17-year-old quits school to pursue a professional career in Fortnite

17-year-old Alex Mackechnie has dropped out of high school to actively pursue a career in Fortnite. His decision has so far turned out to be fruitful as he has already amassed $45,000 in earnings!

Alex found success streaming the popular Fortnite Battle Royale mode on Twitch. He now earns more than his father, who is quite supportive of him. His dad, who has motivated his son to pursue a full-time career in gaming, said:

"We're proud of him because he just doesn't do it for the money. He does it because he wants to be the best."

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Fortnite: 12 hours a day

Alex religiously plays Fortnite for 8-12 hours a day and is ranked 77th out of 350 million players in the worldwide leaderboards. Some of his other successes include playing alongside AFL player James Hawthorne in a charity event.

The duo went on to win the competition and Alex decided to donate his $25,000 prize money to the Gold Coast Hospital.

Alex took a huge gamble by deciding to drop out of high school mid-term and convince his parents he wants to pursue a career in gaming. He states:

"It took a little convincing, but they saw I had potential."

You can read the entire coverage here.

Alex plays Fortnite 8 to 12 hours a day

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Fortnite: A lucrative career

This story re-establishes the fact that Fortnite is a lucrative industry, with teenager Bugha having taken home $3 million in prize money at last year's Fortnite World Cup.

Several teenagers, like Alex, are dropping out of school to pursue a professional career in gaming. In the world of esports, Fortnite appears to be ruling the roost as a multi-million dollar industry.

Although this year's Fortnite World Cup may have been affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, Alex appears unfazed as he plans on actively streaming and continuing to improve his rank.

The lucrative Fortnite World Cup

You can check out Alex's Fortnite success story in the video below: