'Fortnite' Players Accidentally Create a Swastika

A Fortnite player on Reddit discovered that if you build a certain type of panel in a certain pattern, it will unintentionally create a swastika. Then they posted it on on the Fortnite Battle Royale subreddit. So yeah, that’s awkward.

Redditor EuBestCityEu was making an impromptu dance floor when one of the player’s teammates noticed that they accidentally created a goddamn swastika. Fortunately, an Epic Games developer spotted the thread and assured everyone that the team will change the art so that this can’t be replicated in the future. “Thanks for bringing this to our attention,” the developer said on Reddit. “This was unintended and will be addressed ASAP by adjusting the metal piece art!”

This is hardly the first time the swastikas have landed game companies in controversy. The infamous Episode 6, Floor 3 map in Wolfenstein 3D is laid out as a series of swastikas.

Nintendo landed in hot water when some kids got their hands on Japanese Pokémon cards, some of which prominently feature a manji in their artwork. Manji is the Japanese term for a left-facing swastika, which is seen as a mystical symbol that can have many meanings. In fact, the swastikas are ubiquitous all throughout East Asia, and they typically mark the location of holy sites such as Buddhist temples.

Unfortunately, this ancient symbol which was once ubiquitously seen in nearly every culture from the Vikings to the Navajo was appropriated by the Nazis and is now synonymous with fascism and genocide in the western world.

Which brings us to why it definitely needs to be patched out, and thankfully, Epic Games is doing just that. A representative from the company told The Verge that the adjustment will be patched in sometime next week and it’ll look like this: