The most popular video game right now is "Fortnite."
And why not? It's got everything people love:
hanging out with your friend, killing your friend,
and dancing over your friend's dead body.
But just like every other thing that's popular,
people have started to blame it for all their problems.
The popular video game Fortnite
now has more than 200 million registered players worldwide.
The problem is, experts say it's incredibly addicting.
NEWSMAN: Behavioral health experts
have seen an increase in young adults seeking treatment
for their addiction to video games.
In fact, earlier this year, the World Health Organization
recognized gaming disorder as a diagnosable condition.
NEWSMAN: A British behavioral specialist says
Fortnite addiction is like heroin.
Okay. Fortnite is not like drugs, okay?
There's no rock star who died from video games.
Elvis wasn't passed out on the toilet
with his veins full of Pac-Man.
Right? No other form of entertainment
gets the bad rap that video games do.
I mean, why does 20 straight hours of Fortnite
mean you're "addicted," but binging Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
means you're sophisticated? Oh.
And so what if I sometimes miss work
because I was up all night playing Fortnite?
I just tell my idiot boss I lost my voice--
-like he does all the time! -(laughter)
-(applause) -All the time!
(laughter)
You have one job!
But fine, these so-called specialists
say it's an addiction,
and now innocent kids are paying the price.
Some parents are so worried
their kids are spending so much time playing the popular game,
they're taking a drastic step and sending their kids
-to video game rehab. -MAN: Well, this year
the "drug of choice," as we call it, is Fortnite.
NEWSMAN: Michael Jacobus runs Reset Summer Camp,
a four-week program that focuses on teen tech addiction.
MAN: When kids are at your camp,
-is it like a detox? -Yes, absolutely.
NEWSMAN: With no devices for a whole month,
the camp focuses on therapy and teaching life skills,
like cooking and laundry.
Okay... cooking and laundry is not rehab.
It's what makes you want to play video games in the first place.
Okay? No kid has ever been like, "Hey, washing my filthy clothes
is so much fun, I'll never play video games again!"
If I wanted to cook and do laundry,
I'd play The Sims, all right?
And the blame keeps going, because according to some,
Fortnite isn't just damaging kids, it's ruining marriages.
An online UK divorce service says 200 divorce petitions
cited Fortnite this year.
That was the reason for the split?
-Put the controller down. -Fortnite.
Don't blame Fortnite for your shitty marriage, okay?
You made your wife sit and watch you play Fortnite,
day after day, until one day you look over and she's gone.
Well, guess where she is now, buddy?
She's at my house watching me play Fortnite.
-(laughter) -Guys, Fortnite is harmless fun.
In fact, the only place I draw a line
is using it to train real killers.
You can serve your country and play Fortnite?
Well, the Stars and Stripes newspaper says yes.
The army is forming a team of pro gamers
to compete in tournaments as a recruitment tool.
NEWSMAN: The plan is actually to have recruiters
playing those games in their uniforms at tournaments
to provoke questions about their jobs from the players.
This is a great idea, until those dumb kids stop fighting
and start dancing in the middle of the war right...
and just getting shot... (grunting)
The only way the army should use Fortnite
is to drop it on ISIS.
Then they'll start playing it 20 hours a day,
and we'll have won the War on Terror.
And that's when we really get to dance.
Ronny Chieng, everybody!