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Parents take their children to basketball clinics to improve their skills and hire a tutor for their kids struggling with algebra. So hey, why not hire a Fortnite coach to improve their disastrous K/D ratio? Apparently, this is a thing that is actually happening in real life and probably another sign that Americans have way too much disposable income.
The Wall Street Journal took in in-depth dive into the world of Fortnite coaches and the families that enlist these peculiar services. Your parents were screaming at you to stop playing Crazy Taxi and GTA III, now kids have their parents investing money into them playing video games to “git gud.”
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On the Gamer Sensei, hired out more than 1,400 Fortnite tutors since early March alone. The prices ranged from $7 per hour to $25. The site offered coaches for a plethora of games Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PUBG, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, Starcraft II, DOTA 2, and League of Legends to name a few. The UK-based service-providing site Bidvine is also offering video game coaches.
“There’s pressure not to just play it but to be really good at it,” said Ally Hicks, who purchased Fortnite lessons for her 10-year-old son. “You can imagine what that was like for him at school.” If only my parents understood the grandiose pressure of having to be proficient at Goldeneye when I was a kid. Nick Mennen said his 12-year-old son previously struggled at Battle Royale, but after being tutored, “now he’ll throw down 10 to 20 wins.”
This shouldn’t really be shocking since there are “Tinder coaches” making $1,000 a month. Not to mention that it pays off to be a great Battle Royale gamers.
Epic Games is awarding $8 million to participants in their Fortnite tournament, you can earn a college scholarship for your Fortnite skills, Twitch gamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins makes $500,000 a month playing video games, and a new study found that professional eSports players will earn professional athletes in the coming years.