Heinz brings baffling tomato and soil corporate synergy to Fortnite

Tomato in Fortnite.
(Image credit: Epic)

The metaverse might, generally speaking, be a bit of a bullshit concept. But one shining proof-of-concept for a lot of the ideas that circulate around it is Fortnite because, honestly, what even is this thing anymore but a platform for anything and everything. Stuff like an Ariana Grande concert or a Marvel showdown make obvious sense as brand crossovers, but at the edges there's all sorts of weirder stuff like a Martin Luther King Jr. exhibition and, now, a map dedicated to informing players about the problems we're facing with soil degradation, sponsored by food giant Heinz.

The interesting element here, in the context of metaverse ramblings, is that Heinz has been a bit of a saucy customer and, while presenting this as some sort of official tie-in and using the Fortnite logo, it hasn't worked with Epic to create this or incorporate it in the game. There's a certain irony in a mass market producer of processed food banging on about things like this, but then I guess who else is going to do it? It uses community tools to create a brand space and push a message the company wants out there. Which in this case is presumably something like "Heinz: We really care about mud."

The stunt is called S.O.S. Tomatoes and consists of an island map that recreates elements of tomato farms, showing off Heinz's "sustainable and regenerative practices" as well as having a storm that shrinks faster than usual. The latter is the metaphor for soil degradation, apparently. The corporate bona fides are taken care of with an additional £100,000 of funds made available for Heinz's own "soil health program" and it claims "$30 will be contributed per acre of tomato farming which equals to a total of 13.5 million m2 of soil which will benefit as a result of this game." As ever with these things, take that with a whole shaker full of salt: This is an awareness campaign, and the link between the funding, the soil improvements, and this Fortnite map isn't especially meaningful.

The sting in the tail of course is that Heinz talks a good game but this is all work-in-progress.

"[W]e’ve committed to achieving sustainably sourced ketchup tomatoes globally by 2025," said Heinz's Cristina Kenz. "Through this commitment, we are building better soils that will not only feed our unique tomatoes but has the potential to help store carbon, an important pillar in our roadmap to aim to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050."

To aim to achieve by 2050… That's quite the wiggle-room they've left themselves. Players can access the S.O.S. Tomatoes Island from today by entering the code '1877-1435-6432' on the in-game Discover screen. Note the disclaimer that "This is an independently created Fortnite Creative experience and is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Epic Games, Inc." Yet it looks to all the world like Just Another Fortnite crossover. Maybe that does speak to what any future metaverses might look like: Platforms where the business collaborations are pretty one-sided, and there whether you want them or not.

Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."

Read more
Squid Games soldiers in masks
Call of Duty's $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it's doing
Wilderness with trees
PUBG creator Brendan Greene swears his infinite, mega-ambitious digital universe isn't like all the others: 'I want to build a metaverse because I don't think anyone else is'
A planet with trees and rocks
Black holes, buildings on poles, and a 'sea urchin planet': PUBG creator's world-sized tech demo may be hiding some bizarre machine learning 'hallucinations'
An AI-generated image, posted to Activision's socials, of a fake Crash Bandicoot game that doesn't actually exist.
Finding a new and inventive way to annoy everybody, Activision has company use AI to generate fake advertisements for games that don't exist
farcana
'The Middle East's answer to Marvel Rivals' is an 'AI-powered', crypto-infused hero shooter that looks like hot garbage
v-bucks
Fortnite has 58 creators that got paid over $1 million in 2024, and 7 of those made over $10 million
Latest in Survival & Crafting
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director
Pacific Drive Endless Expeditions spring 2025 update trailer still - a sexy, tricked-out 1980s station wagon being blasted with magic healing electricity
Pacific Drive developers change their mind: A year after refusing to give it mid-run saves, it's getting mid-run saves
minecraft diamond level sword
Minecraft's never going free-to-play because as it stands it's 'the best deal in the world'
New shaders in Minecraft following Minecraft Live 2025
In the year of our lord 2025, Mojang is finally adding shaders to Minecraft, making reflective lighting and water effects more accessible for all
A dried ghast, a ghastling, and a friendly ghast all smiling
The latest Minecraft Live uncovered the tragic truth of the Nether's most bothersome mob, which has unlocked new levels of guilt
Three mobs in their regional forms in Minecraft Spring to Life update
Minecraft Spring to Life update: everything you need to know about the newest drop
Latest in News
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event