joetidy/Twitter/FortniteA British teenager has won more than $2 million after coming second in the Fortnite World Cup finals.
Jaden Ashman, from Essex, will split the $2.25 million (£1.8 million) with his Dutch playing partner, Dave Jong, known as Rojo.
The 15-year-old, who competed under the name Wolfiez, was ‘stunned’ to have finished so high, the BBC reports.
Tune into BBC TV and radio today to hear more about the amazing surprise silver for 15 year old Brit @WolfiezGG and his Dutch teammate @Rojo11 – they’ve become millionaires at the #FortniteWorldCup – look at the 😃! pic.twitter.com/74qZYMB1jp
— Joe Tidy (@joetidy) July 28, 2019
Norwegian Emil Bergquist Pedersen and Austrian David W, known online as Nyhrox and Aqua, came in first place with 51 points, just ahead of Jaden and his partner’s 47.
Fortnite has 250 million users all over the world, and the event has an impressive prize pool of $30 million, making it the biggest reward ever seen at an esports event.
The 15yr old millionaire Fortnite player Jaden Ashman and his mum Lisa Dallman. He came second with his teammate on the duos and will split $2.25m! His mum says accepting him as an e-sports player has been very hard and she’s even thrown out an X-Box in past!! #FortniteWorldCup pic.twitter.com/UCUqGzUOLW
— Joe Tidy (@joetidy) July 27, 2019
Jaden has been playing the online shooter game since it came out two years ago, but unlike others who made it to the final, he’s relatively unknown in the gaming world, with just a few thousand followers and fans on social media.
His mum, Lisa Dallman, says Jaden’s playing used to result in rows after his gaming affected his grades at school.
According to the BBC, she even resorted throwing his Xbox out after an argument, but now she accepts Jaden’s chosen career as a professional esports player.
Epic GamesThe Fortnite finals come to an end this Sunday, where 100 players will battle on giant computer screens in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
A whopping 40 million players attempted to qualify over 10 weeks of online competition.
More than 30 different nations are represented in the competition with 70 players hailing from the US, 14 France and 11 from the UK.
The winner will take home $3 million and become the first Fortnite World Champion.
Despite only having been out around two years, Fortnite is arguably the world’s most popular game. For those who’ve never played, it involves 100 players being dropped onto an island where they’re tasked with finding weapons, building structures and ultimately eliminating each other until one person remains at the top.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.