Fighting fake news with fantasy

A business journal fact-checks an epic fantasy game to conquer the curse of false information.

da Maud Largeaud , AdForum

Disinformation and fake news are particularly damaging to younger audiences, who tend to be more accepting of the information they find online. To highlight the problem, the Budapest Business Journal – Hungary’s leading business publication – used Elden Ring, one of last year’s most successful video game launches. The fantasy game allows players to leave messages for each other, the idea being that sharing information allows everyone to progress further. But sometimes those messages are fake, leading players to dead ends – and even to the death of their characters! So the Journal stepped in to help by fact-checking as many messages as it could, demonstrating the danger of false information and affirming the importance of fact-checking in real life. When a fake fact leads to the axe for your avatar, the message is pretty clear