Fortnite World Cup introduces eight new Esport Millionaires
Over the weekend we saw Epic Games run their inaugural Fortnite World Cup; since a champion was crowned in the Solo Tournament last night you can’t scroll past a news website that doesn’t make mention of Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf winning a cool $3,000,000 USD rocketing him to number 10 in the Overall Earnings list at Esports Earnings.
While fantastic news for the young 16-year-old American, seven other players joined him in becoming Esport Millionaires over the weekend thanks to $15m prize pools attached to both the Solo and Duo tournaments.
So who are these talented eight players? Of the eight, we have three Americans, alongside one Austrian, Norwegian, Dutch, English, and one from Hong Kong.
Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf is the 16-year-old superstar who is part of the esport organization Sentinals and the winner of the Solo tournament. As mentioned he picked up $3,000,000 to go along with the $25,900 he had previously won in other tournaments. With a combined earning of $3,025,900, Kyle has skyrocketed to Number 2 in the United States and Number 10 Globally in esport earnings.
At 24, Harrison "psalm" Chang was one of the older competitors at the event which saw the average age of contenders being just 16. Part of Counter Logic Gaming, the American isn’t new to professional gaming having competed in Blizzards Heroes of the Storm. Still, the second-place win in the Solos competition saw him add $1,800,000 to his esport earnings giving him a total of $1,946,461 propelling him to Number 5 in the United States and Number 27 Globally.
Not a lot is known about the winners of the Duo tournament, David "Aquav2" W from Austria, and Emil "Nyhrox" Bergquist Pedersen from Norway managed to pick up $1,500,000 each with their first-place finish. Part of Cooler Esports, it’s no surprise that both players now sit at number 1 in their respected country when it comes to esport earnings.
Shane "EpikWhale" from America is again a bit of a mystery with both his last name and age not visible. Still, his 3rd place finish in the Solo, and 12th place in the Duos earned the NRG player $1.250,000 this weekend. It’s safe to say that we’re going to be finding out more about Shane in the coming weeks.
Dutch 21-year-old Dave "Rojo" Jong alongside English 15-year-old Jaden "Wolfiez" Ashman picked up 2nd place in the Duo tournament earning them both $1,125,000 each. Part of Lazarus Esports, both players are the number 1 esport earners in their country and will no doubt be working hard to stay there.
It was a good weekend for Lazarus Esports with 18-year-old Nate "Kreo" Kou from Hong Kong rounding out our list with his 4th place finish in the Solo tournament netting him $1,050,000. Like his fellow Lazarus teammates, he’s skyrocketed to the top of the esport earnings board in his home country.
If you find yourself amiss regarding both some of the names and organizations represented here, don’t worry. Lacking are some of the biggest names and esport organizations in the world with teams like Faze, 100 Thieves, and Cloud9, to name a few not seen here. As for players, Tfue was certainly the most high profile player in the Solo tournament who finished 67th for $50,000.
With the World Cup over, it’s going to be interesting to see what the next year brings. With viewership dropping off recently in Fortnite, the World Cup is sure to give it a boost. However, in a time when gamers are jumping onto the next big thing, you have to wonder what Epic Games and Fortnite will look like in 12 months time.