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The inaugural Fortnite World Cup was a resounding success for Epic, with the company stating it was “the most-watched competitive gaming event (excluding China) of all time.”
Concurrent viewers across YouTube and Twitch reached 2.3 million at their highest during the Solo Finals on Sunday. “These numbers do not include fans watching in-game and on other streaming and social media platforms,” Epic added. Over 19,000 people also attended the three-day Fortnite World Cup Finals event in person, which took place at New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium from July 26th to 28th.
“This event was the culmination of ten weeks of $1 million online open qualifiers with more than 200 countries participating,” Epic’s Fortnite team said. People did participate en masse, with 40 million players joining the World Cup as players during the qualifiers.
15-year-old Jaden ‘Wolfiez’ Ashman from Essex, UK, secured the runner-up prize in the World Cup Duos Final on Sunday. He will share the £1.8 million prize with his Dutch partner, David ‘Rojo’ Jong, after being beaten 47-51 by Emil ‘Nyhrox’ Bergquist Pedersen and David ‘Aqua’ W. Wolfiez was just one of 11 UK players to reach the finals.
The Fortnite World Cup Solos winner was 16-year-old Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf from the US – he took home a $3m prize.
The event had a charity aspect too, with the Fortnite World Cup Charity Pro-Am giving $1m to two winners for their charities of choice.
