Parents’ anguish as Fortnite addict son spends their $20,000 savings on Twitch gamer stars
A TEEN Fornite addict has allegedly squandered $20,000 (£16,000) worth of his parents savings by making donations on Twitch.
The video game live-streaming service allows you to spend money on your favourite players and the parents have failed to get their money back.
The parents want to remain anonymous to protect their son's identity but posted about the $19,870.94 charge on Reddit.
The described how the couple had saved the money for years but lost it in just 17 days this June thanks to their teens careless spending.
Dot Esports reported seeing a copy of the bank statement.
spoke to the mother of the teen and she told them: "When I saw the bank balances were almost gone, my lips started to tingle and I had to put my head down so I wouldn’t pass out.
"I cried at first. I didn’t believe he could’ve done this."
Her son is said to have spent the money on the Twitch streamers Tfue, Gorb and Ewokttv amongst others.
Apparently, the teenager was given a debit card to buy school supplies but he then began transferring money from his mother's account by somehow seeing her password.
When she confronted him he is said to have admitted spending a lot but had no idea it was around $20,000.
His mother : "I contacted my bank as soon as I found out and they froze all of our accounts, and his debit card was canceled.
"Unless I press charges against my son, they will not help as this is considered friendly fraud."
She has contacted Twitch about the problem but says she hasn't heard back.
She's even contacted Twich CEO Emmett Shear, Amazon’s legal team and the streamers who were paid the money.
She told : "I work too many hours, and have not paid close enough attention to what he was doing online.
"His internet knowledge has absolutely surpassed mine… My focus now though is trying to figure out why he did it so I can make sure this is the one giant mistake he makes in his life."
We have reached out to Twitch for comment.
What is Fortnite, anyway?
FORTNITE is an online video game played by up to 250 million people across the world.
In it, 100 players compete on their own or with a small group of pals to grab weapons, gather resources and build defences, before fighting it out to be the last man (or team) standing.
Matches take about 20 minutes, and you can drop into a new game within seconds of your previous one finishing.
It's bright, it's cartoony and it's fiendishly compelling.
Skill is rewarded but luck also plays a huge role, meaning no two games are ever the same and everyone feels like they have a chance of winning.
Fortnite has also made its developer billions.
In Europe it's rated 12+, meaning it's suitable for those aged 12 and up.
The battle royale mode is free to play, but there is also a story-driven single player and co-op mode called Save The World that players have to pay for.
Pop culture crossover events are very common because of the game's huge audience.
These involve players being able to buy themed outfits for the movie, TV show or brand, as well as getting some themed activities in-game to do too.
These might be new places to explore, new challenges to complete to win themed accessories, or new game modes that are loosely related to the theme of whatever is being crossed over with.
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