Got A Kid Who Wants To Play Fortnite? Here Are Five Important Questions To Ask Them

You've probably heard of Fortnite if you have a gamer at home. And while you may know a little about it, we’re willing to bet you might have a few questions about the game.

Given that many of us parents grew up with a very different gaming experience than our kids today (ahem, arcades and Game Boys), navigating games like Fortnite may feel overwhelming. We want our kids to have fun, but our top priority is always their safety.

As many parents know, having conversations about video games is a great way to understand your gamer’s experiences and habits better. That’s why we’ve partnered with Epic Games, creators of Fortnite, to share five important questions to kick-start a conversation about Fortnite, quickly learn about your children’s digital experiences, and inform how you want to get involved.

So whether you’ve got a teen champing at the bit for online independence or a younger one exploring gaming for the first time, pull up a chair, maybe even grab a controller, and let’s talk about video games.

1. Can we set up an account together?

Setting up your child’s Fortnite account with them is a great way to better understand Fortnite’s safety features and the tools that are available to customize their experience and jump-start early conversations about gaming safely. Right away, you may notice that depending on your child’s age, certain features like voice and text chat may be set to their most restrictive setting. Before you even set up parental controls, Epic Games applies a number of high-privacy safety settings for players under 18 — chat settings are off by default, for example.

If your child is under 13, they’re placed into what’s called a “Cabined Account,” a tailored, age-appropriate experience that requires parental approval to unlock certain features like making real money purchases and voice and text chat. You’ll get an email that prompts you to provide consent and review parental controls.

Epic’s Parental Controls offer over a dozen settings for you to create the right experience for your family. For instance, you can set time limits or purchasing permissions. As you customize their settings, you can talk to your kids about which features and controls are in place.

2. What kinds of games do you want to play?

There are over 137,000 experiences inside Fortnite (as I, an elderly Millennial, only recently learned), ranging from sandbox to cozy games to racing modes.

To help players and families find the games that are right for them, Epic teamed up with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) to feature age and content ratings for all experiences in Fortnite. In the U.S. and Canada, when you go to Fortnite’s Discover page, you’ll see ratings from “E for Everyone” to “T for Teen.” This rating gives you upfront information about the content your child may encounter in any experience. Using Epic’s Parental Controls, you can block games above certain ratings.

3. Do you want to play with your friends?

If your child says they want to play with their friends in Fortnite, fear not! Between Epic’s epic (cue easiest pun ever) collection of default settings and parental controls, there are many ways to ensure they talk to people you are comfortable with. Through parental controls, you can set permissions so that your child can chat with friends only, and you can require your approval to add new friends or send a friend request. You can also disable voice and text chat entirely.

If you decide to grant access to text chat, the personal information filter and the mature language filter will always be on for players under 13. The mature language filter removes various kinds of mature language and toxicity, and the personal information filter removes certain types of information, such as email addresses and credit card numbers. Parents can also choose to enable these filters for children over 13.

4. Will you want to make any in-game purchases?

Fortnite is free to download and start playing. However, if desired, players can purchase V-Bucks, Fortnite’s in-game currency, which can be used to buy optional cosmetics like outfits, emotes, and other accessories. Purchasing these cosmetics doesn’t provide a competitive advantage, but can be a fun way for your child to customize their experience and express their personality.

Epic also has a number of features to prevent accidental and unwanted purchases in-game. Credit card information isn’t saved by default for anyone, and cancellations and refunds are also simple. With Epic’s parental controls, you can require that your PIN code be entered to approve any in-game purchases using Epic Games payment. Your child’s console or gaming device may have further settings to apply purchasing restrictions.

5. Can we play together?

One way to understand what your kid is experiencing in a game is to play together. According to new research from the Entertainment Software Rating Board, 75% of parents play video games with their kids regularly.

Not sure where to start? Some Fortnite experiences, like LEGO Fortnite Odyssey and Battle Royale, offer a split-screen mode where you can play side-by-side from the same device. This is a great way to find something you’ll both enjoy or try a new genre altogether.