The New Save Collective, a specialized group of activist gamers, launched a series of immersive educational events in Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto this week to teach players how to exercise their legal rights during ICE encounters and counter government recruitment efforts in digital spaces. Starting with a high-stakes role-play event on November 20, the collective is leveraging the massive reach of battle royale platforms to provide “Know Your Rights” training to a demographic increasingly targeted by federal agencies.
From Battle Royales to Civil Rights Training
During a recent session in a Grand Theft Auto role-play server, a player known as SteveTheGamer55 was intercepted by masked ICE agents emerging from an SUV. As the virtual agents demanded identification, surrounding players intervened, questioning the legality of the harassment and demanding the character’s release. Later, the simulation moved to a digital reconstruction of an iron-gated detention center, where a player acting as a legal representative demanded to see a warrant—a direct lesson in real-world constitutional protections.
These orchestrated scenarios are part of a broader strategy by the New Save Collective, a group of 13 gamers with backgrounds in community organizing. Following the role-play event, the group scheduled a closed scavenger hunt within Fortnite on November 21 to foster a more casual, yet educational, environment. By collaborating with immigration advocacy groups and prominent content creators, the collective aims to transform gaming from a passive pastime into a tool for civic empowerment.
Countering DHS “Halo” and “Pokémon” Propaganda
The movement arrives as a direct response to the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) aggressive expansion into gaming culture. In October, the DHS drew criticism for social media campaigns that co-opted iconic gaming imagery, including a Halo-inspired post featuring the “Destroy the Flood” tagline and Pokémon-themed videos showing ICE agents performing arrests. A DHS spokesperson defended the tactics to the media, stating the agency intends to “reach people where they are” using familiar mediums like The Lord of the Rings and Pokémon.
“The right has built some pretty strong institutions within gaming that have co-opted and weaponized the social features of gaming for bad,” says an organizer using the pseudonym PitaBreadFace. He notes that while the demographic of gaming is diversifying, the infrastructure for progressive organizing has lagged behind. The New Save Collective seeks to fill this vacuum by building communities oriented toward authenticity and mutual aid rather than exclusion.
Building Inclusive Institutions in Gaming Culture
The shift toward digital protest is not limited to Fortnite. Platforms like Roblox have recently hosted large-scale rallies regarding international conflicts and domestic immigration policy. For organizers like Anosh Polticoal, the crossover between virtual roles and real-world professions—where GTA players are often actual lawyers or officers—provides a unique pedagogical opportunity. “It’s a way to get folks to know or get used to what that might look like,” Polticoal explains, emphasizing that bystander intervention is a critical skill for both citizens and non-citizens.
A Scavenger Hunt for Legal Empowerment
The Fortnite scavenger hunt serves as a vetting and onboarding process to protect the community from bad actors. Organizers reported that pro-ICE accounts have already attempted to infiltrate their servers to spread misinformation. To combat this, the group works closely with Define American, an organization dedicated to shifting the narrative around immigrants in media. Shauna Siggelkow, Vice President of Programs at Define American, asserts that gaming is a critical frontier for this work.
“We’ve been tracking anti-immigrant myths and disinformation digitally for years,” Siggelkow says. “In order for politics to change around immigration, we first need to change the public discourse.” By grounding their campaigns in data and research, the New Save Collective and its partners are attempting to reclaim the digital landscape, ensuring that the “homeland security” narratives found in first-person shooters are met with a robust defense of human rights.
