Fortnite fever moves parents to hire video game tutors
Some parents have new dreams for their kids—make them Fortnite experts.
With more than 125 million players across the world, Fortnite’s immense popularity, which has drawn everyone from pre-teens to superstar musicians like Drake, has led to some parents hiring video game coaches to help their kids win.
“My son was actually beginning to play and he actually wanted to get a little bit more competitive,” Nick Mennen, whose son plays Fortnite, told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo. “When I saw that there was a university that started offering a scholarship for it, I decided that it was a good approach for his future.”
Parents are willing to shell out around $20 per hour for a coach to help their kids improve, according to Fortnite coach Cesar Sainz.
“I know coaching might not be for everybody,” Sainz said. “But it definitely does help get an outside perspective from an outside gamer.”
Fortnite is most popular among players between the ages of 18 to 24. But a recent report released by Newzoo found that 68% of Fortnite players were between the ages of 10 and 30.
Live streaming the video games to websites like Twitch has driven the success of many players. Perhaps the most popular of them all is 26-year-old Tyler “Ninja” Blevins. With more than 10 million followers and nearly 300 million channel views, “Ninja” rakes in $500,000 per month playing the game.
Epic, the maker of the game, recently pledged $100 million in prize pool money for Fortnite competitions.