Kids of all ages all over the world play Fortnite everyday.

E-sports are helping grow the popularity of Fortnite and other video games like Apex Legends, H1Z1, Heroes of the Storm, War Thunder, and many more video games. E-sports is creating a new way to compete in video games, especially in Connecticut where the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has agreed to help govern e-sports teams in Connecticut schools.

E-sports, short for electronic sports, are popular with teens. Some games that are offered are League of Legends, Rocket League, and SMITE. They have been a modern craze. More high schools have teams that compete in e-sports, and some colleges even give scholarships for playing Esports.

Like regular athletics, e-sports has many benefits. They help with character building, STEM engagement, increased participation, and, as mentioned before, earn possible college scholarships. We interviewed Ellie Hammarsjkold, 6th grader at BMS.

“I’m vaguely familiar with them,” said Ellie. “I don’t play e-sports or use electronics, so I don’t like them. I do not think colleges should give scholarships for video games. What I think about people playing e-sports is they should do whatever floats their boat.”

We then interviewed Mim Hurley, who is an 8th grader at BMS. We asked her the same questions we asked Ellie.

She said, “I have no idea what e-sports are. I don’t know if I like them because other than that I don’t even know what they are. I’m not a big sports fan. I don’t think colleges should give people scholarships because they are just playing video games.” E-sports are becoming a popular way to compete with a multiude of people through video games. One of the most popular games that people compete in is Fortnite.

Though e-sports is new to many, it’s is on the rise, as it brings new kinds of people to new competition.