Do your teens play 'Fortnite: Battle Royale'? Here's what you need to know

As classes resume in Knoxville, Tennessee and around the country, many middle and high school-aged kids will bid goodbye to more than just summer sun and afternoons by the pool.

They'll also say goodbye to endless hours playing the hit video game "Fortnite: Battle Royale," which has gained sweeping popularity among teens and tweens since its 2017 release. As the game's popularity increases, so do the concerns of some parents who fear the game is addicting for young players.

Child psychiatrist John Kupfner of Peninsula, a division of Knoxville's Parkwest Medical Center that offers mental health services, said video games like "Fortnite" help fill kids' need for self-worth and value, and kids will play more because of those effects.

"This is more attractive or — I don't know if I want to use the word 'addictive' — but more compulsive, or it will make more compulsive behaviors for them because they have that need to feel like they fit in and (feel) important and be popular and a leader, a lot of things that adults quit caring about, so it's less attractive to us," Kupfner said.

The online multiplayer video game, developed and published by Epic Games, has drawn in 125 million players and is earning the company hundreds of millions each month, according to USA TODAY.

"Fortnite: Battle Royale" employs a freemium pricing model, in which the initial game is free, and money is charged for additional features. Epic Games continually updates the game to keep players interested and to offer new items to purchase.

In a survey of 1,000 players, financial education firm LendEDU found 30 percent of the players spent an average of six to 10 hours per week on the game. Seven percent spent more than 21 hours per week on the game. 

Crystal Pinson, a Knoxville mother of two teens, said the game seems to be the "main activity" her sons do with their friends now. 

"I never used to have to force my children into other activities, and that has become an issue," she said. 

Word of mouth

"Battle Royale" is free, while "Save the World," the other mode of "Fortnite," must be paid for at the start. Both modes require players to use a pickax to scavenge for resources while facing threats either from the environment or other players.

In "Battle Royale," up to 100 players are placed in a game alone or in squads and pitted against one another. Teens can form squads with their friends, so word of mouth has many logging on. 

Abby Green, 18, who graduated from Hardin Valley Academy in Knoxville in the spring, said she started playing "Fortnite: Battle Royale" because she kept hearing about it in her social circles. 

"My brother actually first mentioned it to me," she said. "Then co-workers started talking about it, and I gave it a shot. A lot of my friends play it." 

The point of the game is to be the last player or squad standing, which may sound a bit macabre, but cartoonish graphics, lack of gore and the ability to purchase amusing costumes make the game only slightly more violent than an episode of "Looney Tunes."

Players can download and play "Battle Royale" on PC/Mac, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and iOS devices; an Android version is expected to come out later this year.

The game's accessibility and its popularity among celebrities such as Drake and Chance the Rapper also have helped its success.

How does a 'free' game cost parents?

While "Fortnite: Battle Royale" is free to play, it offers its players an in-game store where they can make purchases.

The store includes cosmetic items that change the appearance of players' characters, including outfits/skins, accessories, vehicles, different pickax styles and "emotes," which are dance moves the players can activate while playing the game.

More:'I want to look like Tom Cruise': How free game Fortnite makes so much money

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These items don't enhance a player's level in the game or make it any easier. They only affect appearance. To purchase these cosmetics, players must use real money to buy the in-game currency, V-Bucks, and then use V-Bucks to buy what they want from the item shop. For example, 1,000 V-Bucks cost $9.99.

Free V-Bucks can be earned by completing various tasks in the game, but they are given in much smaller amounts.

Green said she hasn't spent much money on the game, just $5 for a pass to get some in-game currency.

"It's one of those games where you don't need to (spend money), it's not a pay to play, so that's really nice," she said. "You can be at any skill level and download the game for free and be just as good as anyone else on it." 

New stuff, peer pressure drive sales

But whimsical costumes and even dance moves seem to appeal to younger players. Their age group is consumed with getting what's new, and that applies to "Fortnite," according to Ann Fairhurst, University of Tennessee department head of retail, hospitality and tourism management.

“I think it just goes back to that age group’s need for newness. It doesn’t matter if it’s a video game. It could be apparel," Fairhurst said. "That’s why fashion is so popular … they just want new. And then the way that they get that new is by buying a new costume or a new skin for their game player, whatever it is that they purchase as an add-on.”

There are more than 11,000 GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for Fortnite purchases or settle Fortnite debt, a quick search of the site shows. 

Some appear to be joking, but in many of them, kids claim they are being bullied for not having costumes or battle passes. 

Fairhurst said the need for "Fortnite" players to make purchases also can come in response to peer pressure.

“If your friends are playing the same game, and it’s a multiple-player game, that becomes more difficult when … other players are adding these things, and you don’t add these things, and you feel a bit of peer pressure," Fairhurst said. "And you know, that’s been around for generations. It just happens to be now in a video game context instead of another context.”

A study conduced by LendEDU on 1,000 "Fortnite" players found that nearly 69 percent of players spent money on in-game purchases and the amount spent averaged $84.67.

Pinson, who worries her sons, Jake, 13, and Eli, 16, spend too much time on the game, said she has had to more stringently control how the boys spend the money they earn from their chores. 

"They will ask to go to the store to purchase PS4 cards to make purchases on the game," Pinson said.

Fairhust suggests that parents set a limit on what their children spend on in-game purchases.

“I mean you can get a lot of good quality time from a game without spending any money. You can play unlimited time with the free game. It’s just adding those additional things," Fairhurst said. "I guess that’s just something that a parent has to monitor and determine if they’re going to give some sort of allowance, let’s say, instead of getting that allowance like we used to do, maybe a video game add-on allowance or something to let the child purchase some things."

Can teens get addicted to 'Fortnite'?

Green, who is starting college at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville this fall, said she plays the game only once every few days, but still feels like it's more than she should.

Parents and teachers of teens and tweens have raised concerns, however, as some of their kids can't seem to pull themselves away. 

Teachers have complained that students are coming to class tired or using the game on their phones in class, USA TODAY has reported. Fortnite even has a load screen message reminding kids who play it on their phones not to play in their classrooms.  

More:Teens are obsessed with Fortnite, and it's driving school teachers crazy

Pinson said she fears her younger son, Jake, is "controlled" by his love for the game. "I believe he would literally play it 24/7 if he could. It saddens me," she said. 

She said Jake is more aggressive when he plays the game for extended periods.

"Nothing overly concerning, but I can tell he gets more angry and frustrated really easily," she said. "That’s really what prompted me to analyze and lay down a lot stricter rules about the game playing."

Pinson limits the game time when her kids are home during the school year, but her sons spend summers with their dad and play the game while he is away at work. 

"Honestly, they are very good students and know where I stand on education and how privileges would be taken away," she said. "My concerns aren’t really about grades and influence; my concern has always been what I perceive as behavioral changes."

Kupfner said from the beginning, parents should set limits on their kids' use of electronic devices and keep tabs of who they talk to online.

He added that  the social aspect of "Fortnite," where kids can communicate with their friends while they play, is a benefit of the game. 

"It's both good and bad ... and kids are not going to control their play on it," Kupfner said. "Generally, they'll play excessively, so it's up to the parents to set those limits and enforce them if they're going to allow their kids to have the consoles."