It seems as if the Boston Red Sox (14 - 17) have banned Epic Games' wildly popular battle royale titleFortnitefrom their clubhouse, despite it having a major presence last year. This could have a number of potential reasons from the team pitcherDavid Price giving upFortniteafter his Carpal Tunnel injuryto the news that Carlos Santana had smashed a TV because of his teammates playing it during baseball games, but it ultimately seems as if this decision was met as a team.
According to multiple players, it had reached the point that playingFortnitewas “becoming counterproductive to putting their best foot forward on the field.” Red Sox Pitcher Nathan Eovaldi even stated he hadn’t seen the game this year, despite everyone typically having it set up. Their performance thus far this season seems to be the main reason for that, as when the battle royale title was popular on the team, they were in first place.
Now, this season has gone a little differently for the Red Sox, but the team doesn’t seem to be blamingFortnite. Eovaldi also stated that there was a “time and place for [Fortnite]” but implied it wasn’t while losing as often as they were. It seems that, if the team was doing better, they would reconsider bringing it back into the clubhouse, but until that point, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be appearing for the time being.
The Red Sox are not the first team to govern themselves withFortnite, as teams like the Blue Jays have also self-governed their time with the game. If nothing else, the game’s role in the MLB, as well as the recentFortnitecrossover withAvengers: Endgame, speaks to its popularity.
That’s not to say it’s popular everywhere, however. China has previously banned the game in its country, and another country,Iraq, has also recently bannedFortnite.WhereFortnitegoes from here remains to be seen, but it is still going strong and is unprecedented in popularity and scope.
Fortniteis out now for Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
