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What did we learn from the Fortnite World Cup?
So it’s all over: from 40,000,000 players, one emerged victorious. Bugha, a 16-year-old kid signed to Sentinels, demolished the competition to create a minor upset and take home the $3 million in the Solos event. In the Duos, the Austrian/Norwegian pairing of Aqua and Nyrox romped to a second half victory in a tight contest, but by the end of the weekend, they were sat very much in the shadow of Bugha.
Bugha is a good winner for Epic. He fits the basic profile of what they wanted from a first world champion. He comes from the NA region, which dominated the field here (for, perhaps, the first and last time), is 16 (the average age in the competition) guaranteeing press coverage, and is a known entity across competitive and streamed Fortnite. Short of Tfue or Dubs winning, he’s about the best they could’ve asked for.
As for the weekend itself, Fortnite showed itself to be the current reigning champion for stadium esports. Arthur Ashe in New York will be packed with tennis fans next month, but it managed to generate a very decent atmosphere for the FWC this weekend, and was, as ever, a superb broadcast facility. Everything went off without a hitch, and yet, at the same time, it’s hard to see exactly where the game goes now.
Not to paint myself as too much of a Cassandra, but basically all my concerns for the…
