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[Kazza]

British boy becomes Fortnite millionaire in World Cup tournament

Jaden Ashman, 15, known as Wolfiez, came second in the video game’s duos competition

www.theguardian.com

A British teenager has won $1.25m (£1m) by coming second in the first Fortnite World Cup in New York on Saturday.

Jaden Ashman, 15, who competes under the name Wolfiez, was placed second alongside his Dutch teammate Dave Jong, 21, in a duos round of the battle royal-style shooting game that has more than 250 million players worldwide.

A millionaire at 15 for playing computer games! The 15 year old me would be absolutely blown away by the idea. Of course, as with any sport, only the top 0.1% even have a chance of winning this kind of money.

His mother, Lisa Dallman, from Essex, told the BBC that she and her son “had a nightmare” arguing over his online gaming, because she wanted him to spend more time on schoolwork.

She admitted to having thrown away an Xbox in the past but now accepted his choice to compete professionally.

I bet she's accepted it after he won £1m! I wonder if he legally gets control of the money, or does he have to wait until he's 16 or 18.




It must be harder to stop your kids playing games instead of doing their homework nowadays "But mum, I'm not just playing about, I'm training to win the £1m prize"

 

[bobone]

Its a cool time for the industry for sure. I'll never understand the appeal of Fortnite, but its impact on the industry is unquestionable.

I'm very curious how long your "career" will be as a pro gamer; seems even shorter lived than pro sports.
So you should probably still do your homework and stuff.

 

[Mista]

That’s amazing. A million and he’s just a teenager

That feels goood I’m sure!

 

[Kenpachii]

How does this even work, are kids not allowed to not gain money at sub 16 years?

 

[nikolino840]

It must be harder to stop your kids playing games instead of doing their homework nowadays "But mum, I'm not just playing about, I'm training to win the £1m prize"

In fact..happen this:





With Dad’s support, one teen is playing ‘Fortnite’ instead of going to high school

With Dad’s support, one teen is playing ‘Fortnite’ instead of going to high school - The Boston Globe

Dave Herzog took the extraordinary step of withdrawing his son from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School so that Jordan would have more time to devote to competitive gaming.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I hope he quickly invests before Brexit eradicates most of this moneys worth.

 

[Generic]

When I was 13 I was very skilled at FPS games. But back then tournaments were barely a thing.

 

[Potato Chip PRO]

When I was 13 I was very skilled at FPS games. But back then tournaments were barely a thing.

Same! During Cod 4 -MW3 I've been invited to multiple teams but my anti social skills made me say NOPE to all of them. Now I'm trash since I don't play as much as I used to

 

[Bogey]

Sweet, now he can finally afford a 50 square meter council house conversion flat in London!

 

[Mistershine.]

How does this even work, are kids not allowed to not gain money at sub 16 years?

Why wouldn't he? You can get a paper round at 13.

 

[keraj37]

Sweet, now he can finally afford a 50 square meter council house conversion flat in London!

Well said, but he is a millionaire isn't he? People don't realize that 1 million pounds or us dollars has lost its value against real assets during last decades dramatically. One million is just enough to buy a modest house or a small flat in London.

And that is it! So yeah, better keep doing your homework pal!

 

[EverydayBeast]

I'm totally good with gamers being payed to play video games, sure he deserves this money right now, and obviously the age issue will be a tricky situation if you eventually want to get into the top competitive spots in the world (Sports, chess etc.)

 

[CeeJay]

Well said, but he is a millionaire isn't he? People don't realize that 1 million pounds or us dollars has lost its value against real assets during last decades dramatically. One million is just enough to buy a modest house or a small flat in London.

And that is it! So yeah, better keep doing your homework pal!

Yeah, but that is without a mortgage for the next 25+ years of his life. He may not be absolutely set for life but who would say that kind of headstart is anything but an amazing gift from his hard worked talents. It's also amazing for gaming in general that it has gone from tournaments in shitty venues with shitty prizes to multimillion top prizes in such a short space of time. Congrats.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

When I was 13 I was very skilled at FPS games. But back then tournaments were barely a thing.

When I was 13 I played Microcosm on the CD32

..I still havent been paid.

 

[MMaRsu]

Not really something new except the prize money is so much bigger

Knew a guy who was flown to the us for Halo 3 tourneys and even quit middle school and made a bit of money doing that

 

[Ornlu]

Its a cool time for the industry for sure. I'll never understand the appeal of Fortnite, but its impact on the industry is unquestionable.

I'm very curious how long your "career" will be as a pro gamer; seems even shorter lived than pro sports.
So you should probably still do your homework and stuff.

Pro gamers typically peak around 19-22. You rarely see anyone in their 30's, and if you do, they are on the way out.

Most athletic sports have a 5-10 year "shelf life". As games get more competitive, you will see it more and more there as well, though the reasons and injuries will be different.

 

[Lucumo]

Looking at the results, it was apparently $2.250.000 for both of them, so $1.125.000 for each of them (tax excluded). Math is hard, apparently. Also, first place winners are 16 and 17 years old and got $1.500.000 each. Age average for the duo tournament was apparently 16 years...which obviously isn't surprising. Though, I guess it's a good marketing tool for them to get even more young players.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

Its amazing how big the prize pools got. I remember Fatal1ty used to be THE gamer but his winnings were always around 100-200k max.