Prince Harry Calls for Banning Fortnite

We’ve gone a long way from the cultural panic that had once surrounded video games, but we’re not quite out of the woods yet, as you’ll still occasionally see misinformed politicians and celebrities taking up arms against video games, especially after something bad has just happened and they want to blame anything except the actual cause of the problem. Shockingly, however, the latest person to call for a video game ban isn’t someone from the US, it’s actually a person from the UK. And his specific problem isn’t with video games as a medium… but Fortnite, specifically.

"[Fortnite] shouldn't be allowed. Where is the benefit of having it in your household? It’s created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible. It's so irresponsible. It's like waiting for the damage to be done and kids turning up on your doorsteps and families being broken down."

He also used his platform to say that social media was “more addictive than alcohol and drugs.”

First of all: he’s absolutely right. I mean before we get all indignant about it and defensive, let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that Fortnite absolutely is designed to get people addicted and sitting in front of the computer as long as possible. That’s what Epic Games wants. It wants people playing as much and as often as possible and spending money on their free-to-play game.

Second of all: shut up, Prince Harry. You being all fear monger on us and attacking the most popular game just because it’s the only one you’ve heard of isn’t helping anyone. And it’s not the game’s fault, the problem is the companies behind it. It’s an issue with capitalism as a system, not Fortnite and a few bad apples over at Epic.

Grow the frick up, stop blaming the symptom, and start looking at the cause.