It’s the end of an era as David ‘aqua’ Wang announces his retirement from Fortnite Competitive after five years in the business. He was one of the most talented competitors on the Fortnite esports scene, and in his time at the top of his game, he secured more than $2 million in winnings. In 2019, at the first (and so far, only) Fortnite World Cup, aqua won the Duos category alongside Nyhrox, scooping a massive $1.5 million prize.

Since then, aqua went on to amass half a million followers on Twitch and secured more than a dozen more wins across the FNCS and Fortnite Cash Cup contests. His announcement came on Twitter in the form of a single word – ‘Quit’, followed by him tagging ‘FNCompetitive’.

Not a Bad Career

Image Credit: Epic Games

At just twenty-one years of age, aqua is one of the highest-earning esports players of all time. He hasn’t announced what he’ll do now, but he’s a popular enough streamer, and with more than 300,000 subscribers on YouTube, he has a brilliant foundation to pivot into full-time content creation. It’s not like Fortnite is going to go anywhere anytime soon – it’s still one of the most popular battle royale games in the world, after all.

In 2019, aqua stormed into the history books by winning the first-ever Fortnite World Cup – in the Duos category. He and his duo, Nyhrox, faced down fifty teams in New York, catapulting themselves into the spotlight as they lifted one of the most valuable trophies in esports history. At the time, aqua was just seventeen years of age, and it was one of the biggest victories any competitor at his age had ever secured.

There was almost a social media beef between aqua and Nyhrox following the duo’s split just a month after the Fortnite World Cup, but it was quashed and both competitors moved on to greener pastures.

What Are Fortnite Esports Like Now?

Fans of the ever-popular battle royale title are forever holding on for a new Fortnite World Cup, but all they have now to rely on for Fortnite esports action is the FNCS cycle that takes place every year. It’s the top tournament in the space and it essentially allows any competitor in the game to climb the ranks and secure competitive stardom – and a hearty helping of cash to boot.

It’s unknown if we’ll ever see another Fortnite World Cup, but the game remains as popular as ever and it’s constantly evolving. The developer, Epic Games, is forever pumping content into the platform in the form of updates, enhanced maps, collaborations with other brands, and special events. Fortnite has long since evolved from being just a battle royale game to being an entertainment ecosystem, but will we ever see another Fortnite World Cup?

Only time will tell.

To close, we’ll thank aqua for his years of entertainment as one of the best Fortnite players in the world.