A group of activist gamers is turning Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto into training grounds for real-world ICE encounters. New Save Collective launched virtual role-playing events where players simulate immigration raids, teaching participants their legal rights and how to respond when authorities show up. It's a direct counter-narrative to federal agencies that have been recruiting in gaming spaces with Halo and Pokémon memes.
Gaming just became the latest battleground for immigration rights. New Save Collective, a group of activist gamers, launched their first virtual ICE raid simulation this week in Grand Theft Auto 5 RP, turning what's typically escapist entertainment into civic education.
SteveTheGamer55 streamed the November 20 event to his 4.6 million YouTube subscribers, role-playing as a visa holder confronted by in-game ICE agents. The scenario played out with chilling realism - masked agents surrounding him on a sidewalk, demanding ID while bystanders shouted protests. Later scenes showed players gathering outside virtual detention centers, with one participant in a red suit demanding to see warrants.
"Really wanna show you guys some real-life scenarios," SteveTheGamer55 told viewers during the stream, according to Wired. The simulation gave viewers a visceral preview of what ICE encounters actually look like, complete with the confusion and fear that comes with sudden enforcement actions.
The timing isn't coincidental. Federal agencies have been aggressively recruiting in gaming spaces, with the Department of Homeland Security posting Halo 3 parodies that reference "finishing this fight" alongside images of alien destruction. They've also borrowed Pokémon's "gotta catch 'em all" tagline in videos showing actual arrests.
"The right has built some pretty strong institutions within gaming that have co-opted and weaponized the social features of gaming for bad," PitaBreadFace, one of New Save Collective's organizers, told Wired. The organizer, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, points to movements like Gamergate as examples of how gaming spaces can be exploited.
New Save Collective's counter-strategy leverages the same platforms but flips the script. Tonight, they're hosting a closed scavenger hunt in Epic Games' Fortnite that will teach community organizing and how to combat xenophobia online. Players need to be onboarded to join, as organizers have already dealt with people posing as ICE agents spreading misinformation in their communities.
The educational approach makes sense given the demographics. "Some of the folks who play GTA roleplay are [police] officers in real life or are lawyers in real life," Anosh Polticoal, another organizer, explained to Wired. The gaming sessions become practical training for people who might actually encounter these situations.
The group is partnering with Define American, an organization focused on changing media portrayals of immigrants. "In order for politics to change around immigration, we first need to change the public discourse," Shauna Siggelkow, the group's vice president of programs, told Wired.
This represents a significant shift in how activist organizing works. Where previous generations might have held community meetings or distributed pamphlets, New Save Collective is meeting people where they already spend time - in virtual worlds. Gaming platforms have become protest venues, with Roblox hosting both pro-Palestine rallies and anti-ICE demonstrations.
The gaming industry's scale makes this approach particularly powerful. Fortnite alone has over 400 million registered users, while GTA 5 has sold more than 190 million copies. That's a massive audience that traditional civic education rarely reaches, especially younger demographics who get more of their news and social interaction through gaming than traditional media.
The organizers aren't naive about the challenges. Gaming spaces have historically been hostile to marginalized communities, and federal recruitment efforts specifically target games with "protect the homeland" messaging. First-person shooters and military-themed games already prime players for law enforcement narratives.
But New Save Collective sees this as exactly why their work matters. "Most of us are immigrants, or children of immigrants, or children of refugees," PitaBreadFace explained. "We're here at this stage in the political climate to cultivate some belonging, but also move people towards a shared purpose that everyone seems pretty hungry for."
The group plans to continue organizing events across different gaming platforms, building what they hope will become a sustained counter-narrative to federal recruitment efforts. They're grounding their approach in research, having tracked anti-immigrant disinformation in digital spaces for years.
New Save Collective's gaming approach represents a new front in digital organizing, meeting people in virtual spaces where they're already spending time. As federal agencies increasingly use gaming culture for recruitment, activist counter-programming becomes essential for balancing the narrative. The success of these initial events could establish gaming platforms as legitimate venues for civic education, particularly for younger audiences who might never engage with traditional activist organizing.
