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Video game warriors battle it out in Poland
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Online gamers compete at the ESL Katowice Royale Featuring Fortnite Tournament during the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2019 event in Katowice on March 3, 2019. World's top gamers vie for $500,000 in prizes at Fortnite International video game tournament. (AFP/Bartosz Siedlik)
T
op video game players gathered in the Polish city of Katowice on Sunday to fight it out on the shoot-'em-up survival game Fortnite, with prize money totaling $500,000 at stake.
Competitors lined up in front of their screens on an enormous platform at the front of the hall, with giant screens showing highlights for the thousands of fans attending.
After Friday's solo player tournament, the weekend was devoted to two-player teams.
In a Battle Royale format, they fought until just one team was left standing, as the fans watched the action play out live.
The winning duo, identified only by their online monikers, were NRG Zayt from Canada and US player Ghost SAF. They won $80,000, the runners-up $64,000 and the third-placed team took home 48,000.
There were also cash prizes for the top 20 placed teams.
Read also: Fortnite addiction is forcing kids into video-game rehab
Many of the fans got into the spirit of the event -- the latest in a series of tournaments that Fortnite's creators, Epic Games, have organised to promote their product -- by dressing up Cosplay style in costumes inspired by the game at the Intel Extreme Masters gaming tournament.
Fortnite, launched in July 2017, quickly became a gaming phenomenon. One of the most popular games, in May last year it had more than 150 million players worldwide, playing on a range of different gaming platforms.
In July 2018 it broke $1 billion turnover, making its money from online sales, game-related costumes and other merchandise.
Last year Epic Games announced it was putting $100 million towards a year of tournaments for players of Fortnite.
The winner of the finals in New York in June will walk away with $3 million.
Chinese technology giant Tencent, the world's biggest game company, has invested heavily in Epic Games.
