The duos portion of the Fortnite World Cup is over, and a pair has been named victorious — teens nyhrox and aquaa have won $3M for coming in first place. But, perhaps more surprising, is the couple who came in second place, Rojo and 15-year-old Jaden “Wolfiez” Ashman — the latter was actually a U.K. player competing with a controller.
Generally speaking, when it comes to competitive games, it is accepted wisdom that mice are superior than controller inputs in shooters, or at least allow for more precision. And to be sure, most participants at the World Cup were using Epic-issued Logitech mice. But Epic also allowed the option to compete with standard Xbox One console controllers, as well as Scuf Vantage controllers — so two participants went that route. There was some controversy around this decision, as controllers are given aim-assist. “They are playing with the same settings that are available on the live game,” an Epic Games representative told Polygon.
All the same, Wolfiez seems quite proud of his gear usage. His YouTube account has a couple of videos where he points out he is an “unstoppable controller player.” One video even shares Wolfiez’ settings:
For his performance during the tournament, Wolfiez and his partner have won $2.25M. It’s an unexpected enough result that fans are rallying around the idea of a “controller gang” that celebrates Fortnite pros who compete using console peripherals.
“WOLFIEZ I FUCKING LOVE YOU FOR REPRESENTING US CONTROLLER PLAYERS AND GETTING SECOND IN THE WORLD CUP, GOOD FUCKING JOB BRO!” one very excited fan said on Twitter.
“Mad respect controller gang tf up,” said a viewer on Reddit.
Really, the fact that any controller players were on the map this weekend has proven inspirational for onlookers. aydan, another controller finalist, is getting plenty of love on social media as well.
Wolfiez’ story in particular is notable when you consider that, at one point, his Fortnite obsession got him in trouble at home. As BBC reports, Wolfiez’ mother noticed that his grades dropped at school, so she went on to throw out her son’s Xbox after an argument. Fortunately, she now “accepts Jaden’s career choice as a professional esports player,” BBC says.
The Fortnite World Cup solo finals begin on July 28.
Update: Added comment from Epic Games.
Update (July 28): Added mention of Wolfiez’ mother.