Fortnite is one of the most profitable games of all time. Both its studio, Epic Games, and players have ample opportunities to make money off of it.
But most of Fortnite's player base consists of kids that haven't even turned 13 yet, so Epic Games has implemented rules that keep them from entering any competitive game types with cash prizes. And even if the competitive matches don't have cash involved, underage players still need permission from their parents to play, which brings us to our current situation.
Nine-year-old Fortnite player Zenon has found himself banned from the game for 1,460 days, which adds up to a grand total of four straight years. In essence, he's banned until he turns 13.
Zenon was banned because he played some matches in Arena Mode — the competitive game type that doesn't have cash prizes. The player did have permission from his father to play, but that doesn't change Epic's rules. In fact, his dad was sitting right next to him when the game informed him of his rather dramatic ban and sent him into a fit of tears on stream.
Zenon has participated in Cash Cups before, but Epic had already banned him from these events a few days before this current incident. And since he was following the rules this time around, his new ban makes no sense. The situation has caused Fortnite fans to create the FreeZenon hashtag on Twitter.
As of this writing, the hashtag is not only trending, but it's garnered over 91,000 tweets in less than 12 hours. Fans are pointing out the fact that Epic banned Zenon for four whole years for following the rules, but only banned professional players XXiF and Ronaldo for two weeks for cheating at a major event. They're asking for Epic Games to cut Zenon a break and lift his ban, or at the very least, shorten it to something not so laughably long.
Epic Games has a track record of having questionable bans when it comes to Fortnite, though. Professional player Javis Kaye received a life ban for using an aimbot on his main account. In this instance, Kaye was not in a professional match and was only trying to show his viewers how unfair the cheat was in Fortnite. Despite issuing an apology for his actions and having pleas made on his behalf, he's still banned to this day. With this in mind, there might not be much hope for Zenon's situation, but fingers crossed that this doesn't end up being the case.
Fortnite is available now on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and iOS and Android devices.