7 Things Parents Need to Know About Fortnite

If there’s one thing you should know about Fortnite as a parent, it’s that you shouldn’t let your kid play with voice chat on.

I heard about 50 F-bombs during the course of one game, many of them about my playing ability. There are also no filters of any kind to keep players from saying (or typing) whatever they want to each other.

But that doesn’t mean Fortnite is necessarily bad for kids, especially if you use the right in-game tools and properly monitor their play.

Here’s what parents need to know about this game.

• Fortnite is an online shooter that starts with 100 players and leaves one winner standing.
• The entire point of the game is to kill other players, but the violence is cartoon-like.
• Although the game itself seems pretty harmless, players can talk and type whatever they want to each other, and bad language is rampant.
• In-app purchases can turn this free game into an expensive habit, with the average player spending about $85.
• Short matches and accessible gameplay make the game addictive.
• You can regulate your child’s playtime (as well as in-app purchases) via parental controls on platforms like PS4, Xbox One, Switch and iOS.
• If your child is showing signs of isolation or depression because of the game, seek professional help.

What is Fortnite Battle Royale?

Fortnite Battle Royale is an online third-person shooter game in which 100 players parachute onto an island, and the last player alive wins. Each game lasts about 20 minutes (although you have the option to leave the game if you die, so if you aren’t very good, games can be very short!).

Even though it was released less than a year ago, Fortnite Battle Royale already boasts 125 million players, according to its publisher, Epic Games.

While there are two different Fortnite games at the moment, we’re going to focus only on Fortnite Battle Royale, since that game is free and is the one that most people are playing and talking about.

MORE: Fortnite for Dummies – Why It’s Taking Over the World (And How to Jump In)

Is there anything that should concern parents?

The game is violent — it is a battle to the death, after all — but the violence is bloodless and rather cartoon-like. There’s just lots of shooting and hacking and noise.

Although the game is free to play, in-app purchases can add up quickly. Players can buy things like new looks and new dances, and while these purchases don’t affect a player’s chances of winning, one of my friends told me that…