Kyle Giersdorf, also known as Bugha in the game, is US$3 million richer after winning the 2019 Fortnite world cup. The payout for a single participant in an esports competition was the highest ever for an American teenager. His victory underlines the game’s growing popularity and the esports market’s power. As the runner-up in the doubles category, British teenager Jaden Ashman split US$2.25 million with his teammate.
The finals, which took place at the end of July, were the culmination of ten weeks of competition that saw over 40 million people compete for a total prize pool of over $30 million dollars. The tournament sold out the Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York’s largest tennis venue, with 23,771 seats.
With an estimated 250 million players worldwide, Fortnite Battle Royale is quickly becoming one of the most popular computer games. It’s a First-Person Shooter (FPS) game in which players compete to survive in combat against other humans. Unlike some other games in this genre, such as PUBG or Counter-Strike, its aesthetics are cartoonish, making it less likely for parents of adolescent players to object to the material — it doesn’t appear to be violent or contain excessive blood, bullets, or explosions.
Fortnite is gaining popularity in an ever-expanding market. There are around 2.2 billion gamers on the planet’s 7.6 billion inhabitants. This covers social gaming, mobile gaming, and multiplayer games that are both free-to-play and pay-to-play. There are around 380 million esports watchers, with 165 million regular viewers and 215 million occasional viewers.
Epic Games, the game’s publisher, entices users by making the game free to play. They do, however, sell “V-Bucks” to the players, which cost US$9.99 every 1,000 and can be used for a range of character customization and enhancements.
None of these factors affect the character’s actual performance in battle; accuracy and speed are still determined by the individual competitor’s skill. This is similar to the majority of esports games. However, according to research firm Superdata, Fortnite made US$1.2 billion in sales between its premiere in July 2017 and May 2018. As per TheConversion.
