The wildly addictive video game, Fortnite, has been seen across several social media platforms. After the release of Battle Royal mode in September of 2017 the game has become so popular that parents are hiring gaming coaches in hopes of providing their children with skills that could land them a college scholarship.
Believe or not, there are more than 80 schools in the United States that have e-sports teams. Even more shocking to some, these e-sports teams even has a coach, daily practices and league matches against other schools according to the National Association of Collegiate eSports. Is it just me or does this seem a little strange? The squad teams consist of four members and will join their other e-sports offerings, Overwatch and League of Legends. There will be tryouts held to join the squad, but the time has not been announced.
One of the first schools to offer a scholarship specifically for Fortnite was Ohio’s Ashland University. Ashland’s e-sports scholarship is based on a platers skill level in the game and also academic requirements. Ashland’s e-sports scholarship can be as high at $4,000 while the National Association of Collegiate scholarship offers $9 million in e-sports.
Fortnite is a cross-platform game and is available on several devices including, computers, gaming consoles, and smartphones. The game was released at no price which was amazing to players. They did price the skins and battle passes on the game but those are simply customizable; to play the game without fancy features it is completely free. There are roughly 125 million people from all over the world who have downloaded the game and more than 40 million people login to play every single month.
Some e-sports gaming platforms such as Gamer Sensei and Varsity Tutors are connecting players with major top games and attempt to increase their skills to the next level. The price of having a coach can range in price from $10 per hour to $30 an hour but, that is not including Fortnite coaches. For a Fortnite coach you can look to pay anywhere from $28 an hour to $140 an hour based on how qualified the coach is.
“We get a lot of parents who ask to be coaches so when they have playing time with their kids, it’s productive and they have fun together,” said Gamer Sensei’s CEO, Jim Drewry.
Fortnite coach Harry Darwin walked CNBC through a Fortnite session where he showed them his passion of gaming. His passions led him to incorporate gaming into a lucrative business by teaching tactics he’s learned throughout the scrimmages and tournaments he has participated in.
