How old do we have to be to stop playing Fortnite?

By Toby Saunders

Published: Wednesday, 07 February 2024 at 11:05 AM

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Your kid is insisting they play Fortnite – they don’t want to be the only one at school not playing it – but you’re within your rights to know what the Fortnite age rating is before you let them online.

Since the introduction of LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Festival, the game is now split into five different titles within the same base download.

Each individual game within Fortnite has its own age rating.

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The Pan European Game Information (PEGI) is what we go on here in the UK, which provides parents with age ratings for each game, as well as details into why the rating was given.

As it is an online shooting game, we understand why you’re hesitant to allow your child to play Fortnite. We’re here to help make your mind up on whether you should or not.

Keep reading to find out what the Fortnite age rating is and to find out how old you need to be to play the game.

Fortnite age rating explained: How old do you need to be?

The Fortnite age rating is PEGI 12 (ESRB Teen in the US) for Fortnite Battle Royale and Fortnite Save the World.

Each separate game under the Fortnite umbrella has been given its own age rating, and the PEGI rating for Fortnite as a whole is simply ‘Parental Guidance’ with an exclamation point.

The Parental Guidance age rating is what you’ll see when you go to download Fortnite from a digital storefront. This wasn’t always the case, but it is explained on the PEGI website:

“PEGI has decided to change the age rating for Fortnite, since it meets the conditions to be considered as an ecosystem with diverse content rather than an individual game product.

“As a result, the PEGI 12 age rating was replaced by the Parental Guidance label (an icon displaying an exclamation mark, always accompanied by the ‘parental guidance recommended’ text descriptor).”

PEGI made the change because, towards the end of 2023, Epic Games introduced LEGO Fortnite, Fortnite Festival and Rocket Racing to Fortnite. All of them are separate games within Fortnite – all accessible under one download.

The Parental Guidance icon from PEGI is used to alert “parents that while age-appropriate content may be available, the platform may also offer access to content that is not appropriate for children”.

Fortnite Battle Royale – the main Fortnite attraction – has a PEGI rating of 12. This is “because it features moderate violence” but “physical reactions are unrealistic as no blood or injuries are depicted”.

It also “offers players the opportunity to purchase in-game items, in the form of cosmetics, weapons, skins and in-game currency, which some parents or carers may want to be aware of”.

Fortnite Save the World also has a PEGI rating of 12, for similar reasons as Battle Royale, except it adds attacking monsters into the mix for a bit more threat and peril.

The LEGO Fortnite age rating is PEGI 7 and Fortnite Festival has an age rating of 12 for its “use of bad language and song lyrics of a sexual nature”.

Rocket Racing, meanwhile, has an age rating of PEGI 3, so it should be fine to play for everyone.

Finally, you can use voice chat and talk to other players while online. You can set up parental controls in-game and on the console/platform your child plays on to disable or put limits on purchases and voice chat.

Find out more about these safety controls on the Epic Account Portal and on the official Epic Games website.