Is Fortnite Violent? Yes or No?
As one of the most popular games worldwide, Fortnite has been a topic of concern among parents, educators, and gamers alike. Is it a harmless game or is it inflicting harm on our young generation? The answer lies in its graphics, gameplay, and community’s perception.
The Question Marked
Fortnite has raised concerns about its level of violence due to its cartoon-like visuals that often depict intense, adrenaline-filled battles. However, there are distinct differences between the game and the general notion of violence. In Chapter 1: Graphics and Art Style, we will dive into this debate.
Graphics and Art Style
Fortnite, as mentioned earlier, uses cartoon-like graphics in its gameplay. The cartoon appearance might lead one to think the violence is exaggerated or even humorous, like that of a cartoon. While, this may be true for younger age groups, older gamers or Mature Audiences, which is the target market of 13+ years, are attracted to the game’s intense competition. This raises questions regarding parental supervision and the age recommendation guidelines.
Violence Depicted
Fortnite primarily revokes around building, not only fighting. You play as a character who survives using your wits to outrun and outbuild foes within a "sickening" storm (emphasis added). The visuals involve creative construction, strategic placement of towers, and elimination from the competition. It doesn’t have blood, gore, profanity, or mature content usually associated with violent games. You just "eliminate" foes within a cartoon-y atmosphere.
In-game Safety Features
Fortnite ensures security for its users:
**Parental controls**
**Account lock functions**
**Online reputation policies**
**Community guidelines for report abuse**These are aimed at maintaining a peaceful and family-friendly environment and making the game accessible for a widest range of users. Many users have reported that playing games with friends and family, they’re "having fun, communicating properly, and learning new building tips." This raises doubts among those who believe the game as promoting aggression.
Fortnite Usage Among Children
In Chapter 2: Fortnite’s Age Population, we explore more extensively on this topic. The primary source of Fortnite’s success, a poll from Statista Research Department, found out there were 61% children (13-16 year-olds) who had played the game, while 55% of the polled parents had spent money on their children’s Fortnite experiences.
These rates have increased as social media platforms (specifically YouTube and Twitch) and Fortnite as a whole, become even mainstream.
In these circumstances, it is extremely difficult for some adults who wish to protect their children from violence within electronic media to be prepared by this game’s constant advancements and constant exposure to society by its popularity.
If a child wants Fortnite the way they would say "**'I need more likes and followers'" like one in a popular survey report.
Parents face severe difficulty in stopping this in "sickening storms with **cartoon** opponents, with the game having these characteristics that are quite easily associated with violence in society now.