Kids who want to be, like, really good at Fortnite have inadvertently kickstarted a new mini-industry.
Parents of such children have started enlisting the use of Fortnite coaches and tutors in an effort to achieve Battle Royale glory, as revealed in a Wall Street Journalreport. Ally Hicks, whose 10 year-old son recently received four hours of one-on-one Fortnite education, pointed to the pressure kids feel to compete.
"There's pressure not to just play it but to be really good at it," she said. "You can imagine what that was like for him at school." The cost for these services, per the Journal, is up to $20 per hour.
Though many parents have shelled out hundreds of dollars to improve their kids' gaming skills, some have also utilized the coaching services to up their own play.
"The other dads I play with congratulated me," JD Giles told WSJ, after he and kids received Fortnite coaching. "I earned a little credibility with my son and his friends—and my wife and daughter made fun of me."
According to WSJ, most of these tutors are found on social media or contracting websites. One company claims it's hired more than 1,400 Fortnite coaches since March. And the number is expected to grow, as the game's player count reportedly reached 125 million this summer.
Epic Games' Fortnite recently turned one year young, with the free-to-play Battle Royale simultaneously surpassing the billion-dollar mark. In recent months, the addictive game has infiltrated the realms of merch, sports, and even pornography.
