Nine-Year-Old 'Fortnite' Star Banned For 4 Years For Violating Terms Of Service

“Fortnite” professional players, fans and followers took to Twitter where they expressed their discontent after Epic Games banned a nine-year-old boy from competitive gaming.

Zenon became a hot topic when he received a four-year ban after he was caught playing in paid tournaments under the game's age limit. According to Understood, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board rates “Fortnite” with a “T,” meaning the game is only recommended for teens or for those players aged 13 and up.

The outlet also cited the recommendation of founding partner Common Sense Media when they said the game is more suited for teenagers because of its “action violence and open chat,” although some tweens, or preadolescents, can handle the action.

As for Zenon, Fortnite Intel reported that the Brazilian prodigy has competed in paid competitions in the past prior to taking part and placed in the FNCS Solos open qualifiers. But as soon as Epic banned him because of obvious age reasons and a direct violation of the game's Terms of Service, #FreeZenon became a trending hashtag right after a live video of him crying while playing alongside his dad circulated in the gaming hemisphere.

“Why create a game that's clearly targeted towards kids if you're not going to let them play it?” said American YouTuber and esports superstar FaZe Banks via his Twitter post.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, known for his exploits in several esports games like “Halo 3,” “Fortnite Battle Royale” and “PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds” also took to the social media page and expressed his concern.

“Unless Arenas start offering money for placements there is no reason for #FreeZenon to be banned from them until he turns 13. That being said the age requirement to compete in Fortnite is 13 and he is 9. He shouldn't be banned from any other aspect of Fortnite 100%,” he said.

Considering the actions of Epic and everything else in between, Zenon is lucky that he was only given a competitive-only ban. He can still play “Fortnite” on a casual level, but he is prohibited to probe and join any Arena and paid competitions.

The only player Epic banned from playing “Fortnite” was FaZe Jarvis. He was caught using aimbot, a program that helps players with their accuracy and used it in-game. As a result, FaZe Jarvis, or Jarvis Khattri in real life, was banned for life.