Fortnite has taken over so many lives. Epic Games made the game’s battle royale mode available to play for everyone some time back, and since then, it has taken over even PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in terms of popularity. And while many people have sunk dozens upon dozens of hours into it, Andrew Reid, a doctoral researcher of video games at Glasgow Caledonian University, says the game isn’t “addictive”.
Reid calls Fortnite “a truly engaging experience”, saying that it’s been created carefully to provide a different experience for every player every time they play it. He says video game addiction has “suggestively been defined as the excessive consumption of games that conflict with everyday living”, and claims that the term doesn’t apply to Fortnite, because the aforementioned reasons behind the high consumption by players should be taken into account.
“To do otherwise would be to stigmatise the medium as an evil to our society,” he says, “despite a growing portfolio of video games and research that reinforce the positive characteristics of play and interactivity.” In fact, he also recommends parents to encourage their children to play the game in moderation, citing the game’s “cartoony” art-style as one of the reasons. “I’d also suggest playing Fortnite yourself to understand why children might be interested in it – so that you can speak the same language and get on the same wavelength.”
That’s definitely interesting, to say the least, though I’m not sure if you shouldn’t call a game addictive simply because it’s an engaging experience- that seems to be a reason for addiction in many cases. What’re your thoughts on this? Tell us in your comments below.
Thanks, BBC!