Fortnite is banning certain outfits on various maps and modes due to its age rating system

Fortnite’s new update on November 16th brought a lot of new content to the game. However, there is one addition that the community is not entirely comfortable with: a new age-rating system that prevents some outfits from being used on maps for all audiences.

Age rating comes to Fortnite and now you can not wear some outfits on certain maps

As announced by Epic Games in the corresponding blog post, after the arrival of Fortnite patch 27.10 on Thursday, November 16, 2023, the recommended age for all maps and game modes will be displayed.

The other related change is that we will not be able to use certain outfits with violent connotations in maps for the general public. What does that mean? It means that we will not be able to play with outfits that contain items such as weapons in maps designed for children and the general public. For example, the Purradise Meowscles outfit from the Fortnite Chapter 4: Season 3 Battle Pass is one of the affected outfits because this character wears a gun holster as part of his outfit.

Also banned are some outfits that we believe could be frightening to young children in context, such as Marvel’s Venom and Carnage. However, some outfits, such as Armored Batman Zero, have accessories that look like hand grenades and are not banned in children’s gaming experiences, suggesting that this measure may not be well implemented.

While we can play Fortnite’s standard game modes (Save the World, Battle Royale, Zero Build, Team Rumble) with these outfits without restrictions, certain Creative Experiences, such as All Audience maps where no weapons are used, prevent us from using these characters. If we try to play with a forbidden outfit in an all-player mode, Fortnite will automatically change it to one of the default characters.

Outfits are not the only cosmetic items that will be banned: this measure will also affect certain items such as certain back bling, pickaxes, gliders, trails, graffiti, emotes, and even music that depicts weapons or other elements that could be considered scary.

Fortnite has an ESRB T rating in America, which means that it is a game recommended for ages thirteen and up. Although Fortnite’s normal game modes include guns and shoot-outs, the cartoon aesthetic greatly downplays the violence, making the game not as crude as, say, Call of Duty, making it suitable for people ages thirteen and up.

However, after the implementation of Fortnite’s 27.10 content update, there are Creative Mode gameplay experiences that are rated ESRB E, which is the rating for all audiences in America. It is on maps with this rating that Fortnite prevents the use of scary outfits or weapons. Only time will tell if Epic Games will keep this rating as it is, or if it will change it in some way to make it more generous or stricter.

How do I know which outfits and items are banned on maps for all audiences in Fortnite?

To find out which outfits and objects we can not use on maps for all audiences in Fortnite, we access the different sections of our locker and look at the characters we have. If, after choosing an all-public mode, we see that some items have yellow danger icons on them, it means that we cannot use those items in the chosen game mode.

Basically, if an outfit or item displays weapons or looks scary or threatening, it will be banned on all age-appropriate maps. In an effort to mitigate this issue for future user purchases, Epic Games will now provide explicit warnings at the time of purchase that outfits may be banned in certain game modes: