How Fortnite turned e-sports into a near-billion dollar industry: Inside the fascinating world of gaming with one-off prizes of millions and a worldwide audience of all ages

  • A number of teenagers became millionaires playing Fortnite last month
  • The esports industry is growing each year, and prize money is growing too
  • So what exactly do these young people do with all the money they win? 

It was the most prize money a single person had ever won at New York's world-famous Flushing Meadows tennis stadium, but Kyle Giersdorf wasn't playing in the U.S. Open when he won £2.4million last month. 

Giersdorf, better known as 'Bugha' online, is a professional esports athlete who plays the immensely popular game Fortnite.

The Fortnite World Cup made the 16-year-old Bugha an instant millionaire, and he's not the only one.

Anyone who finished in the top four in the singles tournament won over a $1million (£800k) each, and the top four teams in the duos tournament each shared over $1million too.

Kyle Giersdorf, better known online as 'Bugha,' won £2.4million at the Fortnite World Cup

It was held at the Arthur Ashe stadium, most known for hosting the US Open tennis final

It was held at the Arthur Ashe stadium, most known for hosting the US Open tennis final

Jaden Ashman (aka Wolfiez), from London, came second in the duos, sharing £1.8million with his playing partner. He's only 15.

The Fortnite World Cup was held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which hosts the tennis US Open final each year. 

Other esports such as League of Legends have held competitions in the likes of Madison Square Garden and Beijing's 'Bird's Nest' National Stadium.

Tens of thousands watch in person, while many more watch online. 

Fortnite World Cup viewership peaked at over 2.3million concurrents and last year's League of Legends World Championship final brought in nearly 100 million people.

With all these numbers behind it, it's no surprise that the esports industry is expected to top $1billion (£824m) in revenue sooner rather than later.

Kyle Robertson, a 16-year-old from Scotland, is a world champion in the esport Rocket League

Kyle Robertson, a 16-year-old from Scotland, is a world champion in the esport Rocket League

WHAT ARE ESPORTS? 

Esports are competitive video games. Many of the most popular video games have a multiplayer aspect, and people now compete in leagues and tournaments for ever-increasing prize money. 

The most popular esports include the likes of Fortnite, League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike, where players regularly compete for millions in prizes, in front of millions of viewers.

Being a professional esports player is a full-time job, as they have strict training regimes, practice schedules, and often have to travel large distances to play in tournaments.

Esports pros tend to have short-lived careers, even when compared to traditional sports, because reaction times are so important. Most players have retired by their mid to late-20s. 

The top teams in the world are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, and rake in sponsorship deals from big name brands. 

Advertisement

The money in esports has been growing massively, particularly in the past few years, across all kinds of games. 

The success of Fortnite has given its creators Epic Games the ability to pump up the prize money for professional tournaments. 

This year alone, Epic is giving out $100million (£82.5million) in prizes.

It's not just Fortnite either, as the International (TI), an annual Dota 2 tournament similar to a World Championship, has a large chunk of its prize pool crowdfunded by people who play the games via microtransactions.

The prize pool for this year's TI will be over $32million (£26.4million), for just one tournament.

Last year's winners, OG, a European team made up of five players, have remained grounded, despite each of them becoming multi-millionaires, and despite having a feature length documentary called Against The Odds created by the Emmy-award winning Red Bull Media House chronicling their journey to the title.

Emmy-award winning Red Bull Media House created an esports documentary about team OG

Emmy-award winning Red Bull Media House created an esports documentary about team OG

'We're still competing,' says OG's Sebastien '7ckngMad' Debs. 'When you're competing you're always chasing something, so your daily life doesn't change. We don't really have time to enjoy the benefits of the money we won. The biggest change is gonna come once we're done competing.'

Playing video games for a living may sound like a dream job, but it's a gruelling one. 

These players are practicing all day, almost every day, to keep their reflexes sharp and their knowledge of the ever-changing games they play up to scratch.

In order to keep these incredibly complex multiplayer games balanced, the game makers release regular updates, some of which can completely change certain aspects of the game.

Imagine if every few weeks the Premier League changed the size of the ball, or the offside rule, or made it so only headed goals count.

HIGHEST EARNING ESPORTS ATHLETES 

1. Kuro 'KuroKy' Takhasomi - $4,236,2016

2. Amer 'Miracle' Al-Barkawi - $3,799,837

3. Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein - $3,765,555

4. Ivan 'MinD_ContRolL' Ivanov - $3,590,911

5. Lasse 'Matumbaman' Urpalainen - $3,540,616

Prize money won to date, according to esportsearnings.com 

Advertisement

When they're not practising, the pros are travelling around the world and playing on stages in front of millions of viewers. 

Of course, that means they need places to stay and practice while on the road as well.

'We have houses around the world that we sometimes use,' says Johan 'N0tail' Sundstein, the most experienced member of OG, and the third highest earning esports pro ever in terms of prize money. 

'Dota brings us across continents, different time zones. We often need to find new places and set things up.'

The prize money is high, but esports athletes have salaries too, with the top players bringing in six-figures a year, with that number on the rise. 

The organisations they play for have sponsorship deals that would look at home in Formula 1 or the Premier League, and big-name investors who are looking for a slice of the pie.

Two-time NBA MVP Steph Curry was part of a round of funding for Team SoloMid which reached $37million. Shaquille O'Neal is involved with NRG, and is the acting general manager for the Sacramento Kings NBA 2K esports team.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Tej Kohli invested €20million (£17.7m) into Renault Sport Team Vitality last year.

Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, also owns an Overwatch League team, as does Stan Kroenke, owner of Arsenal and the Los Angeles Rams.

In October last year, Forbes valued nine different esports organisations at over $100million, with the top one, Cloud9, valued at $350million (£288.5m).

They're paying these young stars a lot of money, perhaps so much that they don't know what to do with it.

Robertson, along with these other young stars, seem unsure of what to do with all the money

Robertson, along with these other young stars, seem unsure of what to do with all the money

Kyle Robertson, better known as his Rocket League in-game name 'Scrub Killa' is another World Champion, and another 16-year-old who has won a lot of money this year, playing for Renault Sport Team Vitality.

'I'm just saving up the money really,' he says. 'I'm looking to invest it… I'm not really sure to be honest, probably housing.' Perhaps he's taking a bit of advice from his father, who is his 'biggest fan' and gets free travel to events all over the world since Kyle isn't 18 yet.

It's the same story for the Fortnite pros.

'I'm probably gonna try and save most of it,' Fortnite star Wolfiez told the BBC shortly after his second place finish at the World Cup. 'I know it sounds a bit cliche but save maybe like half of it and put quite a lot of it into a house and my family.'

And the Dota 2 pros.

'I don't think any of us have crazy retirement plans yet,' says OG's N0tail. 'None of us have spent money on anything big, gifts here and there.'

Even if they're not actually spending the money, at least the places OG frequent on the road have got a bit nicer since they won The International last year.

'Next up we're going to Malaysia, and we have a pool this time, so that's awesome.'

Whether they'll have time to use it is another question entirely. 

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.