Fortnite is the most popular game among the 12-to-25-year-old players since its release. What makes it so successful is certainly its cartoon-like universe in which a banana can eliminate an opponent with a flamingo-shaped pickaxe — nothing that might shock or frighten anyone. That's not everyone's opinion...
While the game has officially become a sport in high schools and colleges in the US, the state of Kentucky has responded to this news by banning the game from being considered a varsity sport. Julian Tackett — Commissioner of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association — declared: "There is no place for shooter games in our schools. We did not know about the addition and are strongly against it."
Whether you like the game or not, it's still hard to think of Fortnite as a very violent game when its artistic direction is oriented towards fantasy rather than realism. Nevertheless, it's definitely a shooter game and this choice was made taking into account the 2008 Marshall County incident, where two students were killed and several others wounded in a shootout.
The issue of gun violence is at the heart of American society, for that reason Julian Tackett announced that every Kentucky school that is a member of the Athletic Association is prohibited from playing official Fortnite competition, whether through the PlayVS partnership, or any other organization. Most schools have accepted it very well.
Once again, this raises the question of whether video games really make you violent, especially a game like Fortnite, which is among the most popular and appreciated in the world. One thing's for sure, Kentucky students won't be able to choose Fortnite over football!
Have you ever dreamed of being able to play video games at school? Now it's possible in the United States, after Fortnite becomes an official sport in many institutions.
