Our son is into video games. He never played this game before but it looks like fun!
Just as a bit of a forewarning for you, Fortnite is one of those games with *really* wide appeal, and is strictly an online game as far as I know. This means lots of interactions with other players. And THAT brings problems.
What I mean is, if your son should play it, it's inevitable that he'll run into some incredibly toxic individuals. It's not just this game: any community around a large competitive game experiences this. I've yet to find a single exception to the rule. And it's nigh-impossible for the devs to actually enforce the rules they have in place to stop toxic players or trolls and such.
Typically, with competitive games, new players tend to be the biggest targets of toxicity, due to the simple fact that they just dont know what they're doing yet. And that can and will affect the team that they're on. This is not the fault of the player; it's inevitable that all new players will experience this. But it can get other players *incredibly* angry. Because, you know, people cant just not be jerks. It's supposed to be a fun time, but too many take it too seriously.
Fortnite, as far as I know, is a bit different in that specific regard, as it's generally a 1 VS ALL sort of formula. Or at least, the main mode is. "Battle royale" sort of concept. Voice chat likely is not enabled during that mode (because every other player is an enemy). However, that doesnt stop toxicity from appearing in some form. Particularly if the player wants to engage with other players in different ways (such as discussing strategy between matches or on forums or whatever). But there is a team mode as well, and voice chat is used there.
Maybe you already are aware of those issues, I dont think this type of topic ever popped up before (or, I dont remember discussing it at any point), but I just wanted to mention it just in case. I do think it's important for parents to be aware of how games like these work, and the problems that can be encountered.
There ARE specific exceptions to all of this though. Splatoon is the main one I can think of. Nintendo does not allow voice chat in their online games, period. For all the reasons I mentioned. So that game, safe for everyone (as long as you avoid things like forums outside of the game, anyway... there ARE still toxic players, they just cannot communicate directly in-game). But Nintendo is very much the odd one out.
Also, with Fortnite and many other big games, beware of potential predatory monetization. THAT is a huge, huge problem in the industry right now. I wont go into that topic here, explaining it properly would need to be it's own huge message (there's a lot to explain). It's one of those things that every gamer really needs to be made aware of, regardless of age.
But yeah, I just wanted to mention all of that. Doesnt mean he cant play it and have a super fun experience, just that the negative WILL show up sooner or later with non-Nintendo online games. I hate that, but such is the way it works. And such is the internet, too.
Honestly I dont really play games online myself, for that very reason. I used to play fighting games... like, A LOT, but I eventually ran into so many complete jerks over the years that they killed all the fun. So just... heck with it. If I'm going to engage with other gamers it will be in more confined places akin to this forum, or on something like Steam, outside of games rather than in them.
