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Teenager Wins Millions Playing Fortnite
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DAVID GREENE, HOST:
How quickly life can change. Just last week, Kyle Giersdorf was a video game-loving teenager. Today, he is a video game-loving millionaire, all thanks to his talents when it comes to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: For the first game, Victory Royale. Oh, my gosh. Confident play from Bugha.
GREENE: Kyle, who goes by the gamertag Bugha, won the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, a tournament for the video game that boasts 250 million registered players - not bad for a 16-year-old from Potts Grove, Pa.
KYLE GIERSDORF: Nothing pretty much felt real, honestly. But at the same time, I don't know. I just had no emotion coming out of me right then. I was just really happy for all the grind that I put into the game for it to finally pay off.
GREENE: Pay off - pay off? Yeah, what a payoff. It was $3 million. But don't think for a minute that Giersdorf is going to squander this prize money.
GIERSDORF: What I'm going to do with it is invest it and save it, put it towards my future. But most importantly, I think I want to get a new desk. I could use a little bit more space.
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GREENE: Kyle says his parents are proud of him and his hard work playing six hours of Fortnite each day.
GIERSDORF: It's like a job. We put in the same amount of hours as many other people would for anything else. So yeah, I just see it as a normal job. I'm doing hard work and just have it pay off.
GREENE: All work and some play.
(SOUNDBITE OF PENSEES' "MODAL") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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