Griffin ‘Sceptic’ Spikoski is a 14-year old teenager that spends most of his days playing a wildly popular game called Fortnite. A massive multi-player Battle Royale game where you get to scavenge tools and weapons and survive until you’re left as the last man standing.
He stated that he pretty much plays the game every day. He would play around 8 hours on week days and as much as 18 hours on weekends. For some parents who are looking out for their kid, this is somewhat a nightmare, but not for Chris and Kathleen Spikoski. They somehow embraced how passionate their kid is with gaming. Who wouldn’t be when the kid is earning more than the average American? In fact, his parents even hired professionals to help Griffin with his financial situation. An accountant to manage all his money and a financial adviser to help with future expenses.
With that amount of playing time and passion he has in playing the game, he got good at the game. He is now beating famous streamers. In an interview, he mentioned that he approaches the game like any other athlete would to a sport.
In that sense, he has garnered millions of viewers through Twitch streaming and YouTube. This has helped him attract advertisers and sponsorships. Not to mention, the steady income that comes from his subscribers.
A whopping $200,000 is said to be his approximate total earnings last year. That is actually more than enough to raise a family on his own, financially speaking of course. Considering he is still a teenager, that is really impressive.
The Rise to Fame
The fame didn’t come quite as fast as one would expect. It did take him some significant amount of time to train and play the game. As soon as he got good, he was faced with a famous Fortnite streamer and he beat him. He then uploaded his epic experience to YouTube and it got viral in the gaming community, garnering around 7.5 million of views in just a matter of time.
By then, everything has changed. He was gaining popularity fast. People were subscribing more and more, and fame was spreading like a plague. In just a few months, him and his parents had to hire professionals to manage all the financial stuff.
Education was Becoming a Hindrance
Since Griffin’s fame was too much to handle, his parents had decided that he should drop out of high school and take up online schooling instead. As stated by his parents, Griffin is usually anxious and shy, which is a universal issue when it comes to schooling. But online, he exudes confidence and is much happier. This probably explains on why his parents decided he would be better off school.
One other thing would be that they had little to no choice but to support and embrace their son’s passion. Their son was already a gamer since the age of three, which explains a lot on how he could manage several hours a day playing video games. Also, who wouldn’t want their kid to be that happy while earning a six-figure salary?
Though relatives of the family were skeptical about gaming and advised that there was no future in esports, the Spikoski’s pushed through their plan. They did eventually come around after it was proven to be profitable.
What Can You Take from This?
Putting in work to something that you’re passionate about can yield surprising results. Just because Griffin is a kid who happens to love playing games doesn’t mean he didn’t put any work into it. It’s not like he just sat, played the game and gained fame. By simply having a YouTube channel and Twitch account says that he had some goals and aspirations.
We can’t deny the fact that a little luck played a role to his fame, but skills were more relevant in his case. Imagine having to sit through a game where 50 or more players are in the same gaming field, and you had to beat all of them. Not to mention, there are adults playing the same game as him with probably more experience.
