Four years of Fortnite ban for nine-year-olds – too young for esport?

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A 1460-day ban for a nine-year-old in Fortnite? There are rules for such cases, so please make sure that they take effect at the right time. A comment on Monday.

The gamer Zenon is no longer allowed to play in Fortnite’s Arena Mode. He received the ban live in a game with his father. The nine-year-old gamer is a shooting star in the scene and already has 200,000 subscriptions on YouTube.

He is allowed to play casually, but in Arena Mode you can play in places that can later become real money prizes. And Epic Games as developer set the age limit for this to 13 years.

Zenon’s father is campaigning for him to be allowed to continue to gamble light-heartedly. This is exactly what FaZe boss Banks and streaming superstar Ninja Blevins have announced. The latter made it clear that a ban would only make sense if there was money for placements. Currently, Arena is a qualifying mode.

When will you start making money with esport?
At the age of nine you should not receive any profits from video games. That much is clear, even if there is the backup of the parents. At the Fortnite World Cup 2019, 13-year-old Argentine Thiago “King” Lapp won almost 900,000 USD. In a touching video after reaching fifth place, his father said to him: “It’s yours!”

Fortnite world champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf won $3 million at 16. That’s enormous sums for minors. According to the statutes, the money goes to the legal guardians, who must also have agreed to participate beforehand.

Let the children play!
And in this construct it is also okay if children of this age are already playing professionally. But at nine years of age, competition should not be the main focus of play. In football in Germany, sponsorship contracts may be distributed from the U15 upwards. Scouts are often scouted earlier.

The chance to be “discovered” should also be offered to good gamers. Let the children play! The kids are not interested in prize money, but in becoming better. And the parents have to make sure that school and education are not neglected.

How the child deals with the topic is a matter for parents.

In Germany, the USK guidelines are quite strict. Fortnite is from the age of 12, if you are younger, you are not allowed to play. This is different in other countries under parental supervision.

The nine-year-old Zenon is also playing together with his father again. If the game is still big in four years, he will certainly be better than he is now – and then maybe he will win prize money.