The mother of one of the world’s top professional Fortnite players has signed a contract with a gaming organisation to develop her career. Her biggest ambition is to grow up to be a mother to her son.

 

Since he turned pro three years ago, Anne Fish, 58, has managed her son Benjy “Benjyfishy” Fish. The British gamer says his mum started playing the game in February to improve his perceptive skills. She quickly gained a large fan base online and signed a paid contract with an esports company.

“In a million years, I never thought I would ever play Fortnite or stream it online or ever be in a position where an organisation would sign me, so it’s inspiring,” said the mum. Anne streams her game on Twitch to her 430,000 followers and posts videos of her matches to her growing YouTube fan base of 165,000.

 

 

“The next step is a million,” she says, speaking from the same room where she broadcasts to her fans and where her collection of owls, stuffed animals, and teddy bears is on display, alongside a glittering 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Anne, who lives in Sunbury-on-Thames, now receives a monthly salary from the esports and gaming influencer organisation Galaxy Racer.

No contract details were revealed, but Anne will now be paid for videos of her playing and talking to fans on various social networks. Anne says she hasn’t picked up a controller since she played with it on her older son’s Nintendo 64 about 15 years ago, before trying Fortnite.

“I was terrible at first. I just hiked around and hid from other players so I wouldn’t get killed,” says the mother. “Then slowly, I started to get better. My reflexes are not as good as younger players, so I have to be a better strategist. I thought it would be cool to see if I could make it to the championship division as a solo player, which I finally did. I’ve played in various tournaments, but I haven’t won any cash trophies yet, and I still have a long way to go, but I’m trying,” he says proudly.

 

 

Galaxy Racer CEO Paul Roy explained why the company signed “mamabenjyfishy“. “Having proven her Fortnite prowess at our most recent tournament, The Aubameyang Cup, her years of experience in the industry, including managing Benjyfishy, and our shared passion for cultivating greater inclusivity within gaming and esports, we are proud to welcome Anne to the Galaxy Racer family.”

Anne’s son Benjy says it’s “pretty crazy” that his mom is now a contracted gamer. “I mean, it’s weird because I always wanted to be a gamer back in the day, and the fact that my mom is now technically a professional game streamer is pretty sick. I would never have thought that would have happened three years ago. If you had told me that, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he admitted.

 

 

Benjyfishy is ranked in the top 10 players in the world by several websites and was one of a handful of British players to qualify for the 2019 Fortnite World Championship in New York. He says he’s given his mum a few tips but mostly  “lets her do her own thing” in the next room, where he plays in high-level tournaments for thousands of pounds in prize money.

Anne says she dreams of one day being good enough to challenge her son in the ring but says that’s a tall order even for her. “It’d be super cool to challenge him in a world championship or something, but there’s such a gap between someone like Benjy and me that I don’t think I could ever get to that level. But I’m going to try.” – the professional playing mum added with a laugh.

Source: BBC News