A 16-year-old Kyle Giersdof nicknamed “Bugha” triumphed at the Fortnite World Cup by taking home $3 million in prize money.
It would be dubious to say that Kyle Giersdof nicknamed “Bugha” became a millionaire in just a single night. The months of intense training facilities versus other players have proven Kyle’s consistently high level of play, which drew him a path forward to winning the first-ever Fortnite World Cup. The countless practice sessions have definitely mastered Bugha’s skill and in-game expertise over the last months, eventually allowing Kyle to dominate in a series of battle royals at the Arthur Ashe Stadium that is located in New York City. An utter dominance and unique style of gameplay was the key reason to crown Kyle as the world champion, which offered a 16-year old Pennsylvania resident to walk away with a massive $3 million in prize money.
However, not only Kyle was awarded prizes since each of all 100 players guaranteed at least $50.000. Yet, only four of the total hundred competitors pledged seven-figure sums in prize money. For instance, let’s recall the fifth-placed player in the Solo part of the competition, who is Thiago “King” Lapp from Argentina. The total of prize money was $900.000, yet the most important fact is that he is just thirteen years old! As for the Duo part of the Fortnite World Championship, Saturday’s competitors who secured the first place also took home the same $3 million prize. As for Friday’s casual-style Creative game mode of Fortnite, a team of four players secured an outstanding prize of $1.345 million. Even though some people may under-estimate the prize money in Fortnite esports, these sums are overwhelming not only for the discipline but for esports as a whole!
Fortnite or FIFA – who will win?
Let’s look at the unveiled above prize money from some broader prospect. Let’s consider the FIFA Women’s World Cup with its $30 million prize pool, which is the biggest event in women’s soccer. Ironically, the prize money and scale of the show genuinely matched the Fortnite World Cup. Other than that, “Bugha” in the Solo tournament won nearly half of the sum awarded to Tiger Woods for winning the Masters, where the gold legend grabbed a total of $2.07 million, which became his fifteenth major title in his golf career.
Speaking about the venues, the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City will host the US Open men’s and women’s singles tournaments next month, the winners of which will secure $3.85 million in prizes. Regarding the popularity and gradually increasing competition in Fortnite’s esports, all the odds justify the assumption that the next year’s World Cup winners will win more prizes than the tennis champions of the Grand Slams.
Stressing the prize money in the esports as a whole, one may suggest that the Fortnite World Cup prize pool wasn’t the most colossal in the entire history of the esports. Taking into consideration the infamous Dota 2’s The International 2019, which recently topped $30 million last week and still grows, is believed to overthrow Fortnite’s record in the course of the following month. As for the previous year’s winners, professional esports organization titled OG won a total of $11.2 million. A single nuance stands out that is Dota 2 is a five-player team game, and Fortnite’s Solo tournament was the event with a record prize money awarded in a single-player mode competition. If that’s not convincing enough, the next year’s Fortnite World Cup is believed to grow exponentially, so Dota 2’s record will probably end shortly.
It would be reasonable to provide an alternative prospect for comparison of Fortnite World Cup with other esports disciplines, which is a type of qualifications. “Bugha” triumphed in a single-day grand final, which was achieved by a prolonged series of qualifications that took place for a total of ten weeks. In sharp contrast, Blizzard’s famous Overwatch League, which was previously led by Fortnite esports chief named Nate Nanzer runs from February to September. A total of $1.1 million prize money is equally divided among the team of up to twelve players. Therefore, it seems crystal clear that such a sharp difference in how various esports companies are engaged in the esports championships may dump even more considerable competition across the lines of esports disciplines.
Such a change within the funding of the tournaments may lead to a further intensification of competitiveness for sponsorship offers. So, one may expect to observe a growth in how the millionaire prize pools grow with each year by adapting the most meaningful qualification and funding models. Presumably, such a change may be traced through the recently announced Fortnite’s Championship Series, which will soon demonstrate their role in the esports scene. Should the world of esports expect new millionaire players to shine in the following Championship Series tournaments? Indisputably.
