Kyle Giersdorfhas won $3 million in the Fortnite World CupGiersdorfdefeats opponents with 26 points ahead of the second-bestEpic drops newsabout an upcoming Fortnite Championship Series with Season 10
Kyle Giersdorf hasbecome the world’s first Fortnite champion in the solo category. Hecompeted against 100 people, defeating them with a significant26-point advantage.
Kyle Giersdorf Won the Fortnite World Cup in Solo
The 2019 Fortnite World Cup has ended with 16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf walking away from the event as the world’s best player, along with a $3 million prize pool for his first placing in the tournament.
Nativ ph646 e of Pennsylvania,Giersdorf was among the 100 elite world players to enter thecompetition for a shared prize pool of $30 million, secured byEpic Games, Fortnite creators and authors of the world’s defining newcompetitive video gaming genre, the battle royale.
Congratulations @bugha! pic.twitter.com/nchRlL3wUC
— Fortnite Competitive (@FNCompetitive) July 28, 2019
Giersdorf outgunned hisopponents, wrecking havoc across the battlefield, finishing with a26-point lead ahead of the second best player in the World Cup event.Speaking immediately after he has won, Giersdorf who goes by theonline moniker of “Bugha” had this to say:
“Wordscan’t even explain it. I’m just so happy. Everything I’ve done,the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”
Meanwhile,the duos tournament was won by Emil “Nyxon” Bergquit Pederseonand David “Aqua” W. who divvied up another $3 millionprize pool on Sunday.
Fortnite’spopularity has been completely insane, as Mr. Giersdorf would put it,with the game reinventing itself from a team-based survival shooterto a PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) inspired battleroyale game with a significantly more dynamic gameplay and rathermore appealing graphics.
By April, 2018 the game had topped $300 million in revenue with the year’s revenue hitting the whopping $2.4 billion. Tim Sweeney, the CEO & Co-founder at Epic Games dismissed accusations by PUBG that Fortnite’s success was based on the company stealing the concept from the developer.
AsMr. Sweeney put it, there was a lot game developers could learn fromeach other. It was around that time that PUBG continued to be plaguedby a slew of bugs and player complaints regarding drops inperformance.
What’s Next for Competitive Fortnite?
Manyhave been critical of the way Epic Games has handled the game and thecompetitive community emerging around it. For the most part, criticshave said that the developers have been throwing a lot of money inpursuit of popularity and outlasting any rival game, whether that isApex Legends or PUBG.
Moving forward, Epic Games intend to prove critics wrong, creating a special Fortnite Championship Series which were announced as part of a Twitch presentation. The Championship Series will have all the trappings of regular competition.
Thismarks the next serious step Epic has undertaken to guarantee thesuccess and continuity of Fortnite as a genuine esports competitionrather than a public stunt as some detractors have suggested.
