Austin “Morgausse” Etue has absolutely exploded since his victory in the Fortnite Summer Skirmish at PAX West.
Since the 19-year old brought home $250,000 for his championship run, his Twitter followers have skyrocketed (300 to 32.9k at the time of writing). What’s more, he has recently become a Twitch partner.
Morgausse is living proof that anyone can become a star in the Fortnite scene.
Morgausse, Summer Skirmish Champion
The Summer Skirmish, an eight-week, multi-event Fortnite tournament, took place for eight weeks before its conclusion at PAX West. The Summer Skirmish finals format consisted of six maps, with points averaged out based on kills and Victory Royales.
After edging out a quick lead with a Victory Royale early on in the tournament, Morgausse maintained a top 10 ranking across the remaining five maps. Morgausse, a relative unknown before the Summer Skirmish, was speechless in reaction to his triumph.
When Fortnite’s newest star finally found the words, he took to Twitter to address his rapidly expanding fan base.
Epic Games has put a high priority on Fortnite’s low-entry level. ESPN’s Tyler Ezrberger put it quite succinctly:
Epic Games doesn’t want to be a traditional esport, though. Outside of the large prize pool, it’s actively fighting against the esports tag. Instead, it wants to be known as the “competitive side” of Fortnite.
Epic doesn’t want the competitive side of the game to be bogged down by franchises and sponsorships. It wants the scene to be for everyone. It wants the 16-year-old kid whose parents flew him out to an event to have the chance to enter a qualifier in hopes of being the next Morgausse.
While Epic Games has yet to announce any competitive Fortnite events, look for updates in the community heading into the holiday season.