Today the city of Nagasaki in Japan and the Heritage Databank project announced that the abandoned Hashima island, commonly known as “Gunkanjima” (Battleship Island) has been made into an island on Epic Games’ Fortnite.
This initiative which marks another addition to Fortnite’s growing Metaverse, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the island’s approval as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The island, titled “Gunkanjima Archive,” will be kept online permanently and can be visited via the following code: 4058-6239-4733.
Below you can check out a video and a galley of screenshots shared in the press release.
The entire island is accessible in Fortnite, including the many restricted areas that visitors aren’t normally allowed to enjoy in the real world. It was created using a 3D scan of the real island for digital archiving.
You can take a look at the island from above, which is normally impossible, and even take a boat ride around it. There are 13 checkpoints that you can visit, which provide information on the site.
More content will be added in the future with more details that will be shared on March 12, 2025. All revenue made by the stage will be utilized for the preservation of the real island, which is slowly deteriorating.
If you’re unfamiliar with Gunkanjima, it’s an abandoned island located 18 km southwest of the port of Nagasaki. It was once used as a coal mining base and was home to over 5,000 people. It was at the cutting edge of technology in Japan including land reclamation and the construction of the country’s first high-rise apartment building made of reinforced concrete.
However, the mine was closed in 1974 and the island was abandoned. Since then, the buildings have been deteriorating and some are collapsing.
Heritage Databank has been pioneering a new form of conservation based on the use of 3D scanning technology to digitally archive and showcase natural and cultural heritage sites.
This helps their preservation in case they are damaged by overtourism, natural disasters, and simply time. The work done to turn Gunkanjima into an island in Fortnite is a good example of how these scans can be utilized to raise awareness and provide the public with a unique view of a site.
