In case you have been living under a rock, or just don’t have Snapchat, let me give you an update on video games. Fortnite Battle Royale has taken control of a majority of the student population at North Platte High School. Gamers and non-gamers have been drawn to this free-to-play shooter. On Sept. 26, 2017, the game was offered to play on all types of consoles including Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC.

Fortnite Battle Royale was produced by Epic Games and is based on Players Unknown Battlegrounds (Pubg), another game that was created prior. Pubg costs $29.99, versus Fortnite’s price; nothing. This makes Fortnite the very first free-to-play, battle royale game on the market. The two games are both based on survival matchplay. However, Pubg has a more realistic tone to the gameplay, while Fortnite has an upbeat cartoony feel. Besides the games’ aesthetics and pricing, they are similar in many ways.

Some students have taken this game to the next level of commitment. Sophomore Payton Yearling plays the game daily and has racked up a very impressive total of 46 wins. Yearling has also played Pubg and says that he plays Fortnite instead of Pubg because more of his friends have Fortnite.

Even though most students have fallen in love with Fortnite, junior Drake Berry is a skeptic. Berry has played the game but thought it was uninspired and not much different than similar releases like Pubg and DayZ. “I was turned away by its toxic environment. Players are often agitated and do not value teamwork. Even though this is particularly common of the genre. Fortnite is particularly bad,” Berry said.

There’s no question that the Fortnite epidemic has made its strike against teens. Jaryd Cousins plays for one reason. “I am addicted to it,” he said. A new update (2.2.0) was launched last Thursday. This update included an entire map reconstruction. People that have been playing from the initial launch will feel rejuvenated. It could draw attention from people that haven’t played too,” freshman Ryan Kim said.

So if you don’t consider yourself a “gamer”, and you want to start, Fortnite is a game that you could easily transition into.