Anybody here playing this? What are your thoughts?

My 8 year old is really interested in the game and was in fact asking to be able to play it as his birthday gift. I've given the game a try and I wasn't too impressed but then I'm not really a twitch shooter guy. A good number of his friends play it apparently but I'm not sure if it's the PC version of the game as I'm quite sure two of his friends he's named doesn't have a PC at home. However, he's really, really interested in the game and once the topic is breached, he won't shut up about it for 30 minutes.

I wonder if I should let him play it? Even under the condition that he can only play if his older brother (15yo) plays as well? I got them both Minecraft 2+ years ago and they've only now started to ease off on it as my eldest plays a lot of the new BattleTech game but when they play Minecraft, they play a lot of online modes as well but with the chat function off.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

8 years old ? its a violent game and can be toxic, guns don't solve problems ! but seriously he is too young in my opinion to be thrown into the wild of competittive online games;buuuuuuuut if he is savy enough he will problably play on your back

My 12 and 15 year old are obsessed with it, to the extent that it started to affect their mood if they couldn't play it or got killed and they became moody and aggressive. I have since limited their time on it to only at weekends and after chores and homework are done and then only a couple of hours at a time. Friends of mine have ended up doing the same as it is common apparently.

Like Blade said, if you ban him he will only find a way, at a friends etc. Limit it, monitor his behaviour and get the older brother to be around. I have heard reports of grooming online, but my boys are quite switched on.

He is on the cusp of being too young imo but if you think he ready then fine, but it is addictive for them.

Good luck.

PEGI Rating is 12. Make of that what you will...

My honest opinion: I personally don't like these games (PUBG too) and the hype/addiction/craze they generate. I understand it's harsh but to me this is getting into the "If everyone jumps off a bridge, would we too..." area of thought.

Give your kid Kerbal Space Program and the Long Dark, instead. No need for an 8 year old to be playing online with other kids who aren't exactly shining examples of good behavior.

The Long Dark is amazing

8 is very young for that sort of toxic online game. He wants to play because his friends play probably. Violent online games like that with their toxic communities can have very drastic affects on young kinds. I'd say hell no if it were my kid. But you also have to consider that you might be ostracizing them from their clique which could have equally bad effects.

Man, I dont envy parents raising children in this current digital age. Good luck with it which every way you choose.

Yeah, the game is on his radar because of his friends, otherwise it wouldn't even register.

What exactly are you guys talking about when you say "toxic"? Is it the killing? He plays bedwars in Minecraft wherein you spawn in and try to destroy other people's beds (spawn in point) before they destroy yours. Obviously you can kill those players if/when you come across them, but they'll respawn back in their bed until you destroy the bed after which they "lose" the game once they die for the last time. We also play War Thunder and shoot tanks. He also plays Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare, a shooter version of Plants vs. Zombies.

My boys were playing Terraria and Starbound before their friends discovered it and they were very excited to be playing online and being the one to show their friends how things are done and showing off their advanced armors and weapons and tools.

I guess I don't have much against the game graphics itself; it's cartoony enough not to be taken seriously. In fact, if the PvE mode were free, I'd let them play that with friends. It's the PvP mode, online chat, etc. that I'm hesitant on.