Dropped Out at 15 to Go Pro in Fortnite, Now He's Over It
Three years ago Benjyfishy dropped out of school for a career in Fortnite. His love for the game didn't last long, however.
Three years ago, decision of one Fortnite player (supported by his mother) stirred up quite a controversy in some circles. Benjyfishy decided to leave school at age 15 and switch to homeschooling so he could focus on his esports career.
His love for the game did not last long, however. After three years, he retired from Fortnite.
Fortnite more important than school
Benjy "Benjyfishy" Fish began his career in 2019. He was 15 years old at the time and began participating in Fortnite tournaments.
There was one problem, however. The competition was held in the US, and he lived in the UK. So Benjyfishy was snatching nights and failing his studies because he was too tired to focus on anything but playing.
The solution to this problem turned out to be quite radical. Benjy and his mother stated that he would be homeschooled and forgo attending a traditional school.
As a result, he definitely had a looser schedule and more time to participate in tournaments. He was expected to master the material from 2 years of schooling during 3 years of homeschooling.
Of course, this does not sound like a sensible decision, but one must admit that the temptation was big. Benjyfishy could earn up to millions of dollars during tournaments. Moreover, he was not an exception. The average age of the players participating in Fortnite World Cup 2019 was only 16 years old.
First thousands in his account
The beginning of Benjy's career was quite promising. He didn't make millions, but he ended 2019 with a profit of more than $500,000. At the same time, he started running a channel on Twitch, where he gathered a large audience (currently 3.9 million viewers).
However, the trend did not continue. In 2020, Benjyfishy earned significantly less ($113 thousand), which was also related to the end of Fortnite's greatest popularity period.
2021 looked even worse. This time the player managed to earn only $60,000 during tournaments, a significant drop from the total generated two years earlier.
Things were similar on Twitch. Benjyfishy was losing interest of the community very quickly. The number of his active viewers dropped by more than 60%.
The end of love
Given all the aforementioned problems, it should not surprise anyone that Benjy (who is already 18 years old) lost interest in Fortnite. He stated that his love for the game had finally passed (via Mein-MMO [in German]).
However, this does not mean that he is planning a radical career change. The young Englishman will continue to be involved in esports, but will change the title he focuses on. For some time his main focus has been Valorant.
For the time being, he can't boast of great success in this field, but he says he feels the joy of the game again. At the same time, he believes that the decision to change the mode of education years ago was the right one. To this day he is grateful to his mother for the support she showed him.
