Fortnite World Cup winner Buga Fortnite is a free agent after announcing that esports team Sentinels will no longer focus on Epic battle royale.
The now-famous Fortnite Battle Royale player rose to stardom a few years ago when he won the 2019 Fortnite World Cup.
Buga, real name Kyle Giersdorf, joined the Sentinels organization in early 2019. He won the World Cup that summer and earned millions more in prize money. For example, the professional player’s likeness later appeared in Fortnite as a cosmetic outfit.
However, the current trends in esports are in a state of change, and Buga Fortnite role at Sentinels has changed.
With Sentinels’ Fortnite decision, Bugha will become a free agent.
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Rob Moore, CEO of Sentinels, confirmed the organization’s plan to no longer compete in games for Epic’s Battle Royale.
According to Moore, Sentinels will focus on games that “offer opportunities to work for (its) sponsors or provide team-branded in-game content.”
As our organization maps out the future,our strategy is to focus on games that provide the opportunity to activate for our sponsors or offer team branded in game content. Fortnite has not offered either of those. I am announcing today we will no longer be competing in Fortnite.
— Rob Moore (@robmooreEsports) December 28, 2022
Since Fortnite does not offer such an option, the organization will stop participating in Fortnite competitions.
Fortnite pros Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, Nick “Aspect” McGuire, and Brian “Zyfa” Wielgolaski are terminated with Sentinels as a result.
Bugha’s departure will come as a particular shock to fans who have long followed the Fortnite esports scene. After all, his 2019 World Cup win was the first victory for the Sentinels brand.
Esports organizations across the industry are considering their options in the future, as an outside investment is not what it used to be.
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However, there is currently no indication that Epic will ever again host an event on the scale of the World Cup tournament that Bugha won three years ago under the Sentinels label.
Therefore, organizations like Sentinels need to look at other means of monetization. For example, highly publicized events that allow sponsors to showcase their sponsors to the audience with player jerseys can be very effective.