Arons & Solomon Divorce Lawyers | October 9, 2018 | Articles
In case you haven’t heard, Fortnite is currently one of the most popular video games in the world. With more than 125 million players worldwide, the video game passed $1 billion in in-game sales back in July 2018.
As Esquire magazine so expertly put these numbers into context:
If it were a country, that would put it just behind Japan as the 11th most populous in the world.
The game rewards players for length of play and can be accessed across multiple devices including smart phones, a highly addictive combination.
Fortnite was created in 2017 and has since taken pop culture by storm. Professional athletes are posting about the game on social media, and rapper Drake livestreamed a gaming session with a professional gamer that garnered a record-breaking 600,000 live views.
According to a LendEDU survey, more than 38 percent of Fortnite players spend 11 hours or more playing the game each week. It was only a matter of time before people started linking the video game to breakups.
According to Divorce-Online.co.uk, more than 200 divorce petitions have been filed using the UK divorce resources website that cite “addiction to Fortnite and other online games.” That amounts to 5 percent of total petitions submitted by British couples to Divorce Online in 2018.
Is Fortnite Killing Marriages?
A 2013 Brigham Young University study found that 72 percent of nongaming spouses feel video games are negatively affecting their relationship. But is Fortnite really killing marriages?
Let’s not go that far. These UK numbers came from a pretty small sample size, especially when considering there were more than 827,000 divorces in the U.S. in 2017 alone. If measured up to the total number of divorces each year worldwide, this unscientific finding would be a drop in the bucket.
It is also important to note the phrasing of the website’s announcement. Divorce Online made a point of specifying that Fortnite was cited in these divorce petitions, along with other online games. Without Divorce Online releasing a more detailed breakdown of the numbers, it is impossible to know how many of those 200 petitions mentioned Fortnite.
Divorce is Complicated
There is seldom a single cause for divorce. Couples often struggle with several different issues in their relationship that ultimately lead to a split. Odds are, video games like Fortnite simply magnify the existing flaws of a troubled relationship, such as lack of attention, problems communicating, absence of mutually enjoyed interests and activities, and more.
However, common sense would lead us to believe that spending hours each week playing video games in lieu of family time certainly won’t help a marriage.
Contact the Bergen County Family and Divorce Law Firm of Arons & Solomon Divorce Lawyers for more help
Contact the experienced family attorneys at Arons & Solomon Divorce Lawyers today for legal assistance. Visit our law office in Bergen County or give us a call at (201) 487-1199 to schedule an appointment. to schedule a free consultation with our team.
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