�
Prior to the election, fans of Nintendo鈥檚 鈥淎nimal Crossing: New Horizons鈥� downloaded Biden and Kamala Harris avatars and decorated their islands with Biden-Harris lawn signs.
And two weeks out from election day, New York rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and fellow progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar attracted nearly 440,000 viewers 鈥� unheard of for political figures 鈥� when they played 鈥淎mong Us鈥� live on the streaming site Twitch.
The AOC livestream was so popular, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh quickly jumped at the opportunity to engage the popular progressive firebrand in a cross-border rematch 鈥� an event that raised more than US$200,000 for anti-poverty endeavours in the U.S.
READ MORE: Jagmeet Singh, AOC to fight it out in 鈥楢mong Us鈥� video game on Twitch
For Adrian Montgomery, Enthusiast Gaming鈥檚 40-something CEO, the intersection of video games and political campaigns in 2020 has been nothing short of seminal.
鈥淭his was such an interesting moment that鈥檚 going to change political discourse, and it was pretty cool to be a part of it,鈥� Montgomery said in an interview.
He likened it to Clinton鈥檚 famous sunglasses-and-saxophone appearance on the Arsenio Hall show in 1992, or a Playboy interview in 1976 that nearly ended Jimmy Carter鈥檚 career.
鈥淚 see the Joe Biden campaign using video games and AOC and 鈥楩ortnite鈥� takeovers as similarily transformational, and I think it鈥檚 going to change how young people are treated in future elections,鈥� he said.
鈥淭hey certainly have proven that they do come out and vote and they can make a difference. And so I think that鈥檚 going to put wind in our sails.鈥�
There was more to the Biden-Harris 鈥淔ortnite鈥� map than just campaign billboards and 鈥淏uild Back Better鈥� sloganeering.
Gamers who took on the map were confronted with six unique challenges to complete, all of them steeped not only in the lore of the former Delaware senator, but also his campaign goals and messages.
Players were tasked with gathering industrial waste from 鈥淎viator River,鈥� retrofitting an auto factory to build electric cars with solar power; and installing 5G towers throughout the map 鈥渢o ensure every American has access to broadband.鈥�
Along the way, they were exhorted to send text messages or visit websites in order to receive detailed instructions on how to obtain mail-in ballots or vote in person on election day.
Montgomery will take part in a panel at the Canadian Club in Toronto on Tuesday, talking gaming and politics with Allison Stern, who headed up the digital partnerships project for the Biden campaign. They鈥檒l also be joined by Heidi Browning, the chief marketing officer for the National Hockey League.
Video games, already a US$150-billion colossus that dwarfs both the music and film industries, represent an untapped resource that found an even firmer footing in a year when people around the world were forced to stay in their homes.
Online games, which can provide players with a unique sense of connection and community even from a distance, were made for the moment, Montgomery said.
And with speculation already rampant about the possibility of an election in Canada this year, he sounds excited about the prospects.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very rare when you can reach young people at scale, and you can do it in a way that they鈥檇 be receptive to,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not currently engaged, but I think we obviously have the track record. And it would be interesting to extrapolate that into other endeavours and other campaigns.鈥�
James McCarten, The Canadian Press
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