Teen wins $3 million in gaming contest

Name: WORLD
Price range: $

Kyle Giersdorf, 16, celebrates winning the Fortnite World Cup Getty Images/Photo by Michael Stobe

All those hours in front of screens paid off Sunday for Kyle Giersdorf of Pottsgrove, Pa., when he won the Fortnite World Cup first-place prize of $3 million. Giersdorf, 16, faced 99 other competitors from 30 countries in the tournament finals over the weekend at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Gamers took home a total of $30 million in prize money.

What is Fortnite? The shooting game challenges players to collect items, build shelters, and outlast their opponents—similar to Minecraft but with more combat. Fortnite has about 250 million registered players online. That number has doubled in the last year, Fortnite maker Epic Games reported.

Dig deeper: Earlier this year, I reported on the popularity and pitfalls of first-person shooting games for WORLD Digital’s Muse roundup.

Lynde Langdon

Lynde is WORLD’s executive editor for news. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute, the Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Lynde resides with her family in Wichita, Kan.

@lmlangdon