Remember when players used to rely on physical guidebooks to get better at their favorite video game? My, how times have changed as parents across the globe are now paying professional tutors to help their kids get better at playing Fortnite. 

The Wall Street Journal reported details on parents enlisting coaches for their children and interviewed them about their experiences. A few parents claim that their rationale behind the coaching is because they do not want to see their kids lose a match in Fortnite, some take lessons for themselves because they are too embarrassed with their skills to play the game, and other parents are taking the lessons themselves as a bonding moment with their kids. 

These coaches/tutors are usually found on social media or contracting sites, with one even claiming to have hired over 1,400 Fortnite coaches since March. One coach, who is an 18-year old professional player from Utah, finds the situation weird and said that “my dad would have never paid for me to take video game lessons.”

This phenomenon is surprising and may seem odd to many. However, Fortnite Battle Royale has grown incredibly popular ever since it was released in 2017. In June alone, Epic Games reported over 125 million players had played the game across all platforms and with the release to mobile devices, access to Fortnite has never been easier. 

Of course, given the massive competition due to the high number of players, one can’t blame a few eager fans and their parents for wanting to better themselves at playing Fortnite. As the number of players availing the services of pro-gamers keeps increasing, one has to wonder how this phenomenon would affect the battles in the game.