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Dad Lets Teenage Son Drop Out Of School To Become Professional Fortnite Player

Dad Lets Teenage Son Drop Out Of School To Become Professional Fortnite Player

At 17, he's already earned $42,000 and hopes to soon be a millionaire

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Some parents look at video games as a waste of time and a hobby that will never give you any life skills. Others let their kids follow their passion.

A Gold Coast family have decided to let their 17-year-old son, Alex Mackechnie, drop out of school to become a professional Fortnite player.

Alex was like many teens his age: keen on taking on loads of people online in a battle royale video game match.

But after showing some serious promise, he reckons he could make some decent coin from pursuing it professionally.

Channel 9

The rise of e-sports has seen the very best players receive millions of dollars in prize money, however they have to dedicate a lot of hours to perfecting their craft - which means homework and other life chores can get in the way.

Alex has around 22,000 followers on Twitch and has made a whopping $42,000 over the last 18 months by competing in online competitions around the world. He hopes to soon become a millionaire.

The teen's dad admitted to A Current Affair that Alex sometimes makes more money in a day than he does. Matt never foresaw himself allowing one of his kids to drop out of school to try their hand at gaming, but when they saw how passionate and good he is, he wasn't going to hold him back.

Alex's dad told the Gold Coast Bulletin: "We have always been very strict on screens. We wanted him to focus on his studies during the week so we made sure he was only gaming on the weekends.

Channel 9

"It wasn't until last year we thought, 'Wow, this is serious.' We thought, 'How would you support your child if they were a top swimmer and the Olympics was that year'?

"You would do everything you can to support them. E-sports is no different, so we are using this year as a gap year for Alex (to compete)."

Alex only missed out on qualifying for the Fortnite World Cup (yes, that's an actual thing) by one place. The winners of that competition got to share in a prize pool worth USD $30 million.

While the 17-year-old might be missing his final days at high school, he's committing to studying business at TAFE. But until then, he gets to practice his gaming skills for up to six hours a day so that he has a shot at becoming one of the world's best.

Featured Image Credit: Channel 9

Topics: GAMING, News, Technology, Australia