Fortnite blamed for spike in divorce

Fortnite blamed for spike in divorce

Do you or your partner play Fortnite? Could it end your relationship?

Addiction to the viral video game Fortnite has been blamed for one in 20 divorces this year, according to research by a British divorce-filing website.

The site, divorce-online.co.uk, conducted a study into more than 4000 divorce petitions it has handled this year and cited the multi-player shooter game as the grounds for many splits.

Citing the game’s “drug-like qualities” and describing Fortnite as “one of the most addictive digital games ever played”, the firm decided to look through its records for the year.

It noted “an increase in inquiries where Fortnite has been mentioned as part of the reason someone wanted to file for a divorce”.

“It is no surprise to us that more and more people are having relationship problems because of our digital addictions,” a spokesman said.

“These numbers equate to roughly 5 per cent of the 4665 petitions we have handled since the beginning of the year,” the spokesman went on.

“As one of the largest filers of divorce petitions in the UK, is a pretty good indicator”.

There were 107,071 divorces in the UK in 2016, the most recent year for which complete data is available.

It was not clear if more men or women were citing Fortnite in divorce papers.

And the research doesn’t answer another question: was it the desire to find a better duos partner that drove the split, or the desire to find someone who plays the game less?

Fortnite is making its promoters, Epic Games, at least $A420 million ($NZ460 million) every month.

Worldwide it has 40 million active players and 125 million downloads.

The Sun tabloid paper and website reported earlier this year that some women had been calling for a total ban on the compelling game as it had “brainwashed” their boyfriends.

Signing a petition calling for the game to be removed from circulation, one wrote: “This game is ridiculous. Ruining my relationship.”

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