In 2017, a new video game hit an extremely competitive video game market. This new game was Fortnite, and it became popular almost immediately with young teens and tweens. Fortnite has a style similar to cartoons — it looks like a cartoon that could be shown after a show like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. However, the problem is that this cute game is rated “T” for Teen. It is not a game meant for children because it is a first-person shooter game where the player shoots other players. This rise in popularity of Fortnite has caused us to once again consider the question: Does playing violent video games lead to an increase in violence?
Fortnite created a great deal of discussion as soon as it was released, because, basically, it offers players a cute way to kill other people. In addition, most adults know very little about this game. They see its iconic adorable llama piñata in the store with its vibrant, fiesta-like colors. People might see Fortnite-themed party and school supplies, and assume that this game is meant for little kids. But these adults do not realize that when you are the last person standing, after shooting all the other players, your avatar dances a victory dance. Yes, that’s right. Kids playing this game are dancing in victory over the death of others. 1
![](https://stmuhistorymedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Fortnite-logo-300x84.png)
The avatars in this game look like regular people. While they may not be as realistic as the avatars in Call of Duty, they definitely look more human than any character in Minecraft, and they appear more personable than characters like Mario and Luigi. Children pretend to shoot other people and then celebrate their deaths with a dance, called “emotes.” Some emotes are free but the more popular emotes cost $2 to $5. Yes, you read that correctly. Kids pay extra in order to celebrate the death of others in a video with the most exciting dance possible.
Because of its appeal to such a young demographic, we must ask: does playing violent video games lead to increased violence? Researchers have been trying to answer this since 1990 when Mortal Combat was first released. At the time, it was described as the most violent video game ever made. Mortal Combat was categorized as a “fighting game.” It is still popular today, and you can currently purchase Mortal Combat 11 for about $30 at Best Buy. This popular game has also spun off a number of movies and other video games.
Largely because of the creation and popularity of Mortal Combat and other video games like it, the Entertainment Software Rating Board was formed. Based in the United States, this self-regulating group is the organization that rates video games according to the appropriate consumer group. This non-profit organization formed after a series of Congressional hearings in 1993. While ratings are voluntary, meaning they are not federally mandated, many stores and all console manufacturers require games to be rated. This was a compromise between the federal government and the video game manufacturers to avoid federal regulations. The system is similar to that used by the Motion Picture Association of American Film in that both rating systems are put in place to rate their respective media. 2
Even before researchers studied video game violence, they looked at the effects of video games in general. As early as 1984, M. H. Klein, in “The Bite of Pac-Man,” describes a first look at video game addiction. Researchers didn’t yet call it addiction, but they described kids skipping school and using their lunch money to play video games. In this early research, they also used a lot of the same language as they would use to describe substance abuse. The early research was important because it gave researchers exploring the effects of video games a starting point, which they could expand upon as they learned more about the topic.3
Some of the earliest studies concerning video games and violence didn’t separate video games from other types of media, like television and movies. The problem with much of the early research is that it just sort of lumps all of these forms of entertainment together. The main idea, at this time, was that watching violent content primes one’s neural networks for aggression. Leonard Berkowitz described this in the Cognitive Neoassociation Model of Aggression as early of 1984, before Mortal Combat was released. In other words, this model explains that the more times a person views aggression, the easier it is for them to be aggressive themselves. Berkowitz followed this up with more research in 1990 and 1993.4
In 1982, before Mortal Combat was released, C.E. Koop, the Surgeon General of the United States under President Reagan, was already concerned about the rewards for the players. When a person watches a movie where violence happens, the watcher is not rewarded. Whereas a player is aggressive in a video game, they are directly rewarded, by getting points, receiving an extra power-up, or move to higher levels. At the time when Koop expressed concern, most video games were just blasting pixelated space ships or centipedes. When Mario Brothers was released in 1983, that was considered violent by researchers. Mario Brothers was considered violent due to game mechanics where player had to stomp on pixelated turtles and other enemies. 5
From all of the talk of violent video games, the state of California wanted to help. This is a Supreme Court case stemming from the 2005 California Law forbidding sale of a violent video game to anyone under the age of 18. The games had to be labeled with the Entertainment Software Rating Board rating plus other more clear labeling. The Supreme Court overturned this law 7-2 because was too inclusive. “…the act is greatly over inclusive, not all the children that are prohibited from purchasing violent videos have parents who disapprove of their doing so.” The Supreme Court used the same reasoning as used in obscenity cases. 6
As Fortnite‘s popularity grew each day, many discussions were being had about this vividly-colored yet violent video game. The game has been described by many people as a cross between the cubed game Minecraft and a first person shooter game. The game of Fortnite has various game modes from which users can choose to play. Some of these game modes include, Fortnite: Save the World, Fortnite Battle Royale, and Fortnite Creative.7
Fortnite: Save the World is a game mode where the players compete against the environment. It is the classic conflict of Man vs. Nature. Teams of four players work together to achieve common goals throughout the mode. As an example, you might find yourselves attacked by zombie-like hordes while trying to accomplish your mission. Players like this mode because they can work together and it seems more social.8
![](https://stmuhistorymedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/800px-Fortnite_drop_at_E3_2018_2-211x300.jpg)
As its name implies, Fortnite Battle Royale features a player versus player battle style game, Man Versus Man. This is the game mode where the most violence is displayed. A player is placed in an environment with up to 100 players. As the game progresses, the battlefield shrinks, forcing the players closer and closer together until there is only one player left. The last avatar standing wins, and then gets to perform their victory dance.9
The last game mode, Fortnite Creative, is usually referred to as a “sandbox” game mode. In other words, this mode gives the player increased freedom to create whatever their heart desires, like building sand castles. Unlike MineCraft, where the player has complete freedom in creative mode (basic building blocks that can be used to construct anything a player can imagine), Fortnite Creative has basic building pieces already completed, its just a matter of how the player puts it together. Walls, stairs, windows, doors, etc. are pre-made and the player puts them together to compose their world.10
![](https://stmuhistorymedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Fortnite-llama-london-from-fickr-269x300.png)
In order to promote the game, the developer, Epic Games, placed in game objects into the real world for people to find. A few examples include the Fortnite Llama that was found in four European city and the Burger (which looked like a burger with eyes and tongue) that was found in a California desert. These items created a lot of buzz for the game on social media. Once posted on social media as a found object, other players rushed to find the item and post their own selfie. This was a very effective and creative marketing tool.11
More scientific studies show mixed results. In 2013, a group of researchers in the Netherlands published a paper identifying positive effects of playing any type of video games, including violent ones. Published by the the APA, the paper outlines certain benefits from video games. The researchers did not ignore the previous studies showing negative affects, specifically aggression, but stated that sometimes kids develop better spatial skills necessary in science and engineering. It may seem counter-intuitive, but the researchers also noted improved social skills.12
![](https://stmuhistorymedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/violent-crime-game-sales-1.png)
In 2015, American Psychological Association published a resolution concerning violent video games. The APA compiled the research of over 20 studies from 1988-2013. The APA states a lot of scientific research shows an association between video game playing and aggressive behavior. However, there are a lot of holes in the research. The APA resolved to educate the public on this association but also to fund more studies. Researchers have not studied the difference between male and female gamers, children under the age of 10, or the amount of time spent playing violent video games. Studies haven’t examined the degrees of violence in various games and how that affects aggression. They need to further study game ratings. A huge area of study that is missing, according to the APA, is longitudinal studies. In other words, studies that follow the same kids over a decade or more. 13
Another study done by Andrew K. Prcybylski and Neta Weinstein studied adolescent gamers who played violent video games and compared their level of aggression to those who did not partake in violent video games. They predicted that playing violent video games would make those adolescents more aggressive. Prcybyski and Weinstein did not find this be true. They could not correlate the recent playing of violent videos games to increased aggression. This was a study that included over 1000 14-15 year olds from the United Kingdom. It included about 550 boys and 450 girls. The caregivers were responsible for reporting behavior.14
Fortnite does not seem to be dying in popularity and elementary school teachers report many younger kids playing the game. GamesRadar.com, an online gaming magazine, states that Epic Games reports over 250 million players. This number includes everyone that has ever played. However, in 2018 alone, Fortnite had 50 million new players. How playing this game is affecting kids seems to be unknown. Not only do the studies give mixed information, they do not separate one game from another and do not follow gamers over a long period of time or study young children. There is much work to be done in this field in order to make parents feel more secure in screen time activities.
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Fortnite,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Entertainment Software Rating Board,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board. ↵
- Karen E. Dill and Jody C. Dill, “Video Game Violence: A Review of Empirical Literature,” Aggression and Violent Behaviorno., 4 (1998); 407-428. ↵
- Karen E. Dill and Jody C. Dill, “Video Game Violence: A Review of Empirical Literature,” Aggression and Violent Behavior, no., 4 (1998); 407-428. ↵
- Karen E. Dill and Jody C. Dill, “Video Game Violence: A review of Empirical Literature,” Aggression and Violent Behavior, no., 4 (1998); 407-428. ↵
- Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S. (2011). ↵
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Fortnite,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Fortnite,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Fortnite,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite. ↵
- Wikipedia, 2019, s.v. “Fortnite,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite. ↵
- James Rogers, “Fortnite Desert Mystery: Bizarre Gaint Video Game Burger Leaks Into The Real World,” Fox News, July 08, 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/tech/fortnite-desert-mystery-bizarre-giant-video-game-burger-leaks-into-the-real-world. ↵
- Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel and Rutger C.M.E. Engels, “Video Games Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review Finds,” American Psychological Association, November 25, 2013, https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/video-games. ↵
- “Resolution on Violent Video Games” American Psychological Association, August 2015, https://www.apa.org/about/policy/violent-video-games. ↵
- Andrew K. Przybylski and Netta Weinstein, “Violent Video game Engagement is Not Associated with Adolescents’ Aggressive Behaviour: Evidence from a Registered Report,” Royal Society Open Science, February 13, 2019, https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.171474. ↵
40 comments
Nicholas Burch
I really enjoyed reading this article because I never really thought about the fact that Fortnite is very popular amongst children. I thought the author did a great job exposing the fallacies of Fortnite being made for kids. I think most of the people playing Fortnite are only playing to win, not because they enjoy the idea of killing people. Since it’s a game, there’s a possibility the person who died in the game in real life is laughing while preparing for the next game. So violence in video games is more often light-hearted.
Alyssa Vasquez
I have a bunch fo friends that play fortnite and the video games just like it. I think it’s a way of entertaining ourselves when there is nothing else to do. I see now in the pandemic even more people are playing video games for a long period of time. I believe that some kids are addicted to video games but for the most part some people just play to have fun.
Emmett Pena
I believe that video games are a place kids can express themselves with their game play. Whether it was a hard day at school or personal problems, video games provide an escape for kids who want to divulge themselves into an alternate universe. I strongly stand on the side that kids do not become violent because of video games. If anything, video games help kids take a moment to relax and ease their anger.
Reynaldo Rodriguez
This is such a highly debated topic and I am sick of it personally. Parents are just honestly trying to make excuses as to why kids now a days should not play games because it “rewards being violent” however that is not the case. Playing games helps kids and adults alike to release stress and relax and not have to worry about anything. There have been more studies where playing actually improves hand eye coordination due to having to make in game time reactions in seconds which benefits people around the world.
Tavion Varela
This debate has been going on for countless years it seems like. With Fortnite being so popular amongst young ages, the question of whether or not it negatively influences their behavior seems to arise. Does exposing kids to aggressive behaviors make them more aggressive? It is hard to determine something like that because every child is different and you cannot apply one study or incident to every child who plays violent video games. With many studies brining mixed results and many forms of entertainment showing aggressive behaviors, it may not be possible to determine whether or not they play a factor in molding violent children.
Elijiah Logan
You have successfully revisited the long debate over whether video games are indeed violent or not. However, while you do state your researched facts over the beginning argument, you fail to write a conclusion that can create closure for your article. Towards the end of your article, you also address the counter arguments, or the rebuttal. Though, you did not correlate it with the main points within your article, which creates a weak argument. With that being said, I believe you successfully reignited a flame within the gaming community that was once forgotten, or even distinguished.
Stephen Talik
This article tackles a debate that is ongoing right now, that of whether or not video games cause violence. I would not necessarily say that it directly leads to violence, but some of the more violent games – Grand Theft Auto, Watchdogs, etc, – probably lead to a desensitizing of the violence and killing involved. Where exactly Fortnite falls along that spectrum is yet to be seen.
Hali Garcia
This is an interesting article and the topic is something that seems to be a very popular. I think it can be possible for video games to lead to violence but I also believe that mental illness also plays a very big role. I used to play video games and my brothers enjoy playing Fortnite but they are not violent at all. I liked how you in included other games because we can also see how games have evolved as well. What struck me was how the APA did not consider the age, intensity, and follow the children playing the game.
Aracely Beltran
I have a younger brother that plays Fortnite in his free time. He is not violent or aggressive in any form. That is like saying that people who watch scary/violent movies are going to murder people. I feel that instead of insinuating that video games make kids violent they should consider the kids mental health. They should be worried about the kid not the game.
David Castaneda Picon
Video games are a form of entertainment, I think that video games are a good way to spend our free time and de-stress for other things, I believe that video games are not the source of violence for newer generations, yet I think the addiction to play video games is real, and thus addiction is leading gamers to develop some kind of mental health issues and at the same time this addiction might be affecting their personal and social life.