Ottawa (AFP)
Fans of the hugely popular Fortnite online game were encouraged on Monday to drop virtual weapons to commemorate the Armistice in a no-fight card designed with Canadian veterans.
The Royal Canadian Legion has teamed up with digital marketing company Wunderman Thompson and content creator Jadan Allen to design a virtual "island of remembrance" for this game to some 250 million fans around the world.
With a code to access the map created for the occasion, players can explore the trenches of the First World War, the landing beaches or the rows of a Canadian military cemetery, all recreated from archive footage.
The goal was to reach a younger audience, disconnected from the history and sacrifices of soldiers. "We tried to recreate what the soldiers have been through," AFP Ari Elkouby, artistic director of Wunderman Thompson, told AFP.
"In these online platforms, violence is constant but fictitious," he added. "For the soldiers, in the war, the violence was real, it was not a game, and this experience reminds us, they sacrificed themselves so that we could enjoy life and games."
Thousands of people gathered in Ottawa on Monday for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for an official ceremony in front of Canada's war memorial.
"Today, we thank our military, past and present, for all they have done for our safety and that of people around the world," said Trudeau in a statement on the occasion of the 101st anniversary. of the Armistice of 1918.
© 2019 AFP