Fortnite creators surprised as Prince Harry calls the game “irresponsible”
Fortnite creators attack Prince Harry following ‘addiction’ comments - 'far from true'
Bill McLoughlin (Express, 20/06/2019)
Earlier this year, Prince Harry called for the game to be banned after he claimed that it was “created to addict”. As well as calling for the game to be banned Harry added that Fortnite was “irresponsible” for how long it can cause children to play the game. Following that, the creators, Epic Games, have defended their product and have insisted that his comments “could not be further from the truth”.
Speaking in front of MPs at a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee meeting on Wednesday, Canon Pence defended his game.
Speaking on video game addiction on Wednesday, Canon Pence said: “The statements made could not be further from the truth in our designs and philosophy and multi-decade approach to developing a long-term and sustainable relationship with our audience.”
Mr Pence also added that he “quite taken back” by the royal’s comments.
MPs in a spin as games chief appears to deny Fortnite makes money
Alex Hern, Technology editor (The Guardian, 19/06/2019)
A Commons committee was left baffled as video game executives appeared to deny making money from their own games, admit to ignoring regulations governing data protection and age restrictions, and claim ignorance over how much time their own users were spending on games.
Representatives from Epic Games, makers of Fortnite: Battle Royale, and EA Games, the publisher of the Fifa series of football games, appeared as witnesses in front of the Commons Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee as part of its inquiry into immersive and addictive technologies.
Both games have been the subject of intense scrutiny after reports of children spending an unhealthy amount of time and money on them, with Prince Harry making an unusual public attack on Fortnite in April: “That game shouldn’t be allowed,” he said. “It’s created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It’s so irresponsible.”
Prince Harry comments 'surprised' Fortnite makers
(BBC News, 19/06/2019)
Back in April, the Duke of Sussex said the game should be banned.
"It's created to addict and keep you in front of the computer for as long as possible," he said at the time.
Speaking in front of MPs about video game addiction today, Canon Pence - who works for Epic Games - said they were "quite taken aback" by Prince Harry's comments.
"The statements made could not be further from the truth in our designs and philosophy and multi-decade approach to developing a long-term and sustainable relationship with our audience," he added.
Fortnite creators say Prince Harry was wrong to say video game phenomenon was 'created to addict'
Tom Hoggins (Telegraph, 19/06/2019)
Epic Games, the creator of video game phenomenon Fortnitehave suggested that Prince Harry was wrong to label the game as ‘addictive’ and said it ‘shouldn’t be allowed’.
“"We were quite taken aback and really rather surprised because the statements that were made, in our view, couldn't be further from the truth from our intentions and design philosophy,” Epic’s senior counsel Canon Pence told the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (DCMS). “It's really always been our effort and intent to create a fun, fair, flexible, engaging and generous form of interactive entertainment for our audience.
"So I feel like a statement that suggests that there was some sort of nefarious attempt to extract short-term profit is a real mischaracterisation."
Prince Harry Wants to Ban Fortnite? Here’s What He’s Missing
Jennifer Senior, Opinion Columnist (The New York Times, 05/04/2019)
If you have a child, particularly a boy, particularly a boy who’s a tween or teenager, you are no doubt acquainted with Fortnite, the third-person shooter game that never met a platform it didn’t like. And perhaps you, like me, have witnessed your darling child’s transformation from cuddly, relatable quasi-innocent to meme-spewing, floss-dancing obsessive.
I sometimes wonder whether my 11-year-old son dreams in Fortnite. I know he browses for new costumes in the item shop with the same zeal with which my mother once combed the racks at Loehmann’s. And when he is not playing Fortnite, he is often watching YouTubers play Fortnite, yowling men-children who go by names like Ninja and Tfue and Fearless, spelled Fe4RLess, narrating their virtual exploits.