In May 2019, news spread around the world that his mother took 15-year-old Brit Benjy “benjyfishy” Fish out of school so he could focus on the online game Fortnite, which was so trendy at the time. We look at MeinMMO: How has the then 15-year-old been doing over the last 3 years?
That was the story at the time: In May 2019, Fortnite was the biggest game in the world, with the World Championship offering $30 million in prizes. Nonetheless, the mother’s decision was controversial at the time.
The mother decided: Her son should no longer attend regular classes but should be educated at home. Over 3 years, he would learn the material he was supposed to learn in school over 2 years.
The trigger for the decision was that the boy had won €11,300 in an online tournament. Since he often played Fortnite at night with friends from the USA, he was often tired in school, and thus the mother decided to take him out of school.
For the 15-year-old, a dream came true; he said he wanted to buy his mother a house once he struck it rich at the Fortnite World Championship.
Esports player earns half a million dollars at 15 and 16, then prize money dries up
How much money has he made from esports? Benjyfishy’s esports career in Fortnite has brought him $570,256, most of which he earned at the age of 15/16 (via esportsearnings). Although he could only score consolation prizes at the World Championship (25th place in singles, 14th place in duos earned him $50,000 each), he racked up quite a bit more:
- At 15, he earned $392,447
- At 16, he earned $147,176
- At 17, it was only $15,735
- At 18, he earned just $1,500 in prize money
The sharp decline in prize money is due to the fact that Fortnite in 2022 was no longer as profitable as in 2019, but also because benjyfishy lost interest in the game.
Young player criticizes low prize money in Fortnite, then announces end of career
This is how the love of benjyfishy for Fortnite faded:
- Already in January 2021, Benjyfishy criticized that “esports” in Fortnite is dying. The prize money dried up
- In June 2022, he announced the end of his professional career in Fortnite, saying he wanted to dedicate himself to Valorant now
- In December 2022, he also left his esports team NRG and is looking for a new club to compete in the Valorant Challenger League (via dotesports)
So far, benjyfishy has not won any prize money in Valorant.
Pro builds large Twitch channel, but as the interest in Fortnite fades, so do the viewers
How is he doing otherwise? In addition to his career as an esports player, benjyfishy built a large Twitch channel during his time in Fortnite: He has 3.9 million followers.
But he also notices here that the Fortnite hype is over:
- In 2020, benjyfishy still had an average of 23,600 viewers
- In 2021, it was still 18,730
- In the last 365 days, it was only 4,845
The decision was lucrative – but the career looked better at 16 than at 18
Was the decision worth it? It is clear that benjyfishy made a lot of money during the peak of Fortnite, and the mother’s decision probably paid off already in 2019 when he could win some high prize money.
In the years that followed, he laid the foundation for a successful career in gaming.
But the numbers also make it clear: It is not a guaranteed success. Benjyfishy’s career is inextricably linked to Fortnite.
And if he doesn’t play the game, the viewer numbers also drop: Many Fortnite streamers have made this experience, most notably Ninja, who went from a megastar and the biggest gamer in the world in 2018 to quite a normal Twitch streamer.
Whether benjyfishy will really manage to replicate his past successes with a new game like Valorant remains questionable.
The mother’s decision to take the 15-year-old out of school has, in the short term, paid off financially – but the young man’s career looked much better at 16 than at 18. That needs to be stated plainly.
For benjyfishy, the path to becoming a pro gamer may have been worthwhile, but that is not the case for every esports wonder kid. Little has been heard of Crimz, whom his father raised to be a pro gamer since he was 3:
Fortnite instead of school: Father raises son to be a pro gamer since he was 3
