Parents Hire Fornite Coaches to Boost Their Kids Into Competitive ESports

cageymaru

cageymaru

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Parents have always been competitive with their progeny since the beginning of time. They hire coaches from all types of sports disciplines such as soccer, tennis, track, piano, basketball, etc in a bid to make their kid better than the other neighborhood kids or to help them become professionals. Now with the rise of eSports, parents have resorted to hiring video game coaches with Fortnite being a hot ticket at $35 per hour to train. With individual tournaments paying over a $130,000 and boasting of an overall $8 million prize pool; who can blame them for wanting their kid to have a better chance at winning?

Considering popular Fortnite streamer Ninja makes a huge sum of money playing the battle royale game, it makes sense parents would support their children who want to grow up to be professional gamers. Some would even argue that it’s not much different from parents helping their children become professional athletes.
 
"Dad, I want to play Fortnight professionally as a career."
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Darunion said:
I mean probably better odds of winning big money than aiming for professional sports. But the difference would be is that professional sports will still be there in 10 years.
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eSports are continuing to grow and will definitely still be around in 10 years - and probably to a greater degree. Only difference is that the games being played for eSports now-a-days will likely be different than the ones in 10 years. So anyone who is looking to play competitively now in one game needs to understand they'd need to switch up the games they play competitively in over time.

Either way...if I was a parent I wouldn't be wasting my money on eSports coaches for my kids. Better off paying tutors or putting that money towards a college degree.
 
At least the kids won't get concussions playing Fortnite.

eSports has huge advantages over "live-action" sports as an entertainment -- it's wide open in terms of the environment, physics, and rules, so it can be way more exciting to watch. Plus it's way more "accessible" in that more people can see themselves becoming a pro eGamer, they don't need to be born with extremely uncommon physical traits to be one.

It needs to get organized, is all, with teams the fans can connect with other the long haul. Not necessary geographically defined teams either. Maybe teams that center their brand on a play style, or identity group, or combinations thereof. Like a team of hot over-40 women with a super-aggressive play style, for example, naturally named "The Cougars." ;)

Once the infrastructure is in place, I can see a day when more people sit down to watch an eSports world championship match every year than the Superbowl.
 
I wouldn't mind personally hiring one of these coaches for a few hours if it could actually help me become a decent player.
 
exlink said:
eSports are continuing to grow and will definitely still be around in 10 years - and probably to a greater degree. Only difference is that the games being played for eSports now-a-days will likely be different than the ones in 10 years. So anyone who is looking to play competitively now in one game needs to understand they'd need to switch up the games they play competitively in over time.

Either way...if I was a parent I wouldn't be wasting my money on eSports coaches for my kids. Better off paying tutors or putting that money towards a college degree.
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Fair enough. I think I could understand more of a like a FPS game coach. Not as game specific but that way in two years when a new game comes out and is the next big thing, they wont have useless fortnite skills.
 
The problem is they're confusing professional esports with stream celebs, there's a BIG DIFFERENCE. Stream Celebs like Ninja, Summit, etc.. don't just make money for being good players, they also have personality on camera and can hold an audience. These parents are better off hiring acting coaches instead.
 
If Fortnite is an fps game, it does appear to be so then there are few things to keep in mind. The great ones are born not made.

I used to play Q3 fairly seriously and both I and my son could stay with the big boys and survive well. We did not win those games but could stay in the middle. We had been playing since Doom with mouse and kb and were good. My daughter started playing shooters and went past us like we were nothing special at all. She quickly learned to not only stay in the serious games but to win them. Surprising, well to my son and I anyway.

She is an artist and has been producing serious art since she was small. She can paint, play music and now blow glass for her business, at a high level. I expect its this ability to produce art with her hands and really her whole body, that allows such terrifying fps performance.
 
PenGunn said:
If Fortnite is an fps game, it does appear to be so then there are few things to keep in mind. The great ones are born not made.

I used to play Q3 fairly seriously and both I and my son could stay with the big boys and survive well. We did not win those games but could stay in the middle. We had been playing since Doom with mouse and kb and were good. My daughter started playing shooters and went past us like we were nothing special at all. She quickly learned to not only stay in the serious games but to win them. Surprising, well to my son and I anyway.

She is an artist and has been producing serious art since she was small. She can paint, play music and now blow glass for her business, at a high level. I expect its this ability to produce art with her hands and really her whole body, that allows such terrifying fps performance.
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Is it an FPS??

Seems like there's a bit of strategy, then when it's close and 1on1 it's a matter of who can spam build random crap the fastest.
 
Chris_B said:
No clue, I've seen his and brought up a few times like we're automatically meant to know who it is.
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He's usually the #1 Twitch streamer these days. He was basically a nobody until he got some exposure through some other celebrity and suddenly people were flocking to his channel. He pulls in somewhere around $500K+/month in subscriptions alone.
 
Chris_B said:
500k a month my fucking arse.
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With 75,000 subs on twitch at 4.99/each at a minimum. Even with the lowest split with twitch at 50/50, hes getting 187,000 from streaming each month. Add in the 15 million subs on Youtube and he is probably making more than 500k a month.

I don't care for the guy but I fail to see how some parents think their kids will have the same kind of success with some coaching.
 
I know I'm an outlier, but I've never understood the desire to watch other people play games (computer or physical). I find watch any kind of sport just boring. I do, however, like to do sports and play computer games. In fact, I had a college scholarship for gymnastics. I just have no desire to watch others play/perform.
 
If you really want to improve you'll watch videos/read up on basic and advanced strategies, learn the game balance inside and out, and practice practice practice. If you don't have the drive or desire to do these things no coach is going to help you, just like hiring a personal trainer will not get you fit if you don't particularly want to train hard or commit to a decent diet.

If the only time you spend building is when you're getting shot at you're probably not going to get very good at building. You need to be prepared to play a lot of matches where you just focus on doing one aspect of the gameplay better (getting some reps) - this is particularly why people were so excited for the Playground mode. I'm sure a lot of people try this game and their first matches consist of running around for 10 minutes and then getting killed by the first person they see; that's why a common suggestion for getting better is to drop at Tilted Towers and get some action. Then do it some more.
 
Armenius said:
Who the hell is Ninja?
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I thought the same thing. But I also don't play or follow Fornite. From what I hear he's the best fornite player in the game.

sadsteve said:
I know I'm an outlier, but I've never understood the desire to watch other people play games (computer or physical). I find watch any kind of sport just boring. I do, however, like to do sports and play computer games. In fact, I had a college scholarship for gymnastics. I just have no desire to watch others play/perform.
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Likewise, I'd rather play. But thankfully, eSports allows people who aren't athletically gfifted a route of success.

There's a lot that goes into coaching eSports. Sorts out the paper work, schedule flights, becomes a neutral party for discussions and can be a mediator after scrims and games. There's also someone that can keep the team's fitness and eating habits.

Esports is very much still mental like other athletes. If you don't have the mental fortitude and the ability to consistently look and learn, you won't succeed.

I wish that eSports was this big when I was playing Tribes and Unreal Tournament.
 
Sports, eSports, whatever -- best to hope for them to be the .0000001% who can make a living at it rather than waste time with a math, English, or physics tutor. :rolleyes:
 
It is very hard when your kid wants to do this for a living. I was kind of pissed when my middle son wanted to do it. He had already been scouted by Daps and brought on to a team and then went pro on Denial.(Now he plays with Daps on NRG)
He gets to travel all over the world for free. Right now he is in Shanghai. I would of loved to do this when I was his age. If your kids has the talent, it's worth the shot!

Ninja used to play Halo for Team liquid. Streamer. I guess my son was on Team Liquid (CSGO) at the same time.


https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/FugLy
 
RogueTadhg said:
I thought the same thing. But I also don't play or follow Fornite. From what I hear he's the best fornite player in the game.



Likewise, I'd rather play. But thankfully, eSports allows people who aren't athletically gfifted a route of success.

There's a lot that goes into coaching eSports. Sorts out the paper work, schedule flights, becomes a neutral party for discussions and can be a mediator after scrims and games. There's also someone that can keep the team's fitness and eating habits.

Esports is very much still mental like other athletes. If you don't have the mental fortitude and the ability to consistently look and learn, you won't succeed.

I wish that eSports was this big when I was playing Tribes and Unreal Tournament.
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Heh, I still play Unreal Tournament 2K4 (Co30). It's just for fun for me so I haven't gotten particularly good, also I'm old and my ping sucks (server's on east coast and I'm on the west).
 
CipherKey said:
With 75,000 subs on twitch at 4.99/each at a minimum. Even with the lowest split with twitch at 50/50, hes getting 187,000 from streaming each month. Add in the 15 million subs on Youtube and he is probably making more than 500k a month.

I don't care for the guy but I fail to see how some parents think their kids will have the same kind of success with some coaching.
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Probably these are the same people that play the lottery wasting what little money they have in hopes of a free ride (do anything but using their brain to earn higher income).
 
To be fair, i'm not much into watching games streamed for the most part, but i do enjoy watching Iracing live/videos from time to time. (Well, at least certain players i mean)
 
I like how we managed to make something inspired by Battle Royal / Hunger Games, targeted at kids, even more dystopian.
 
Verge said:
Is it an FPS??

Seems like there's a bit of strategy, then when it's close and 1on1 it's a matter of who can spam build random crap the fastest.
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I've only played it a few times, it is third person. Game play seems really slow, until you get down to the end. Playing in a squad with friends can be fun, but single player seems kind of boring to me.
 
exlink said:
.... Only difference is that the games being played for eSports now-a-days will likely be different than the ones in 10 years. So anyone who is looking to play competitively now in one game needs to understand they'd need to switch up the games they play competitively in over time.
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Except if the game is CS, I bet this one will still be around for another 20 years.
 
Darunion said:
I mean probably better odds of winning big money than aiming for professional sports. But the difference would be is that professional sports will still be there in 10 years.
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It's not going away any time soon.

To make matters worse, now you can actually bet on eSports at casinos. I honestly was shocked when I saw this.
 
Esports is like baseball it's a young mans game you almost have to be born with the skills.
 
as an avid gamer.. i could never do it professionally. Would kill the fun factor for me.
 
Patton187 said:
This isn't the kid that dumped the hot weather girl to play more COD is it?
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No, that was Censor from FaZe. He's a COD player. The weather girl is Yanet Garcia. I think he should be involuntarily committed because he's insane for dumping her.

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Wow. One of my co-workers was a pro Counter Strike player. Judging from his stories, unless you just have a natural talent for a game or much better than average hand-eye coordination and reflexes, you aren't going to get far in pro leagues regardless of how much coaching you go through. You CAN get really good with a ton of practice, but what separates leader board players from pro players is talent.

Another things is, due to the heavy focus on reflexes and such, a career in esports is only going to last you from ages 18-30, and there's not enough money in it right now to live off of your whole life.
 
Maybe instead of hiring a Fortnite coach these parents could have hired a tutor for their kids.
 
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