Ramble: Fortnite World Cup!

We were talking about something at work today that comes up on a regular basis - kids playing video games at night when they should be sleeping.  I have to admit I can't offer much advice as to how to make this stop, since I was often playing until some unearthly hour on my Amiga.  Now I'm a parent, I understand kids not wanting to stop (because I was like that too), but also part of me is doing the parenty "they're going to turn into a brain dead couch potato!" thing...

The topic came up again because of the Fortnite World Cup.  It says something that people are talking about this at work, even if it is in the context of how terrible it is that kids are doing this instead of studying.  Normally they're just talking about football, or cricket.  E-sports must be hitting the big time!  And indeed, money-wise, it's a very big deal.  The solo winner, a 16 year old from the USA nicknamed "Bugha", won $3 million!  (The final standings are here.)

That Fortnite dance...

"Wolfiez", the 15 year old British teenager who placed second in the Duos, won $2.25 million with his Dutch partner.  His mum was quite entertaining to listen to, though you can hear the despair of mums (and dads) all over the country in her words:

"It's not been a straightforward journey with Jaden, if I'm honest with you I've been quite against him gaming.  I've been more pushing him to his schoolwork.  I've actually thrown an Xbox out, snapped a headset, we've had a nightmare."

So, what do you do?  Do you let them play loads in the hope that they make you millions of dollars?  Let's face it, that's not very likely to happen.  But if they are good, it's best to get them to the top ASAP while they have peak reaction times.  What a conundrum!

Maybe the best thing is to see how good they are at it.  If they're high level at their game of choice whilst still getting decent grades at school, maybe they could get to pro level.  If it does get serious, it's not the end of the world.  They can always go back to school later on.  Perhaps when they're older they'll even be wiser about their subject choices!

Perhaps as Seb gets older I will change my mind about this subject.  But I feel the chances of him being so good at a game that this is even a potential are so tiny that I can rashly say this without fear of it coming back to bite me.  You know in four or so years I'll be shouting at him to "stop playing and do your homework!".  It's impossible not to worry that your kid is wasting their time playing games.  At the moment I fear it's him bugging me to stop when I'm trying to play as often as it is the other way round...

And if your kid is a girl child?  Unfortunately online gaming can be a pretty toxic and unfriendly place for girls.  Often I've found it's better to disguise my gender (not something that's easy to do with voice chat!).  As ever, if your kid's playing online a lot, make sure you take an interest in your child and what they're doing online.  Support them.  What happens online can be as important as what happens "in real life". 

Girls might not like the teenage boy-filled land of Fortnite, but there are plenty of other games girls can excel at.  E-sports is one area where there really should be no barrier to equal competition between the sexes; if there is a barrier, it needs to be removed quickly.  (Keith Stuart's article Not one of the Fortnite World Cup's 100 finalists was a woman.  Why? is worth a look, if you're interested.)

I guess what I'm saying is that if your kid qualifies for the Fortnite World Cup then support them, they're going to need your support.  But if they're just playing all night for no reward and getting bad grades, maybe throw the Xbox out of the window.  ;-)