Stuart WoodThe Fortnite World Cup, which concluded last weekend in New York, offered the largest prize pool in history for an e-sports event.
$30m was shared among the winners, with US teenager Kyle Giersdorf, just 16 years old, taking home $3m for winning the solo portion of the competition.
The tournament took place in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which also hosts the US open tennis. The Fortnite World Cup took the form of a tournament linked to a fan event featuring cosplayers, competitions, and many kinds of family-friendly fun.
Fortnite is a third-person shooter/battle royale, in which players are able to build bases and structures using materials scavenged from a large, open map. It pits 100 players against each other in real time.
The game achieved enormous popularity last year, becoming a cultural phenomenon at the peak popularity of the ‘Battle Royale’ genre of games.
15-year old British teenager Jaden Ashman took home almost £1m for coming second in the duos portion of the event.
The Fortnite World Cup is set to be taken over as the most lucrative event in e-sports history as early as August, when strategy game Dota 2 will see The International 2019 taking place in Shanghai.
Kyle Giersdorf, speaking to the BBC, said: “All I want is a new desk and maybe a desk for my trophy.”