Fortnite is arguably one of the most popular games in the world right now and has helped launch the careers of streaming and esports personalities like Ninja, Bugha, and countless more. Players are still able to earn millions of dollars off the game through content creation and esports competitions to this day. That being said, it’s still regarded by many as a kids’ game, much to the anger of streamer Ninja.
As someone who has made their streaming career off the back of this battle royale, it seems to really get under Ninja’s skin when others talk down about the game. This seems to have boiled over in a recent stream when he finally made it clear how he feels about those who say Fortnite is only for kids. In summation, he disagrees and feels this only started when games like Warzone were released.
In the clip, Ninja starts by saying that “this isn’t a kids’ game, dude. There’s grown men playing this game, lots of them.” While there aren’t many statistics floating around from official sources, Statista seems to confirm this by saying that over 60 percent of Fortnite’s audience was between the ages of 18 to 24 as of April 2018. If those same people have continued playing, that would mean they’re now 22 to 28.
“Look at Minecraft, bro, so many old people playing that game now,” Ninja continued. This is an actually interesting sentiment because, before Fortnite, Minecraft seemed to be the focus of what many people called “a kids’ game,” looking down on those who played it even though the community was largely made up of all ages.
Another point from Ninja is that Fortnite was once played by some of the current top streamers in the world, who were grown men when they were playing. “This wasn’t a kids’ game three years ago, this wasn’t a kids’ game when Dr Disrespect was playing it, and Tim[theTatman] was playing it, and NICKMERCS was playing it… This was Fortnite, one of the greatest fucking games ever invented,” Ninja said.
“But all of a sudden,” Ninja starts mockingly, “because CoD came out with an actual good game for once… ‘I play Warzone, I play a man’s game.” As he takes on a mocking gravelly accent, he’s clearly making fun of the macho mentality behind acting like Warzone is a better game because it’s set in a more realistic environment based on places where America has actually invaded and been at war.
In the end, Ninja summarized exactly why he feels it’s a stupid argument to be had. “We are playing video games, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “You’re just fucking gaming.”
With gaming being regarded by an ever-shrinking, but present, group of society as being for kids, one would think that fans of battle royales could come together to celebrate every game and its uniqueness as opposed to firing shots at their own team.
