Today in “headlines that will make you regret all your life decisions’’, a 16-year-old has taken home $4.3 million in prize money off the back of a Fortnite competition, effectively rending all arguments that video games are a waste of time null and void.
Kyle Giersdorf, who games under the handle Bugha was one of 40 million people who entered the recent Fortnite World Championship, all of whom hoped to battle it out to cop the largest prize pool in e-sports history.
With a total of $30 million in prize money being handed out, the event which was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, a venue that BBC points out, is more accustomed to hosting things like, oh say, the friggin’ US Open tennis tournament.
Of the 40 million gamers who entered, the final round was a do-or-die bout between the final 100 players, whittled down after 10 weeks of rounds. The competition saw more than 30 countries represented. US had the lion’s share of players, putting forward a total of 70, one of which being Bugha, who took out pole position for the Solo competition.
Bugha handled the win as most 16-year-olds would, with charming awkwardness, laughing and shaking his head at the announcement before telling BBC, “All I want is a new desk and maybe a desk for my trophy.”
Well, mate, I need a new car, so feel free to throw a few $10k’s my way? Anyway.
Fortnite has disproportionally been topical when you consider how few titles earn headlines in major publications. From multiple law suits, to being the backdrop to a domestic violence incident, to invoking the ire of the Duke of Sussex himself, who name-checked the game in a speech, calling for it to be banned believing it had been created to be addictive.
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Despite the attacks from above, both Fortnite and its developer Epic Games continue to rise at a meteoric pace. Following news of Bugha’s win, you can be sure the crowd of 200 million who already play the online game will only swell in size.
