Fortnite is a popular strategy survival game for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One , Windows, and Mac which combines Minecraft resource collecting and building with team based survival shooting games.  The main action is shooting and attacking with melee weapons, but players can also build fortifications and work with teammates to defend survivors from waves of enemy monsters.  Fortnite has leapt to greater popularity with its Battle Royale mode that can be played for free and pits up to 100 players against each other while a mysterious cloud steadily reduces the size of the war zone, creating knife edge and climatic gun fights.

However we would like to remind parents whose kids play ‘Fortnite’ to take steps to ensure they’re staying safe online.  We would also like to remind you that in the UK the Video Standards council rate Fortnite as PEGI 12 for frequent scenes of mild violence.  It is not suitable for persons under 12 years of age.

The NSPCC have advice for parents amid concerns over a game function that automatically allows users to speak to other players through voice and text chat functions. It means children can be contacted by anyone else who is playing the game. Users can disable voice chat in the game via the settings menu, but the text chat function cannot be turned off.

The NSPCC offering parents the following advice:

• Talk to your child regularly about what they are doing online and how to stay safe. Let them know they can come to you or another trusted adult if they’re feeling worried or upset by anything they have seen.
• Explore your child’s online activities together. Understand why they like using certain apps, games or websites and make sure they know what they can do to keep themselves safe.
• Agree your own rules as a family when using sites, apps and games.
• Manage your technology and use the privacy and parental control settings available to keep your child safe.
• Younger players can find that Fortnite makes them cross or angry when they lose, taking regular breaks can help with this, as well as playing with parents nearby, or in shared family rooms.

See our e-safety pages for more information and advice.

Internet Safety