Fortnite
Ranked 7 of 17 multiplayer shooters by recommenders
Criticized more than recommended: critics say skins pressure kids to spend; those who recommend it see it as a fun, free-to-play shooter with fair, transparent monetization and a well-designed battle pass.
11 people recommended Fortnite in Hacker News comments, 22 had mixed feelings and 53 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
86 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- mixed feelings
- 22
- warn against or regret it
- 53
The record
Recommended in 7 of 12 months
In 10 different threads.
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 10 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 18% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 40 of the 100 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Concern about kids' screen time
“I try to explain to my young teenage son what he misses by playing a near-perpetual game like Fortnite.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to” “There should not be a separate parental control dashboard for roblox, fortnite, instagram, tiktok”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “The new CC, an AI agent built for families” “If I could travel back in time and prevent my kids and nephews from ever learning about Fortnite”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “Steam Machine” - Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “NY school phone ban has made lunch loud again”
Pressure on kids to buy skins
“Yes, they have issues with FOMO, and bullying for not buying skins”
Comment from 24 Dec 2025 in “Meta is using the Linux scheduler designed for Valve's Steam Deck on its servers” “Poor kids that have been sold into this versus the games we had that didn’t outright exploit.”
Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls” “Kids with the default Fortnite skin are bullied, excluded. The social pressure is huge.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Epic fined €1.1M over manipulating children through in app purchases” Anti-cheat blocks Linux play
“Notable for me is Fortnite - though I hear that now…”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “CachyOS June 2026 Release” “plenty of multiplayer games with invasive client side anti cheats such as Fortnite or Genjin Impact do not run”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “I spent a year on Linux and forgot to miss Windows” Messy codebase and tech debt
“Millions spent trying to wrangle Fortnite's spaghetti codebase as it crumbles under more than a decade of tech debt”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls” “Battlefield and Fortnite are trash because of the multiplayer component that leads to gameplay that's low quality”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Ask HN: How would you set up a child’s first Linux computer?”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fair, transparent monetization, no gambling
“V bucks aren't shoved down your throat, the battle passes are pretty transparent about what you get”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Epic fined €1.1M over manipulating children through in app purchases” “Fortnite avoids this by having no gambling and by making hvh infeasible”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Steam Client is now faster than Epic's new vibe coded launcher” “Fortnite's Battle Pass is very well designed, quality content”
Comment from 24 Mar 2026 in “Today's Layoffs” - Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Epic fined €1.1M over manipulating children through in app purchases”
- Comment from 25 Mar 2026 in “Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls”
Fun, solid gameplay
“Fortnite's initial success was based on solid gameplay before the monetization kicked in”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “How Y Combinator made it smart to trust founders” “i like a few multiplayer shooters, fortnite being one of them”
Comment from 28 Jan 2026 in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux” Popular with kids and families
“almost every kid of her age is stuck in Roblox and some in Fortnite”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “Roblox Is Minting Teen Millionaires” “the child will be playing fortnite/minecraft”
Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “TikTok won't protect DMs with E2EE, saying it would put users at risk” Free to play with generous free rewards
“I earn enough v-bucks from playing the game to never have to pay.”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Epic fined €1.1M over manipulating children through in app purchases”
Other multiplayer shooters people recommend
The four most recommended other multiplayer shooters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arc Raiders | 44 | 7 | 10 | 81% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Counter-Strike | 19 | 10 | 17 | 53% | 9 | — | — |
| Counter-Strike 2 | 18 | 8 | 17 | 51% | 9 | — | — |
| Marathon by Bungie | 13 | 2 | 13 | 50% | 8 | — | — |
| FortniteThis page | 11 | 22 | 53 | 17% | 7 | — | — |
Also compared with Overwatch 2 and Team Fortress 2.
What people said
40 of the 100 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Fortnite avoids this by having no gambling and by making hvh infeasible”
“This is why I haven’t been able to play split screen Fortnight with my son”
“There should not be a separate parental control dashboard for roblox, fortnite, instagram, tiktok”
“that time fortnite wanted zelda skins and even offered to make it exclusive”
“Notable for me is Fortnite - though I hear that now…”
“a game that is becoming a platform they can't handle or contain anymore.”
“Epic takes a 63% cut of any 'in game item' you sell, and you don't have a choice of storefront inside the game.”
“I try to explain to my young teenage son what he misses by playing a near-perpetual game like Fortnite.”
“instead I have a disparate management account and portal for every service on the planet”
“Everything in the store is straightforward and fair.”
“Poor kids that have been sold into this versus the games we had that didn’t outright exploit.”
“Their holy war on the App Stores blunted Fortnite’s momentum at its apogee.”
“IMO they made a strategic mistake in shackling their game-as-a-platform to Fortnite.”
“Fortnite's Battle Pass is very well designed, quality content”
“It doesn't seem like a sign of good health for Fortnite overall, though.”
“they change the wrong things: usually making the game harder and more frustrating for casual players”
“it's concerning how much Epic still seems to be hanging their hat on Fortnite”
“Millions spent trying to wrangle Fortnite's spaghetti codebase as it crumbles under more than a decade of tech debt”
“they recently increased the prices of the game's cosmetics significantly”
“I kept a Windows install for a couple of years so I could keep playing fortnite”
“almost every kid of her age is stuck in Roblox and some in Fortnite”
“the child will be playing fortnite/minecraft”
“The pain in trying to set up fortnite and minecraft online as parents is unsummounted”
“some companies are making good money off of it (Roblox, Fortnite, MMOs, etc”
“i like a few multiplayer shooters, fortnite being one of them”
“plenty of multiplayer games with invasive client side anti cheats such as Fortnite or Genjin Impact do not run”
“I earn enough v-bucks from playing the game to never have to pay.”
“Kids with the default Fortnite skin are bullied, excluded. The social pressure is huge.”
“pretty non-predatory compared to most live service games”
“Holy fucking hypocrisy from Tim Sweeney and the camp at Epic Games with their predation here.”
“V bucks aren't shoved down your throat, the battle passes are pretty transparent about what you get”
“the games monetization was the most exploitative when nobody was playing it”
“Fortnite's initial success was based on solid gameplay before the monetization kicked in”
“In my opinion it has been poorly implemented and it's incredibly frustrating at the best of times.”
“Yes, they have issues with FOMO, and bullying for not buying skins”
“Games like Fortnite and League of Legends went down this road and ended up at even more unfathomable $500 microtransactions.”
“If I could travel back in time and prevent my kids and nephews from ever learning about Fortnite”
“I see your point about the longevity of the Battlefield series and Fortnite”
“Battlefield and Fortnite are trash because of the multiplayer component that leads to gameplay that's low quality”
“Things like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft are gateways to increased device usage”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.