New Xbox Kids restrictions launch with Fortnite

This week the folks at Xbox launched a new set of tools for parents to restrict the sort of gameplay to which their child has access – starting with Fortnite. One might understand the ultimate popularity of the game when one realizes these tools did not exist before, and that Microsoft is using Fortnite as a launching pad for parents to enact greater control over what their child sees on their Xbox One. It all begins at account.microsoft.com/family – the website.

You can sign your family up for a family sort of account over at the URL mentioned above. From there, you can enter each individual family member, and control the way that family member interacts with the Xbox One as such. Before doing this, I recommend you read what I've written below.*

It is through this console that you'll be able to stop your child from playing extraordinary amounts of time – you can set schedules for them, limits, and whatnot. You can also stop all purchases with their account, or allow them to make purchases only inside your allotted cash amount – for if they want "bucks" or whatever they call them in whatever game they're getting after these days.

Ok but what about Fortnite again?

"Available today," said a Microsoft representative today, "Fortnite is the first game to feature our new cross-play settings, which provides parents and caregivers with more choice in managing cross-network scenarios for their children who play on Xbox." Two new settings categories are active in Family Settings on Xbox One as of this week specifically for Fortnite:

• Allow or Block Cross-Network Play

• Allow or Block Cross-Network Communication.

These settings will be shown in the user's Xbox Settings, which can be set from this Xbox settings account page. You'll need to log in WITH your kid's account. If your kid does not have an account, head over to account.microsoft.com/family to make one for them.

*While you can sign your child up with their correct age and name and stuff, I recommend putting in info that isn't entirely accurate. Especially if your child is a minor, I don't care which company you're dealing with, if you can get around giving out your child's private info, do so. The longer you can put off your child being tracked by internet-based companies, the better.