The Fortnite World Cup has just finished being held, leaving a number of memorable actions from unexpected players. The very popular battle royale game has become a venue for achieving achievements for many young people from various parts of the world, even those who are still young. In its first world championship, the Fortnite World Cup was won by a 16-year-old teenager!
Offering a total prize of US $ 30,000,000, the Fortnite World Cup now holds the record as the biggest prize esports competition in the world. The record will indeed be resolved soon because the Dota 2 The International 2019 tournament has reached more than US $ 31,000,000 prize pool, but for the first world championship this achievement of Fortnite remains significant.
Epic Games as the publisher of Fortnite organizes competitions in four categories. The two main categories are Solo and Duos, plus two side categories namely Pro-Am and Creative. The champion in the Solo category is Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, a 16-year-old teenager from the United States. With that performance, Bugha has the right to bring home a prize of US $ 3,000,000.
Bugha is not the only teenager who won the Fortnite World Cup. Another teenager, 15-year-old Jaden “Wolfiez” Ashman, won second place in the Duos category. He is entitled to a prize of US $ 2,250,000, but divided into two with his team mate Dave “Rojo” John. There is also a 14-year-old teenager Kyle “Mongraal” Jackson, a Top 6 Duos winner who won a prize of US $ 375,000. Even younger, Thiago “k1nGOD” Lapp, at the age of 13, took home a prize of US $ 900,000 after finishing in the 5th place in the Solo category.
Funny thing is, when asked by the BBC what the prize would be used for, Bugha said, “I just want to buy a new table, and maybe one more table to put the trophy.” While the rest of the prize will be saved. It was interesting to see that when he got such a windfall it turned out that Bugha was still not complacent or wanted to waste.
The achievements of the teens in the Fortnite World Cup show that the esports world is a world where everyone has the opportunity to win, without being bound by age limitations. Those who are still 13 years old can compete with players aged 20 or 30 years, provided they have good expertise.
Parental support is also an important driving factor, as shown by players like Wolfiez and k1nGOD. Wolfiez’s mother used to oppose her children’s gaming activities because she thought it was just a waste of time. But gradually he can accept Wolfiez’s desire to become a professional esports player and now gives him full support.
The form of support from parents is certainly not limited to “letting their children play”. Just like various other career paths, being an esports athlete also needs hard work, practice, and guidance. Facilitating all that and directing the child to the right path is a more tangible form of support to help them achieve their dreams. Hopefully in the future more parents can understand that, so that the negative stigma of esports can be lost from the community and young people are increasingly eager to achieve.
