The Fortnite World Cup took place over the weekend at the Arthur Ashe stadium in Queens, New York, and a 16-year-old teenager walked home an instant millionaire. Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf from North America became the champion of the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, winning a whopping US$3 million in the process.

Bugha is also a pro player for the Los Angeles-based esports team, the Sentinels. During the Fortnite World Cup, he managed to overcome his 99 other opponents by earning a total of 59 points. In comparison, the runner-up, Psalm, only scored 33 points.

The Fortnite World Cup uses a point-scoring system to encourage a more active and esports-worthy playstyle amongst players. This is to avoid players from simply hiding until the end game (which is usually the norm in battle royale games).

Congrats to all of our winners this weekend at the #FortniteWorldCup Finals

Solo Champion: @bugha
Duos Champions: @nyhrox @aquaa
ProAM: @Airwaks @RLGRIME
Creative: #FishFam @cizzorz @hiimtylerh @suezhoo @zandOfficial pic.twitter.com/ilBs7RTeTv

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) July 28, 2019

Meanwhile, the duos competition in the Fortnite World Cup (which featured two-player teams) saw European duo of Emil “Nyhrox” Bergquist Pedersen and David “Aqua” W. being crowned champions and winning US$3 million as well.

Epic Games gave out a total prize pool of US$30 million for the entire tournament, with the inaugural Fortnite World Cup pulling in nearly 9 million viewers for the final day of the competition on YouTube alone.

In an interview with ESPN, Bugha said:

“Emotionally, right now, I don’t feel too much, except I know that this could pretty much change my life forever.

It’s just absolutely unreal.”

His family was there, supporting him all the way. Speaking with ESPN, Bugha’s mother, Darcy Giersdorf, said:

“I literally feel like I’m in a dream right now.

It’s so surreal. … This is life-changing for him.

He’s been playing video games since he was 3, so this is his passion.

He told us he could do this, he put his mind to it and he did it.”

Esports has gone through much to legitimize and prove itself in a world where many people still have deep-rooted prejudices towards gaming in general. Massive esports tournaments like the Fortnite World Cup and the upcoming Overwatch World Cup go a long way in doing that.

So if anyone ever tells you that esports is a waste of time that it’s not as important as ‘real sports’, just tell them that a 16-year-old teenager became US$3 million richer after becoming the champion of an international esports competition. The future is esports, and that future is now.