At any given point in time, there are about 3 million people playing the video game Fortnite on Xbox, Playstation, or PC, making it the most played game in the world. In Fortnite Battle Royale, 100 players are dropped onto an island littered with guns with nothing but a pickaxe and the ability to build forts out of harvested materials—the last player left alive is the winner. The game has become massively popular on Snapchat and Twitter, but that popularity has just found a new avenue: American collegiate institutions.
Ohio's Ashland University will now offer a Fortnite based scholarship through their e-sports team (which plays Overwatch, Rocket League, and Fortnite).
This university in Ohio is offering scholarships to top 'Fortnite' players: https://t.co/XQlvSJsXHt https://t.co/fUnJxqsLDp— Complex (@Complex) 1524269100.0
The Ashland e-sports team is truly honored to be what will surely be the first of MANY colleges offering Fortnite scholarships.
Ashland University Esports wants YOU for our Fortnite Team! 👇👇👇 https://t.co/1uDYui4J1G— Ashland University Esports (@Ashland University Esports) 1524153233.0
This is super exciting. @goashlandeagles is trailblazing as the first @NACeSports member with a varsity #esports pr… https://t.co/54buufEwlE— Michael Brooks (@Michael Brooks) 1524339409.0
Young twitter users were, needless to say, pretty interested in enrolling at Ashland.
@Complex Well mom looks like I’m finally going to college— Bastard of The Nawf (@Bastard of The Nawf) 1524269508.0
@esports_ashland @Schaferrrr I'm about to continue my education— Tyler (@Tyler) 1524503135.0
Ashland is getting a fortnite scholarship. The future is now, old man. https://t.co/AVkmqfLfwN— Lucas Moore (@Lucas Moore) 1524317449.0
It looks like Ashland is taking the whole e-sports wave very seriously.
Ashland University in Ohio is offering top Fortnite: Battle Royale players a $4,000 scholarship exclusively for the… https://t.co/E8hDDeL2SE— Gabriel Puckett (@Gabriel Puckett) 1524415725.0
Besides Fortnite, Ashland's varsity esports team will compete in League of Legends, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: Glob… https://t.co/7PxpZ8RfYP— KJK (@KJK) 1524201441.0
And, among gamers at least, it's one of the classiest things Ashland can do.
@esports_ashland The sign of a truly elite university.— Cierto Roberto (@Cierto Roberto) 1524498124.0
@Complex @SlayAnimosity What a time to be alive— Phatpinko (@Phatpinko) 1524504170.0
But the real question we all should be asking?
@TheGurtnCurtn Can I get one for being bad ?— J0e (@J0e) 1524503316.0
H/T - Twitter, Metro Gaming, Getty Images