Fortnite is so addicting for some players that it could seem like a drug, but for some parents, their kids’ experience with the game requires similar treatment.
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According to Bloomberg, there has been a large recent increase in parents taking their children to therapy to deal with their Fortnite obsessions, and some are even sending them to special camps where they can “detox” from technology and get a more well-rounded lifestyle.
Michael Jacobus, who has counseled children at camps in California and North Carolina, told Bloomberg that more than half of the kids he dealt with were “playing Fortnite excessively.”
“I’ve never seen a game that has such control over kids’ minds,” parent Debbie Vitany added.
This is hardly the first time we’ve seen players struggle with video game addiction — if that is indeed the diagnosis for the majority of those being sent to counseling. Multiplayer game World of Warcraft has been nicknamed “World of Warcrack” for its ability to suck hours of time in what seems like an instant.
With anything as popular as Fortnite, however, it’s likely that there will be some players who become addicted to it. In some cases, parents have actively encouraged their children to keep playing and improving with the help of special tutors. Ashland University in Ohio is even offering a scholarship for players, and with esports growing bigger and bigger, there is some possibility for kids to make a living playing the game, though we’d still suggest hitting the books as a first option.
Fortnite‘s battle royale mode exploded in popularity in 2017, building on the previous success of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Despite numerous competitors in the genre releasing each month, none of them have managed to come close to capturing the same player-count as Epic Games, and with the “Save the World” mode going free-to-play next year, there will be even more content for fans to enjoy. The Save the World mode was actually the original mode for Fortnite before it incorporated battle royale, but it’s substantially less popular.
Fortnite is available now with cross-play support on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.
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