Fortnite removes police cars from game after George Floyd protests

Move comes amid of a wave of protests over police racism and brutality

Fortnite has removed police cars from its map in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd.

Players noticed that the vehicles were missing from the hit battle royale game after its recent chapter two, season three update.

In the game's battle mode map, they have been replaced with civilian vehicles. In Fortnite's creative mode, the ability to spawn police cars using "Junk Rifts" has been tweaked to produce regular cars.

While publishers Epic Games would not initially comment on the motivation for the changes, they have now confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the move was a deliberate response to the widespread protests against police racism and brutality that have taken place after Floyd's death.

Players are currently unable to drive vehicles in Fortnite, but players will gain the ability to do so as the waterlogged map starts to dry.

Some have speculated that Epic Games wanted to prevent players from using police cars to harm others or recording themselves doing so.

Among the many clips of police violence that circulated during the protests, one showed a New York Police Department vehicle being driven into a crowd of protesters in Brooklyn.

The protests started in May after Floyd died while being apprehended by Minneapolis police officers. One officer, Derek Chauvin, was filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes.