Currently, there is a discussion about the YouTube trend “Strip Fortnite”. In this, guys play Fortnite while a woman sitting next to them undresses with every kill. However, it apparently remains family-friendly.
YouTube is a world of its own and operates under different rules than traditional online gaming magazines. But even on YouTube, “Fortnite” is currently the biggest game and the hottest topic.
Since Friday, the biggest gaming sites in the world have been somewhat outraged (Polygon) to somewhat perplexed (PCGamer) by a trend that has been circulating on YouTube for several weeks. There are videos of “Strip Fortnite.”
The principle here is: Someone plays Fortnite and next to him sits an attractive woman who removes a piece of clothing for every kill the player achieves. During the video, a dynamic emerges where the woman tries to prevent the player from making further kills and distracts him.
Thumbnails suggest age rating 18 – videos are rather tame
Such videos often promote themselves with explicit thumbnails that suggest: The woman gets naked and is completely appalled that the brilliantly playing Fortnite pro is forcing her to undress.
However, this never happens in the actual videos. Of course not: that would violate YouTube’s rules.
Instead, the ladies do take off more as the video progresses. However, this involves hair clips, shoelaces, and onion-like layers of clothing.
In any case, the “Strip Fortnite” videos are incredibly successful. The most popular videos reach over 10 million views and thus generate advertising revenue – and, as so often, many replicate this to gain clicks on YouTube.
“Of course it’s clickbait, but I would be crazy not to do it”
The most successful of these Strip Fortnite YouTubers, “RiceGum,” has released several videos with over 10 million views following the same scheme.
RiceGum was recently attacked by one of the best Fortnite players in the world, TSM_Myth, in a stream. Why does he do this?
RiceGum’s explanation (of course in a video of his own) is: It just works.
If the first “Strip Fortnite” video had not worked, he wouldn’t have made a second one, RiceGum explains. But since it worked, he kept making them. He would be crazy not to do it.
“Here strips my 13-year-old sister!”
The controversy was ultimately sparked by a video from another YouTuber, “One Kill = One Cloth With My 13-Year-Old-Sister” – which followed the same pattern. The video caused an uproar merely because the idea of someone exploiting their underage sister for clicks was raised. However, as Polygon knows, the woman was neither the YouTuber’s sister nor 13 years old, but significantly older.
The video has since been deleted.
This YouTuber also roughly states: Sure, it’s clickbait. But what should I do? I am a boy in front of a camera trying to make some clickbait videos to get my name out there.
The “Strip Fortnite” trick also works in Germany
There is also the trend “Strip Fortnite” in Germany – for example, on the channel of the “Schinken Brothers.”
Here, too, the video with 350,000 clicks is significantly above the channel average. But only when the woman undresses. A video where one of the male YouTubers undressed reached only 46,000 clicks.
This is also confusing because Fortnite is known for primarily catering to a young audience. The game is rated 12+ by the USK.
Also interesting: Neglected woman wants to ban Fortnite, ends up playing it herself
