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The 2019 Fortnite World Cup, which concluded last weekend, was won by the 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf from Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania, who took home the title of World Champion and US $3 million in prize money.
The inaugural Fortnite World Cup kicked off with two for-fun events (Creative Finals and Pro-Am) on July 26, when we got to see some of the most well-known faces in the Fortnite community as well as a handful of celebrities taking part.
Following two days of fun and games at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Fortnite World Cup duo and solo finals took center stage over the weekend.
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The main event started on Saturday, when the duo finals were won by the Cooler Esport representatives, Emil “Nyhrox” Pedersen from Norway and David “aqua” Wang from Austria.
On Sunday, July 28, it was time for the long-anticipated Fortnite World Cup solo finals, featuring 100 of the best players from all around the globe facing off in series of six matches to prove who is the best of the best.
Game one ended with Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf securing the first victory royale in addition to scoring nine eliminations, which got him a total of 19 points and a 10-point lead.
Hoping to maintain the momentum, Bugha was left disappointed in game two as he died in an early stage. That gave his 99 opponents a chance to catch up to him, but they failed to do so.
Thiago “King” Lapp came the closest by adding five eliminations to his name, meaning he had already collected 12 dog tags by the end of game two. Still, he was one point short of dethroning Bugha from first place.
Game three was won by FaZe Clan member and game two runner-up Danny “Dubs” Walsh, who managed to secure his first victory royale. Meanwhile, it was a top-10 finish that kept Bugha at the top of standings.
By the end of game four, which was won by Harrison “Psalm” Chang, things were looking up for Bugha, who was still holding top spot with an eight-point lead. He further extended that with two kills and a top-five finish in game five, meaning he was 15 points ahead of the second-placed Psalm.
With no sign of stopping, Bugha secured another five kills and finished fifth in game six to cement himself as the inaugural Fortnite world champion and one of the highest-earning players in esports history by collecting $3 million.
Joining Bugha (59 points) in the upper places were Psalm (33 points), Shane “Epikwhale” Cotton (32 points) and Nate “Kreo” Kou (30 points), meaning the United States secured all of the top four spots in the 2019 Fortnite World Cup.
The USA esports players were by far the most successful of the nations at the Fortnite World Cup, with a total of 10 American players finishing among the top 20 for a combined prize haul of $9,287,500.
