Australian children are having their minds warped by an ultra-addictive new video game that has already attracted 45 million
players worldwide, experts warn.
Fortnite -- which can be played on Xbox, Playstation and now on mobile phones -- pits players against each other in a survival of the fittest-type contest. Players must take out opponents using
weapons such as grenades, assault rifles, crossbows and rocket launches as the map constantly shrinks.
Some experts are warning that the addictive nature of the Hunger Games style contest and the amount of time that children spend
playing are a cause for concern.
Video game Fortnite released its iOS version of its game on Friday which already has 45 million players globally
Mary Rezk, a 40-year-old Beverly Park mother, told the Daily
Telegraph that the game was like a drug to her three boys aged 14, nine, and six. All they do is fight about who wants to play, she explained, They're just so obsessed with it.
Last September a free-to-play Battle Royale edition
of the game was released in which up to 100 players are dropped onto an island with the aim of killing each other and taking their equipment and weapons, referred to as loot by players. This skyrocketed the game's popularity among PC and console users
and, in January, the game's publisher Epic Games said that the title has more than 45 million players.
Interestingly the only 'expert' opinion quoted by the piece is totally mundane and obvious. Hardly supports the preceding panic
laden text.
Clinical and Sports Psychologist Dr Jonathon Fader told GMA that, the difference with this game is that it is so interactive, recommending that parents look at the context, such as if gaming interferes with
other activities, when looking at how much to limit screen time.
