In the summer of 2021, a new skin appeared in the Fortnite store - Bugha. What is this character famous for? Its prototype is a real-life American teenager named Kyle Giersdorf, who became the first world champion in single combat in Fortnite.
Fortnite World Cup Championship
The online gaming market has exceeded one billion US dollars and continues to accelerate. Epic Games has organized the first offline tournament to strengthen its position in the video game area. Only singles and couples took part in the competition.
More than 14 million players from 30 countries of the world competed for a place in the championship. Qualifying matches began in the fall of 2018, the championship itself was held on July 26-28, 2019 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, USA. The progress of the competition could be seen in real time on huge screens located in the center of the arena.
Prize fund
The Fortnite World Cup has a prize pool of $100 million. Each of the participants who won prizes became a millionaire. The Bugha winner received a cup and a trophy of $3 million.
Kyle Giersdorf - Bugha
Bugha is the nickname of the player Kyle Giersdorf. At the time of the championship, the guy was only 16 years old. He was born into an ordinary family in a small town in the state of Pennsylvania and, despite his fame and an impressive fee, continues to lead the life of an ordinary teenager and, as usual, communicate with childhood friends.
Interestingly, Fortnite was introduced to Kyle by his father, a big fan of video games. Bugha said that his father prefers to play Save The World, and he himself likes the Battle Royale mode more.
How was the tournament
After the qualifying rounds, only a hundred of the best players from all over the world remained. Bugha said that he trained 6 hours a day and was quite confident in his abilities before the start of the competition.
Battle Bus loaded! Bugha decided to head to his usual place, Chinatown. In the first game, he set the task: just to survive and study the situation. By the middle of the match, he had few materials and complete chaos in his inventory. Recalling this moment, Bugha said: "I armed myself with a heavy sniper rifle, and then the game went on by itself."
After a confident victory in the first game, the guy had an advantage of 9 points. But, at the very beginning of the second game, his self-confidence let him down, and he was killed. After the end of the game, Bugha slipped to 10th place and seemed to have lost the chance of winning. In such a situation, not every adult will be able to pull himself together and show self-control. The sixteen year old boy managed to concentrate and win.
After completing the third game, Bugha got into the top ten. In the fourth game, he was sorely lacking in materials, he adhered to a survival strategy, maneuvered between the players and took the lead. Remembering the end of the tournament, Bugha said that in the middle of the fifth game, he simply stopped noticing the noise of the hall, the game turned into a trance. And by that time the fans realized that this American gamer was beyond competition! The winner finished with a staggering 59 points, ahead of the 2nd place player by 26 points.
World esports fame
World fame fell on the teenager: interviews, participation in shows, photo shoots and signing autographs. Kyle's smile was replicated by the media around the world. His family adequately supported his son at this difficult moment. They helped him adapt to change and resist star-struck. For millions of parents, Bugha's victory has become a starting point in understanding the prospects for an esports career.
Bugha skin for ICON series and one-day tournament "Late Game"
Epic Games has created a Bugha skin with a cosmetic set for the ICON series. It includes: Standard Style, Elite Style, and Champion Style.
The selection of items contains:
- Double pickaxe;
- Back decoration featuring the Fortnite Cup and Zoe Pug;
- Champion dance emotion.
Bugha's entry into the Star Series was celebrated with a new interregional tournament "Late Game", which took place on July 28, 21.
The Epic Games and Bugha collaboration continues, while players around the world are inspired by the victory of a regular high school student and look forward to new tournaments.