
No, not as a playable skin ... but still.
Following hot on the heels of in-game concerts by Travis Scott and Ariana Grande comes ... Martin Luther King Jr.?
Game maker Epic announced on Thursday that it was celebrating the civil rights icon with the introduction of a new virtual interactive experience called "March Through Time."
Instead of running around the Island assassinating each other, players will instead be immersed in the assassinated leader's monumental "I Have A Dream" speech, and the history surrounding it.

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View StoryGamers will be teleported to "D.C. 63, a reimagined Washington... and to the Lincoln Memorial and United States National Mall, where Dr. King gave his iconic 17-minute speech for Civil Rights."
Completing collaborative mini-quests will also earn you a "D.C. 63" tag you can spray paint on walls in the game.
Watch a teaser for the experience below:
Gamers weren't really sure how to take the news at first, especially as many on Twitter seemed to think Dr. King would actually be a playable skin — same as Mr. Meowscles, Mancake, or Mr. Peely — and thus incredibly disrespectful.
But even after the clarification, some online still weren't convinced the well-intentioned idea was a good one.
As Black Girl Gamers pointed out on twitter, while the programmers didn't allow weapons in D.C 63, they didn't deactivate Fortnight's trademark silly dances, and demonstrated with a clip of someone doing one in front of one of the screens playing Dr. King's speech:
What did we just say....?
— Black Girl Gamers (@blackgirlgamers) August 26, 2021 @blackgirlgamers
See now...why didn't they deactivate dancing emotes and any emotes that would be deemed disrespectful? pic.twitter.com/nCRd75GTlv
Dear Publishers,
— Black Girl Gamers (@blackgirlgamers) August 26, 2021 @blackgirlgamers
WE ARE RIGHT HERE. Some of your industry peers are consulting with us.....why aren't you? pic.twitter.com/UvmevrXMlT
It's just. At every step, someone in the boardroom thought this was a good idea. (There either ain't no Black devs in the boardroom or they too afraid to speak up IMO.)
— ❦ Slow & Steady Gay Art and queer gamedev❦ (@JTPhillipsMNR) August 26, 2021 @JTPhillipsMNR
And my brain is stuck between WHY?, HOW?, and a dumpster fire gif. pic.twitter.com/WHNsO50xST
Others who had early access to the experience shared screen grabs of their own avatars wandering the area ... in xenomorph, Master Chief and Thanos skins.
"Master Chief you mind telling me what you're doing at MLK's I Have a Dream speech?"
— AetherStar (@_AetherStar) August 26, 2021 @_AetherStar
"Sir. Fighting for Equality" https://t.co/pszcXhTPgV
When I woke up today I didn't expect to see Thanos attending a MLK event. pic.twitter.com/vqAEM8dyqn
— Unga Bunga Garen (@GuyWithJeans) August 26, 2021 @GuyWithJeans
I think Rick Sanchez and the xenomorph from Alien learned something today, and have been given a lot to reflect on. pic.twitter.com/ja4oHwkA0U
— Chris Franklin (@Campster) August 26, 2021 @Campster
Epic claims it got the blessing of both the DuSable Museum of African American History, and the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr ... one can only assume they didn't mention the whole Floss part.
