Fake News: Fortnite Creator Did NOT Admit Game's Purpose Is To Prepare Young Men For War

Fact Check

  • by: Maarten Schenk
Fake News: Fortnite Creator Did NOT Admit Game's Purpose Is To Prepare Young Men For War

Did the creator of the popular game Fortnite really say it's purpose was to prepare young men for war in Syria or Russia? No, that's not true at all. The false story appeared on a website that posts fake news labeled as "fauxtire" or satire and which has a reputation for hardly ever publishing anything that is actually true.

The story originated from an article published on April 20, 2018 on Huzlers and was titled "Fortnite Creator Admits The Game's Purpose Is To Prepare Young Men For War" (archived here) which opened:

UNITED STATES - Popular sandbox game Fortnite has grabbed the world by storm, literally. Being a free game, It is currently one of the most popular video game titles in the world, if not the most. But how did a game released just this year become so popular so fast? According to Fortnite creators--World War 3.

In a recent interview with Fortnite designer Darren Sugg, Fortnite was created to get America's young men ready for war, hence why it is free. "We knew that a free game would move around more quickly than a paid game, now Millions in the US are playing it. Hopefully all those hours playing Fortnite can help you boys when you're dropping in Syria or Russia" said Darren.

The summary on social media might have led some to believe that it was a real news article:

Fortnite Creator Admits The Game's Purpose Is To Prepare Young Men For War

UNITED STATES - Popular sandbox game Fortnite has grabbed the world by storm, literally. Being a free game, It is currently one of the most popular video game titles in the world, if not the most. But how did a game released just this year become so...

But the rest of the article seems to be missing parts of phrases here and there and we weren't able to find any confirmation for any of the quotes attributed to Darren Sugg, the director of the game.

Huzlers styles itself as a "fauxtire" website and carries a disclaimer at the bottom of each page:

Huzlers.com is the most infamous fauxtire & satire entertainment website in the world. If it's trending on social media you'll find it here!

According to Splinter News the site is run by Pablo Reyes and David Martinez and according to Buzzfeed Reyes is involved with several other fake news websites. They tend to shy away from political stories, opting instead to write for a more "urban" audience, with stories about rappers, criminals and celebrities.

We wrote about huzlers.com and their prank articles before, here are our most recent stories that mention the site:

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  Maarten Schenk

Lead Stories co-founder Maarten Schenk is our resident expert on fake news and hoax websites. He likes to go beyond just debunking trending fake news stories and is endlessly fascinated by the dazzling variety of psychological and technical tricks used by the people and networks who intentionally spread made-up things on the internet.  He can often be found at conferences and events about fake news, disinformation and fact checking when he is not in his office in Belgium monitoring and tracking the latest fake article to go viral.

Read more about or contact Maarten Schenk

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