Battle Royale weaponises a virtual world

Battle Royale mode has turned Fortnite into an irresistible lure for kids and a source of anxiety for parents.

Gaming fans play Fortnite at the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Picture: AFP

Fortnite is a mind-boggling cultural phenomenon whose success comes down to deceptive simplicity.

Launched in 2017, the third-person shooter is available in three modes — Fortnite: Save the World; Fortnite Creative and Fortnite Battle Royale — and the objective in all three is survival.

But it’s the Battle Royale mode that has propelled Fortnite from being just another shooter game to an irresistible lure for kids and a source of anxiety for parents.

Put simply, Fortnite Battle Royale is an online brawl where up to 100 players duke it out against one another, using a plethora of weapons, tools and outfits.

The game environment changes every time you dive in. The last player standing wins.

It’s a simple concept, it’s free and its ability to get kids and adults glued to the screens provides a template for how to push the right buttons for digital natives.

With its cartoon-like graphics, silly outfits and dance moves Fortnite’s visual elements deliberately eschew gritty reality to sanitise the gaming environment. There’s no blood, no gore, just cute avatars shooting at each other.

Besides the disarming visuals, Fortnite is also immensely shareable. The Battle Royale is almost as much about players interacting with each other inside the game as it is about staying alive.

The diverse battle arenas in Fortnite have quickly become digital playgrounds, where users congregate, create and share collective experiences.

This is Fortnite’s secret sauce: the cartoonish combat may be the objective of the game but inhabiting a consequence-free virtual world is the real drawcard.

It’s also perhaps the key reason for concern. In a world saturated by screens and online social platforms, games such as Fortnite are increasingly becoming the default way for the young to explore their world.