How Fortnite crash has opened my eyes about gaming addication – Hayley Matthews

It’s the computer game that’s been made to be highly addictive, and boy, have we learnt that over the last few days. I’m talking about Fortnite and we’ve been suffering from massive withdrawal symptoms since the crash.

Fortnite's entire map disappeared into a black hole. But Fortnite 2 is now available Picture: Shutterstock

Having quite an agitated seven-year-old to deal with has opened our eyes to just how damaging the game can be.

Many of you may have read that Epic games announced a live event which caused a bit of a storm.

So we sat waiting on the live event a couple of nights ago, only to be met with mass disappointment as the entire thing crashed.

I say we, I mean our seven-year-old was disappointed, and we were naïve as to what was about to unfold.

It made us realise how much we actually rely on a computer game, and after doing some research was quite taken aback at the facts on how Epic Games have spent years researching gaming addiction and how to make the game as addictive as possible.

According to a lawsuit in Canada, they allegedly hired top psychologists and gaming experts to tap into gamers’ psyches so that they are left hooked on the game, almost like a drug.

It’s left us turning to other things like going out on the bikes instead of sitting in front of the computer. Easier said than done when you have a new baby in the family. However, it’s safe to say we’ve been playing a lot less Fortnite now and a lot more outdoor games instead.

Fornite 2 has been downloaded. However, we’re monitoring it to make sure we don’t slip in to a black hole.