Fortnite- the Game has Created Nothing Better than Addiction

Fortnite is a game that has taken battle royale to the next level. But, in doing so has also created a lot of negative influences on kids and adults and the largest influential problem being game addiction. This game is not the same as most as it has affected a large population of kids and adults. About 3% of the world population is affected by this problem. It may not seem like much but it is about 231 000 000 people on this planet. That means that these many people could be playing games for 7-8 hours a day. It is agreeable that addiction isn’t the games fault that they are getting addicted, and it isn’t the game itself that is addicting. It could just be the dopamine in the body making the player want to play more and more. Also, it is possible that they didn’t mean to add these affects to their game. 

Mainly, there are three things that prove that fortnite is an addicting game. Not just these three reasons but many more. There are more than a thousands of reasons why fortnite can affect the brain function and make a player get addicted. One point is that there is the reward hormone dopamine, which can make players feel rewarded when they win and that can make them want to keep getting that rewarding feeling. Second is that the suspense really makes people want to know what is going to happen if they take one option or another, and also can make them feel happy if they win the suspenseful fight. Finally, there is the lose by a bit, win by a lot. This states that many players will lose by a very slight amount and they can learn from those mistakes and continue to apply it. When losing each time, they fix the mistake that they made until they win. When, winning they just feel good about themselves and want to try to boost that feeling in the time they have.

The first thing that fortnite has done to make their game so addicting to the users on the game is that they use the same ideology that the one and only candy crush had used to make almost billions. When you play fortnite they give you the feeling that when you lost, it was only by a little and if you win, it will be by a big margin. This statement is another really big cause for fortnite addiction. Another saying from max albert is” Lose by a little, or win by a lot.” This sentence is very important for many people as there are two things that can be deducted from this line. These two statements were deducted by max albert as well. First, one is that when a player loses a game with a really small amount of HP, you can learn from your mistakes and that will surely win you the game. 

Each time, you lose by the little amount, you keep learning and keep playing until you win. When, you win is the second statement. So, the player wins by a lot and love to make it their way and note the fact that they are the best on the planet and they will play because they are really good at this time. As they lose games and continue playing to learn, they will continuously play for the learning and make a habit. Once this habit is fixed, it will be their schedule and they will finally start making it an addiction, which can be dreadful. For winning, they like their feeling of reward and they will continue to play for that reason. When, the reward comes into the picture the effects on the brain. One example is they feel rewarded and want to have that feeling in all moments and they will take those feelings to school and start playing their, which can get them suspended, expelled and even make them fail school.

The secondary cause of addiction that relates to the dopamine effects is the suspense in the game. These different moments in the game where suspense can be there. There can be suspense in the end game, where everyone is trying to stay safe. Or when there is a fight and you have been hit for a lot of damage. Whatever, it may be this is a way that epic games can manipulate the minds of the many young children that are out there and playing this game. Knowing this can have a big impact on children. The suspense that is added in the game is really a big factor for the game that adds moments of real close calls. According to Max Albert” Epic games, the creators of fortnite, know this and use this to make their suspenseful situations better by making a player win by a by the skin of their teeth.” This is really a cause of the dopamine affect. As you are playing in this suspense it feels really intense and once you win, the feeling of reward and pleasure just goes through the body and makes you want to play the game even more than usual. As you keep winning these situations, it makes you feel like your better and afterwards you start acting that way as well. You start talking to your friends like they are worse than you. Eventually, you just continue to play the game for this reason and you just get more and more addicted. At one point in time, you will be so mean that even your friends will think that you aren’t the best person to talk to or play with. They will know that you are a very mean person. This is another dangerous side effect of gaming addiction and this can make you lose a lot of good friends or relations.

The belief is that many of the people in this addiction circle are getting addicted to the game, Fortnite, because of dopamine. This dopamine is a hormone in our body that gives us the feeling of reward. This feeling of reward is a huge factor in addiction. According to the Elizabeth O’shea “ Video games such as Fortnite are designed to be addictive - they give children a hit of dopamine - also known as 'the reward hormone',” and another clear statement that shows that dopamine affects the body was made by sciencing.com “ since your brain is always accustomed to feel great as we achieve a goal, we love to do things like this even if they are hard.” This means that when a player gets a win or a kill they will feel rewarded and for humans any type of reward is always something they like. This means that when a player gets that reward they will continuously start to play the game so that they will have the reward feeling more often. This can start to cause game addiction and once they really start to want that rewarding emotion they might start playing for many more hours such as 7-8 hours a day. They might also start acting impulsive if you stop them from playing on 1 day.

Cite this page