Fortnite World Cup champion Bugha is $3 million richer

Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, a 16-year-old on the Sentinels Fortnite team, took first place in the Solos competition of the inaugural Fortnite World Cup this afternoon. Bugha amassed 59 points, with 23 of that coming from eliminations, over the six-round finals played today at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. He takes home $3 million.

“Words can’t even explain it right now, I’m just so happy,” Bugha said in a post-match interview. “Everything I’ve done, the grind, it’s all paid off.”

Bugha won the first battle royale outright and never relinquished the points lead over the next three hours. In the finals, a Victory Royale was worth 10 points, second through fifth place awarded seven points, sixth through 10th earned five points, 11th through 15th got three points, and eliminations were worth one point each.

Second place finalist was Harrison “Psalm” Chang of Counter Logic Gaming with 33 points, who just edged EpikWhale’s 32 points. Nate “Kreo” Kou and Bryan Eric “KING” Carvalho Nunes were tied for fourth with 30 points. Second through fourth place all awarded more than a million dollars.

The 2019 Fortnite World Cup awarded a $30 million prize pool spread over three tournaments, the Pro-Am, yesterday’s Duos, and today’s Solos. The pool was, for a time, the largest offered until it was overtaken just last weekend by the crowdfunded pool for Dota 2’’s The International 2019.

The World Cup is culminates a $100 million inaugural 2018-2019 competitive season that Epic Games organized and announced more than a year ago. The field of 100 Solos finalists came from regional qualifiers spanning 10 weeks earlier this year. It was joined by a 50-team Duos final that yesterday crowned nyrhox and aquaa champions, and awarded them $3 million. These main events were preceded by a Creative World Cup, featuring eight teams of four, and a Celebrity Pro-Am that awarded $3 million to various charities.