US Teen Rakes in $3 Million at Fortnite World Cup

| Updated
by Wanguba Muriuki · 2 min read
US Teen Rakes in $3 Million at Fortnite World Cup
Photo: Pavlos Giorkas / Flickr

16-year-old Kyle Giersdorf won $3 million after taking the top prize in a videogame tournament for the popular online video game, Fortnite representing the biggest-ever prize for one player in such a tournament.

The best advice for kids currently is: Keep playing Fortnite! On Sunday, American teenager Kyle Giersdorf won $3 million. Geirsdorf, 16, from Pennsylvania, screen name “Bugha,” took the top prize in a tournament for the popular online video game, Fortnite. He was among the over 100 players competing for $30 million in total prize money.

The teenager’s winning is the biggest-ever prize for a single player in a video game tournament. He crushed all competition at a sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium to win the solo division with 59 points, 26 more than his runner-up. These prizes were substantial since the booming popularity of online and video games has attracted top-dollar investments and supported the emerging professional sport.

Giersdorf said:

“Words can’t even explain it. I’m just so happy. Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off. It’s just insane.”

Esports Global Revenue

Reports show that the global revenues from the professional video game competitions or esports will reach $1.1 billion in 2019. That amount represents a 27% surge since 2018 and it will be achieved due to the growing revenues from sponsorship, advertising, and media rights.

Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite’s popularity has helped Epic Games reach $15-billion-valuation last year. Currently, the company competes with many other games like Tencent Holdings, Electronic Arts Inc’s Apex Legends, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

The gaming industry seems to be growing leaps and bounds. As we reported earlier, Refereum has joined hands with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds to introduce crypto rewards into the game promotion space. That will enhance efficiency and transparency in the industry.

Many game companies globally are striving relentlessly to attract influential people to play their games. They want these high-value individuals to play on different streaming platforms like Twitch. Moreover, these companies want players to watch these streams. Thus, Refereum believes it came in to help.

In general, the global video and electronic games market while excluding revenues from esports is expected to generate $152.1 billion in 2019. That is a 9.6% increase from last year as reported by gaming analytics firm Newzoo. ‘Fortnite’ ranks as the most successful free video game of all time raking in $2.4 billion in revenue in 2018.

The game is developed by privately held Epic Games Inc that is backed by Hong Kong-based Tencent Holdings Inc.

Gaming News, News
Related Articles