Fortnite is a popular multiplayer online shooter game that is played from a third-person perspective. It features a free-to-play Battle Royale mode that was inspired by works such as The Hunger Games and the Japanese cult classic Battle Royale. The game can support up to 100 players, all of whom are dropped onto a single island and tasked with exploring the area in search of weapons with which to defend themselves and attack their opponents.
As the playing field contracts, players are increasingly matched up against one another until just one player is left and the game is over. However, if your child is playing (or requesting to play) Fortnite, chances are they aren’t doing so in Save the World, a mode that is now locked to those who spend at least $50. In Save the World, a computer controls hordes of zombie-like opponents. The mode borrows several gameplay elements from Minecraft, such as the ability to loot and use found materials to construct defensive constructions and lethal weaponry.
Due to the violence in the game, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) gave Fortnite a Teen rating (T). In their rating, they explain why the game is good for people over the age of 13. From a third-person perspective, players engage skeleton-like enemies (husks) in ranged and melee combat using firearms, swords, and explosives. Gamers can also use traps to defeat opponents. Gunfire, explosions, and cries of suffering are typical battlefield features. Combatants in Battle Royale mode engage in “last man standing”-style gunfights on a shrinking island.
Common Sense Media’s Associate Managing Editor Frannie Ucciferri writes that Fortnite’s “cartoonish, bloodless aesthetic of the action” is less troublesome for some parents than the intense gore of other popular shooting games. However, the online chat function in the game, especially in Battle Royale, may expose younger players to harsh language or mature content from complete strangers.
Several studies, including one conducted last fall in the Netherlands that observed the behavior of over 200 children who were exposed to a violent video game at the age of nine, demonstrate that violent video games do not promote aggression in children. While the exact action or material within a game may have some effect on your child’s mood, prolonged and frequent gaming is more indicative of an unhealthy fixation than of the game itself.
For kids, Fortnite has both positive and negative aspects. Dr. Deborah Gilboa, an expert in parenting and child development, recently told TODAY Parents that their children have a “wonderful opportunity” to learn skills like cooperation, communication, problem-solving, and tenacity. Yet there are risks as well. Gilboa warned parents to “supervise your kids, especially those under 14,” while playing the game. Clinical child psychologist Dr. Randy Kulman concurs with the ESRB’s Teen rating. Because of the graphic nature of the violence, he argues, “I don’t think it is an age-appropriate game,” he writes in Psychology Today.
The killing in Fortnite is completely random; if you come across another player, it’s your choice to kill them or be killed. Regarding the opportunities for collaboration Dr. Gilboa offers, Dr. Kulman disagrees: “Everyone is your enemy: There are no allies, and you are all competing at the highest level for your existence.” This is not an effective method for encouraging the kind of cooperation that will be necessary for the survival of our planet and our species in the future.
The use of voice chat for player interaction is another potential issue. That implies a stranger might potentially say anything (violent, cruel, homophobic, sexist, sexual) to your child. The game also poses the risk of an improper stranger befriending or grooming your young child.
In summary, Fortnite is a popular multiplayer online shooter game that features a free-to-play Battle Royale mode inspired by works such as The Hunger Games and Battle Royale. Due to its violent nature, it has been given a Teen rating by ESRB. While it has both positive and negative aspects for kids, parents should supervise their children while playing the game and be aware of potential risks such as exposure to harsh language or mature content from strangers and improper strangers befriending or grooming young children.