Twitter On Fire As 9-Year-Old Kid Gets Banned From Fortnite

Published 05/05/2020, 12:31 PM EDT

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Fortnite is one of the most famous battle royale games. Due to the massive popularity, controversies surround Fortnite from time to time. The latest one is a Brazilian kid being handed a 4-year ban by Epic Games.

A considerable portion of the Fortnite community includes young fans who haven’t entered their teenage yet. Therefore, Epic has implemented rules that prevent kids below the age of 13 from participating in competitive tournaments or game modes that include a prize pool. Moreover, players below Epic’s age limit also need their parent’s consent to partake in certain competitive matches that don’t have cash prizes involved. This leads us to the current situation.

Zenon, a 9-year-old Brazilian Fortnite player, has been banned from the battle royale for 1460 days. It means he’s prohibited for a total of 4 years until he turns 13. It’s safe to say that Brazil isn’t a standout region for Fortnite’s competitive scene, but this kid is already has made a name for himself by playing Fortnite. Zenon has more than 130,000 followers on Twitch.

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Reason For Zenon’s Fortnite Ban

Zenon received the ban because of playing a few matches in Arena mode, which is a competitive mode but doesn’t include cash prizes. The nine-year-old, accompanied by his viewers and his father next to him, was banned on stream. It led to the kid breaking down in tears. Although it seems that Zenon had his father’s permission to play, once Epic spotted the Terms of Service breach, they took action. Now, Zenon can neither participate in a Fortnite tournament nor play Arena mode until he’s 13.

#FreeZenon Trends On Twitter

After Zenon’s dramatic ban, #FreeZenon became a trend on Twitter. It was started by his followers as well as Fortnite fans who were sad to see the dreams of the aspiring kid crushed. Well over 100,000 people have tweeted with the hashtag, including some notable names in the gaming community.

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FaZe Banks pleaded the developers to let the kid go back to playing Fortnite.

Ninja and Zayt also joined in to share their opinions on the matter.

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Ninja and Tfue also discussed Epic’s ban for the 9-year-old Brazilian kid on their respective streams. Here’s a video highlight, if you want to check out what they had to say.

Epic has handed out questionable bans in Fortnite earlier. They banned pro players XXiF and Ronaldo only for two weeks after found guilty of cheating at the qualifiers for last year’s Fortnite World Cup. Another pro player Javis Kaye received a lifetime ban for using aimbot to show his viewers how unfair the cheat was.

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Understandably, rules are made for a reason. If one breaches TOS, they deserve punishment. But a lengthy 4-year Arena ban could crush a kid’s dreams for professional esports. What are your opinions regarding Zenon’s ban? Do you think it’s justified? Let us know in the comments section below!

Read more: FaZe Clan Member Facing A Possible Ban In Fortnite.

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Written by:

Souhardya Biswas

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Souhardya Biswas is an eSports writer for EssentiallySports. He joined the organisation in 2020, wanting to explore the sphere of professional eSports journalism. His passion for gaming started with titles like GTA San Andreas, Far Cry 2, Modern Warfare 2, FIFA 09, eventually developing an interest in Battle Royale games like PUBG and Apex Legends.
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