Fortnite Battle Royale

The Chapter 4 Lobby in Fortnite (Copyright Epic Games)

Genre	Third-Person Shooter Battle Royale
Gamming Style	Battle Royale
Platform	Windows PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox One S Xbox One Series X/S Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite Android
Release Date	September 26, 2017
Developer	Epic Games
Publisher	Epic Games
Website	Fortnite

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a video game developed and published by Epic Games. It was released in early access on September 26, 2017. Fortnite: Battle Royale is a game in which 100 players fight to be the final player or team remaining using various guns, materials, and items found across the island. Fortnite can be played on various platforms including desktop computers, consoles, and smartphones. As with many video games, ethical implications of Fortnite have been presented and discussed throughout the years. Fortnite has created issues of copyright infringement, microtransactions, and friction in those transactions; it has also been brought into the discourse surrounding the effects of video games on children and violence in video games.

Game

Gameplay

The game begins by putting players onto the Spawn Island while waiting for enough players to join for the game to start. After that, all players are put onto the Battle Bus, which travels in a straight line across the map. Players have about 15 seconds to jump out of the Battle Bus and choose where they would like to land. Then, find their loot and fight to survive the battle royale. About 3 minutes into the game, The Storm will begin closing in. The Storm damages players each second, so players must stay out of it to survive. The Storm continues shrinking until the end of the game, but if it gets too small it will start moving around instead of shrinking. Once one player or team remains, they will receive a Victory Crown and be granted a Victory Royale.

Seasons

Fortnite: Battle Royale changes its theme approximately four times a year. Each new season adds new features to the game and rotates some features out. Players can also expect to see changes to the map, new events, new cosmetics, and a new Battle Pass..

The Battle Pass, introduced in season 2, costs 950 V-Bucks or approximately $10 USD. and contains unique rewards for players to obtain by leveling up 100 times throughout the season. Players with the Battle Pass can level up past level 100 for bonus rewards as well. Each Battle Pass grants players 1500 V-Bucks maximum for unlocking rewards up to level 100. Players who do not pay for the Battle Pass can receive up to 300 V-Bucks for leveling up, making it entirely possible to receive the Battle Pass and V-Bucks without paying for the game.

Weapons

Fortnite: Battle Royale features a roster of weapons that rotates between seasons and chapters. These weapons invariably come from 8 different categories - assault weapons, shotguns, SMGs, pistols, sniper rifles, crossbows, melee weapons, and explosive weapons - and can be found in 7 possible rarities: common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, mythical, and exotic. Higher rarity weapons are more difficult to find, but reward the player with more power..

As a battle royale game, the core concept of Fortnite revolves around weapons and their use in combat. In order to win, players must fight their way to first place.

Building

The key feature that Fortnite: Battle Royale boasts over other games within the same genre is the ability to build walls, floors, stairs, and pyramids with which players may defend themselves. Players may find three types of materials within various structures on the island - namely wood, stone, and metal.

Building Material	Icon	Build Speed	HP	Flammable?
Wood		Fastest	140	Yes
Stone		Medium	400	No
Metal		Slowest	600	No

Built structures can be edited into many different shapes predefined by the game. When players attempt to edit a wall or floor, a 3x3 grid appears and each square in that grid can be toggled to create these predefined shapes. Alternatively, for stairs, the player can select directions for their stairs to go, allowing for stairs that are thinner or change direction. Finally, pyramids can be edited using their 2x2 grid to construct ramps. Structures can be destroyed by players using their harvesting tool.

In Fortnite's build mode, many players utilize building for both mobility and protection. The ability to build has spawned strategies such as building 90's, which players use to make their builds sturdy and protective as quickly as possible. It also allows for quick access to the high ground, which is a useful vantage point in shooter games, First Person Shooters and third person shooters alike.

An alternative mode called Zero Build was introduced on March 29, 2022 for players who preferred to play without the famous building mechanic. This mode takes away the ability to build and remains in the game to this day. In fact, Zero Build mode brought many players back to the game

Business Model

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a freemium game. This means that the game itself is available for free to download and play, but players can purchase different outfits, harvesting tools, wraps, emotes, and bundles via the item shop. The item shop selection rotates daily, and items within the shop can be purchased using an in-game currency known as V-Bucks.

Another use of V-Bucks is the Battle Pass, a concept popularized by Fortnite and Epic Games. This Battle Pass is swapped out for a new one each season and costs players 950 V-Bucks, or about the equivalent of $10. There is, however, a free pass with limited rewards available to players who do not wish to pay for the season's Battle Pass.

The primary way in which Epic Games monetizes Fortnite is through these in-game microtransactions. By 2021, Fortnite had grossed $20 billion off its microtransactions alone. These microtransactions are the source of one of the ethical dilemmas presented by Fortnite and an increasing number of other video games.

Collaborations and Crossovers

Over the years, Fortnite has included various items from other franchises as part of their ever-growing roster of cosmetics. In Chapter 2: Season 2, Fortnite introduced Marvel Series cosmetics to the Battle Pass. The same treatment was given to DC in Chapter 2: Season 3.

Other notable crossovers include popular internet personalities such as Ninja, anime crossovers such as Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, and crossovers with other large properties such as Stranger Things and Rick and Morty.

Ethical Implications

Emote Copyright Infringement

The aforementioned emotes have been the source of many controversies, specifically relating to the "theft" of popular dances. A large number of dances have been taken by Epic Games for Fortnite - 2 Milly's signature dance (the Milly Rock), Alfonso Ribeiro's signature dance from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the floss dance performed by Russell Horning, and many more. This theft prompted a debate across the internet on whether a dance can be copyrighted. Despite the debate, the U.S. Copyright Office states that "individual dance movements or dance steps by themselves are not copyrightable". The Copyright Office lays out rules that state that choreography and pantomime are only registrable for copyright if they are "fixed in a tangible medium of expression in such a way that reveals the movements in sufficient detail to permit the work to be performed in a consistent and uniform manner". According to the copyright office, there is nothing that can legally be done about such a thing.

However, this has not stopped people from pursuing legal action against Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite. In December 2018, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air's Alfonso Ribeiro and rapper Terrance Ferguson (2 Milly) brought lawsuits against Epic Games that was ultimately dismissed from court in February 2019 because the dances were "too short" to be copyrighted. That same month, Russell Horning - commonly known as Backpack Kid - also filed a lawsuit against Epic Games which was dropped shortly thereafter for similar reasons to Rebeiro and Ferguson's case.

In early 2022, YouTuber Kyle Hanagami filed a lawsuit against Epic Games for his copyrighted dance choreographed to Charlie Puth's "How Long." This case, too, was met with dismissal from the court, since when the individual poses from the dance were "viewed in isolation," they were "not protectable under copyright law.".

Microtransactions and Friction

There have also been numerous documented cases in which children were found spending their parents' money on V-Bucks. Fortnite is not the only game with this effect, as children have also been known to spend large amounts of money on video games in the past One particular case featured a child who spent approximately $300 of his mother's money to purchase 49,300 V-Bucks. This may be the case because Fortnite lacks friction via a "confirm purchase" button in western versions of the game. However, it was announced in 2019 that Fortnite had plans to introduce an "undo purchase" button. This change is reflected in the game today, via the "cancel a purchase" and "return a purchase" features, most likely made available for the benefit of both adults and children. Epic Games has decided not to add a "confirm purchase" button because they do not "want to add friction for players." They have, however, come forward with a statement that clarifies payment and refund features available in Fortnite, including "no pay-to-win or pay-to-progress mechanics in player-versus-player experiences, no paid random item loot boxes since 2019 and no gambling ever," and systems and policies available for accidental or unwanted purchases. They have also, despite not wanting to add friction for players, included a "hold-to-purchase mechanic" for Fortnite purchases to make it harder to make accidental purchases.

Research has found that, while fixed cosmetic rewards are the least ethically concerning, there are still ethical issues to be considered when looking at cosmetic microtransactions. Specifically, it is important to consider how and to whom these cosmetics are being marketed. In Fortnite, cosmetics rotate daily, incentivizing users to make their purchase before the item disappears indefinitely. Fortnite is rated T for Teen by the ESRB, and as a result much of the audience consists of teenagers and young adults, to whom these cosmetics are being marketed.

There have also been concerns presented relating to players' rights to their purchased items. For example, if Epic Games decided to remove an item, they could possibly do so without legal repercussions.

On the other side of the coin, players seem to understand that for freemium games like Fortnite, microtransactions are necessary to compensate employees for their work. At the same time, the barrier of entry to the game is lowered as a result of these microtransactions, since they allow the game itself to be free to play. This benefits both players and developers, since players will see more interaction with other users and developers will see more revenue and playtime within the game.

Part of the marketing strategy applied by Epic Games in Fortnite is their crossovers with other franchises. Players could be incentivized to spend money on the game after seeing their favorite character in the item shop. Many of these crossover skins go for thousands of V-Bucks, which could cost these players $10 or more depending on what they choose to purchase.

Fortnite and Children

Recently, the creators of Fornite paid a multi million dollar fine to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for taking children users' data and putting them in harms way. In the first of two settlements, Epic Games will pay $275 million for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). They then settled for $245 million on the grounds of tricking users of the game into making purchases that they did not want. On top of these two settlements, the FTC stated that Epic Games was putting children at risk of trauma and bullying due to the fact that text and voice communication by default are turned on in the game. Employees of the company have allegedly been making complaints about these features for years, without action from executives.

Epic Games also released a statement in response to the FTC stating that they "accepted [the settlement] agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players." As part of their effort, Epic Games "rolled out [a new feature called] Cabined Accounts," which make it safer for players under the age of digital consent in their country will be able to play Fortnite without parental consent, but will not be able to access "features... such as chat and purchasing" until they receive parental consent.

Shooter Games and Violence

There exists a debate (since the 1970s) on whether video games, specifically those considered shooters, lead to violence in those who play them. Public figures such as 45th President of the United States Donald Trump and Jimmy Kimmel have come forth stating and making jokes about how violence in video games influences the way young people think. At first glance, it seems that research suggests a correlation between in-game violence and real-world violence. But some studies have taken to alternative hypotheses on the relationship between video games and aggression, such as games having a steep learning curve or the possibility that people just don't enjoy losing. Research on the correlation between video games and violence has been mixed. Specifically relating to Fortnite, a 2022 study in Japan "found that battle royale games were associated with aggressive feelings" and more, but another found that aggression and reduced empathy are unrelated. As of yet, any correlation between video games and violence is unclear. Research has shown, however, that dialing back the amount of time spent playing video games can be beneficial for the young mind.

One particular, small study finds that the majority of children actually saw a decrease in probability of real-life violence after "an increase in video game playing following a release of a popular violent video game," but that there were some children whose destructive behavior was statistically significantly increased. It has been concluded that substituting a violent video game in place of other violent activities decreased the tendencies for destructive behavior, according to parents.