Parents are getting ‘Fortnite’ coaches for their kids

Nintendo

• Parents are paying “Fortnite: Battle Royale” coaches to
  work with their children, reports the
  Wall Street Journal.
• They hope that these coaches will lead to college
  scholarships, e-sports careers, or at least some prize
  money.
• Coaches charge as much as $35 an hour.

The same way that some kids get music or tennis lessons, the

Wall Street Journal has found several parents who pay private
“Fortnite: Battle Royale” coaches to help their child excel at
the popular video game. 

“There’s pressure not to just play it but to be really good at
it,” one mother from Winchester, England told the Journal. “You
can imagine what that was like for him at
school.”
 

The Journal spoke with several parents who have paid for private
“Fortnite” lessons for their children. Some of those parents are
hoping that their kids will turn their hobbies into lucrative
e-sports careers, a college scholarship — or, at least, a slice
of “Fortnite” developer
Epic Games’ $100 million competitive prize pool.  

Parents typically find Fortnite coaches for their children
through social media or contracting sites. There are also
dedicated coaching marketplaces like Gamer Sensei,
which charges between $15 and $35 an hour for “Fortnite” lessons.

This new trend comes as a surprise to even the coaches, according
to the report, because until recently, the only people investing
in video game coaching were adult enthusiasts, or young people
aspiring to go pro.

“My dad would have never paid for me to take video game
lessons,” Logan Werner, an 18-year-old Fortnite coach and
professional gamer in Utah, told the WSJ. 

But the parents shelling out for these lessons say that the
practice is no different than investing in private tutors to help
their children succeed in other activities, like basketball or
chess. 

Social media seems to think otherwise. Many Twitter users are
disdainful of the idea, even as it’s clear that it’s a sign of
the times. 

Read the full WSJ report here>>