So You're Into Fortnite Now

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FactsAreUseless: Feb 16, 2011

You�ve probably heard of it because of how popular it is, especially with young players. Its in-game dances and slang have filtered out into the real world; my nieces and nephews, who don�t play the game, nevertheless play a game called �Fortnite Tag� in gym class (I don�t entirely understand what it is, but it has �Fortnite� in the name.). The game and its players have also been in the news a lot, beyond just video game publications. Celebrities like musician Drake and TV host Ellen DeGeneres have played it alongside some of its most famous streamers. A lot of artists, in particular black artists, have sued developer Epic for allegedly using dances they invented without compensating them. A 16-year-old won $3 million for winning Fortnite�s World Cup this year. There�s a legal effort in Canada right now to take the game to task for allegedly being addictive. Epic has used some of the money it�s made off the game to launch the Epic Store, a marketplace for PC games that lots of people have strong opinions about. Its big in-game events, like the black hole, get a lot of attention in the press and social media, making Fortnite seem less like a game and more like a whole new world that�s corrupting your kids.

But yeah, it�s just a game.

Like anything, games can be bad when you do them too much. I�ve heard from friends about their kids getting bullied in the game or their grades dropping because they were playing too much, but Fortnite isn�t much better or worse than other games when it comes to these types of issues. It�s also a way for people to do something together or hang out when they�re far apart. It�s colorful, fun, and, even though it has guns in it, there isn�t any blood or gore. So, it�s not destroying society, but a lot of young people really like it, and that can freak adults out.