Fortnite lawsuit questioned
A lawsuit was filed in the B.C. Supreme court against the developers of the game Fortnite. The background a plaintiff only identified with the initials A.B. says her son downloaded the game Fortnite in 2018 and became dependent on the game.
Now Fortnite has an impressive number behind it. The game has over 350 million registered players. Within the first 2 years of launch the game made nine billion in revenue.
Those are some impressive numbers. Over 80 per cent of the players in Fortnite are in the 18-35 age group. The game itself is a free to play game with players being able to purchase in game items, skins and more.
The game has different seasons, each have a loose plot in which Epic games introduce different game modes or special addons, cosmetics etc. These cosmetics can only be purchased within a certain time frame or they are gone. Fortnite itself launched back in 2017.
The free-to-play model and the constant addition of new content helped bring the game to the heights it achieved. Fortnite was the game that brought Battle Royale into the limelight of gaming. My thoughts on some of the greediest actions of gaming companies, like Loot Crates are already known.
I have always thought that Loot Crates are and have always been gambling and a horrible value for any gamer. My take is fairly simple. Anything can be addictive.
Fortnite like most games and even consoles themselves have parental controls. I am a parent and I help others set up parental controls if they are having issues or aren’t aware of them. As for Fortnite being developed to be as addictive as possible, this will be almost impossible to prove.
All games are developed to maintain the players attention. Free-to-play games always have something for players to buy or pay for so the developer can earn cash. These items are usually time exclusive, making players fear of missing out.
This isn’t anything specific to Fortnite, it’s the norm for free-to-play titles. If you are worried about your child being too focused on gaming there are things you can do.
Parents can limit WiFi usage. WiFi is needed for these online games and you can’t play without it. Another thing parents can do is use the different consoles’ parental controls.
Xbox and PS5 all have easy controls for parents to use. Xbox even has an app that can track and set screen time, limit purchases that they can do and more. You at the end of the day are the parent.
If your child seems to have a problem ignoring it, it won’t make the issue go away. I’m all for holding developers responsible for their actions when it comes to loot crates and other egregious acts but going after them for your child playing a game too much isn’t the way. Let’s discuss the part of the lawsuit, about the child spending thousands of dollars on in-game purchases.
This isn’t anything new either. Mobile games made in game purchases are highly profitable for developers. Again parents have tools so they can be notified or have to approve of purchases.
If you’re worried about your child going hog-wild with purchases, please don’t link your credit card to their console. Parents can buy PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo gift cards that can be used to buy things in games. This is an easy way of controlling the spending of your child.
When the parent saw the first bill, that card should have been taken off of that system. This in game spending also isn’t something new to games. Games like FIFA and other sports games have egregious loot crates which is gambling – plain and simple.
I have a huge problem with minors being exposed to these gambling mechanics. In Fortnite there isn’t an unknown element when it comes to purchases. The player knows what they are buying – there isn’t that random element of other titles.
Video games, especially online gaming can be beneficial for many. Playing online can help build social skills, meet friends and more. But just like all things, it can be overdone.
If you want to know what parental controls your console has or need help setting it up, feel free to email me below. Feel free to contact Sascha at sggall.telus.net with gaming questions and more. Contact Sascha at [email protected] with gaming questions.
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