University announces Fortnite scholarship, gives teens convenient excuse for playing in class
While all us hoity-toity critic folks were tripping over ourselves to talk about the majestic naturalism of Monster Hunter: World and the political cowardice of Far Cry 5, a goofy online shooter called Fortnite: Battle Royale went and became the hottest game on the planet. It checked all the right boxes for blowing up: It’s free. It’s playable on most platforms. It’s social. It’s all over popular livestreams on YouTube and Twitch. And it’s gone mainstream in a way we rarely see, name-checked by athletes on national television, and even getting Drake involved. The Fortnite craze only got bigger when the game launched a mobile version, which, according to one analysis, raked in $25 million in its first month. That handheld edition is so popular with kids that, not long after it launched, the internet became flooded with reports about how badly it was disrupting schools and dominating kids’ social circles.
