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US teenager wins $3m as Fortnite world champion
It is the largest prize pool in the history of e-sports, with $30m shared amongst the winners.
Kyle Giersdorf, 16, won the solo event of the competition in the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, which hosts the US Open tennis tournament.
Jaden Ashman - a 15-year-old from Hornchurch, London - won almost £1m for coming second in the duos event.
And another British teenager - 14-year-old Kyle "Mongraal" Jackson from Sidcup, Kent - also walked away with a major prize.
Also at:
https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/29/fortnite-world-cup-bugha-prize-money-esports/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/gaming/2019/07/29/kyle-bugha-giersdorf-16-year-old-fortnite-champ-three-million/1855093001/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/29/us/fortnite-world-cup-winner-bugha.html
(Score: 5, Interesting) by aiwarrior on Tuesday July 30 2019, @02:06PM (2 children)
Indeed, but this is how it was for a long time with, for example, aspiring football players.
In Portugal i remember kids dreaming to be a professional football players, and as far as I know non succeeded. Yet they flunked school and other more sure pursuits in the name of "becoming a professional player".
From what i hear the fashion now is not so much e-games but being a Youtuber. The Youtuber thing already led to child-protection and the local equivalent of DOJ to open several inquiries.
A very renowned child psychologist[1] (and yhm..psychanalist) has actually come forward that the parents are egoistic and denying children of their childhood by passing an idea they must be an "influencer" a "leader" or a star. With this posture they are actually harming the child's best interest of developing themselves as free thinking individuals.
Don't know about you Yanks but this "get rich or die trying" attitude is not very natural for us and causes some turbulence in our pretty homogeneous culture (for good and bad)
[1] https://observador.pt/opiniao/perigos-com-patrocinio-craques-modelos-idolos-influencers-youtubers-e-lideres/ [observador.pt]
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:05PM
"get rich or die trying" has been a natural attitude for many people, throughout history. It's called greed and we're all susceptible to it in one way or another.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday July 30 2019, @04:06PM
Yes, it's the same in the U.S., except we have tons of pro sports that kids dream of growing up to join. I'd bet if you asked a large sample of ~10-year-old boys in the U.S. what they want to do when they grow up, maybe half or more would identify professional baseball/basketball/hockey/football (not your kind of football) player as at least one option. From my perspective, it's absurd. I mean, I'm all for encouraging physical and athletic activity in young people. It's great to learn skills about being part of a team, too. But almost no one should be planning to play pro sports as a career, given how few positions are available for such a thing.
It's even worse in the U.S. when we exploit college athletes, earning large revenues off of their skills (particularly in college football -- American football, that is), while promising them "an education" (which, in many cases, is dumbed down to a ridiculous level just to get them through college). All of these poor kids with dreams of "going pro" -- and the vast majority of them end up not making it, with a relatively crappy education, and their bodies are likely so wrecked that many won't be able to work properly by the time they're 40 (even if they are spared the long-term potential for brain damage from so many hits on the field).
But you're right -- now, in addition to the pro-athlete dreams, kids want to become Youtubers and "influencers." Once again, what tiny percentage of such people succeed? That's not to say someone shouldn't give a try for their dream -- but at some point kids need to be given realistic options too.