It seems that wherever we look, there is something Fortnite related, although the latest news seem to really take the cake. Namely, Epic's Battle Royale title is included in the esports scholarship program at Ohio's Ashland University.
The program offers up to $4,000 to prospective players, although they'll be judged by player skill level as well as academic requirements. Note that Fortnite is the latest addition to the University's program, which already includes League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter Strike: Global Offensive and Rocket League.
The plan is to arrange Fortnite players in groups of four, who will then "practice regularly and compete together" once the program launches in Autumn 2018. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure collegiate leagues are up to scratch should they go and compete in official tournaments.
Of course, you had to be living under a rock that has lived under another rock not to be aware of Fortnite's stellar popularity, what with the game stealing half the headlines these days. Quoting the game's popularity, the University even referred to the news from a few months back, when Fortnite hit .
The University's head coach Josh Buchanan says that Fortnite's appeal to core and casual gaming audiences made the decision all too easy. "The growth of Fortnite has been astounding to witness and getting players into structured practices ahead of the launch of a collegiate league will be extremely beneficial to our program", Buchanan added.
It turns out that the Ashland University's is actually the first collegiate program of the kind in the US. They plan to hold tryouts for players in the next school year so if you plan on using your God-given Fortnite talent for something else than pwning noobs, you might as well get to practising.
In case you don't have a decent enough rig to run Fortnite, worry not - the University is opening up a gaming centre with "25 gaming stations", which usually means top of the line hardware. Maybe they even get Fortnite architecture department, right?
Epic Games
Fortnite: Battle Royale Season 4 has finally arrived
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