A father is being forced to defend his decision to pull his son out of school to focus on a career in eSports, and some of his points are hard to argue with.
The eSports industry is often described as one of the fastest growing in the world. While we agree with that sentiment, the word "growing" implies that it still has a long way to go. The world of eSports does continue to get bigger, but it should also be noted that it is already pretty huge, as it is an industry that pulls in millions - if not billions - of dollars a year.
This naturally makes it a pretty appealing industry to younger gamers who now have the chance to play video games for a living. One gamer doing that is Jordan Herzog, otherwise known as Crimz in the online gaming world. Jordan is so invested in becoming an eSports professional that his father David Herzog has pulled him out of school, according to The Boston Globe.
"I’ve been breeding him for this," Herzog explained, revealing that his son games for 8-10 hours every single day, so it's effectively a full-time job. Although he no longer attends school, Jordan has to undergo a traditional education by law. This means on top of all that gaming, he also has to attend online classes for a few hours a day.
Herzog's decision to remove his son from mainstream education has naturally garnered quite a bit of backlash from other parents. However, the dad has defended himself by claiming that if his son had quit school to play the piano or pursue a career in acting, people would be far more understanding. Herzog also claimed that his son learns more from video games than other children learn from books.
For those questioning the financial gain of a career in eSports, Jordan has already earned $60,000 via tournaments. Plus, the teenager has qualified for the Fortnite World Cup later this month.
Here's hoping his family doesn't have any vacations booked though, as his dad has been known to cancel them should they get in the way of his "training." The proud father also bought Jordan a Maserati with his son's Gamertag on the license plate.