In the digital age, video game companies are able to improve and add to games well beyond their release dates. Typically this is done through an update, with the developers outlining all of the changes and new additions with patch notes. Riffing on this concept, 16 year old high school student Anna Calcaterra has redrawn the United States of America, complete with patch notes to explain the significant changes she's made to the map.
Calcaterra, daughter of NBC sports reporter Craig Calcaterra who shared the map on Twitter, has made sweeping changes to the United States with her map. As detailed in the "patch notes," she has combined New Hampshire and Vermont to "New Hampsmont," and has removed Wyoming completely as it has been "deemed unnecessary." The "Four Corners" have been replaced by "Ohio 2," and the west coast has been replaced by what is now "Long Chile."
When game developers release updates for their games, sometimes the changes have unintended or unfortunate consequences. The same goes for Calcaterra's new version of the United States. The patch notes point out how various changes to the United States map have triggered conflict. Apparently, the United States goes to war with Chile over the Long Chile debacle, starting World War 3. Meanwhile, Florida has also extended itself across the coastline of various southern states, causing a second Civil War and eventually leading to Florida seceding from the Union.
The map blew up on social media on February 12, drawing mainstream media attention in the process. Since Craig Calcaterra shared an image of his daughter's redrawn United States of America on Twitter, stories about it have popped up on CNN, ABC, and more.
This isn't the first time tech culture's use of "patch notes" has been used for a joke that's gone viral, though. Some may recall when Season 8 Episode 5 of Game of Thrones seemed to backtrack on things established in previous episodes, prompting the community to release hilarious patch notes for the episode. This included things like nerfing the Scorpions and buffing the dragons.
In the meantime, it wouldn't be all that surprising to see others come out with their own new versions of the United States, considering how this one went vial. It will be pretty hard to top "Ohio 2" and "Long Chile," however.
Feature Image Source: Lokal_Profil, CC-BY_SA2.5