The 2023 AO Summer Smash featuring Fortnite has concluded, with Loserfruit and Vortex placing on top of their respective events.
YouTube Gaming Content Creator Loserfruit took out the $50,000 (USD) Charity Icon Series, streamed live from Margaret Court Arena, winning $25,000 for Givit.
"It was great to win the AO Summer Smash Icon Series charity tournament, a little unexpected, but we hustled, and it’s really great to get this result for my charity Givit," Loserfruit said.
Fellow creator Lazarbeam placed second, choosing Ronald McDonald House for his charity of choice, "Ronald McDonald House is great because they support families with sick children, and they do a lot of great things.
“I've visited the Ronald McDonald House before, and I've seen the actual impact it has and how it helps during difficult times, so I see a lot of value in it.
“It was an unreal experience at the AO Summer Smash, every time we've done something here [at the Australian Open] it's always so cool, sitting in one of these stadiums, playing some Fortnite on the court, it's really cool."
PWR Content Creator Lachlan placed third in the Creator Series, chose $10,000 to go to his local charity, Logan Children’s Hospital, "We'll take third, it was a lot of fun, different type of tournament, we haven't done that in Fortnite before, and in the end, it came out really good.
"It's been awesome to combine esports with sports, and doing both at the same time, it's been an awesome experience.
"It was awesome to also get an opportunity to do other activities with the tournament, like being a ballkid, you see them all the time on TV, and wonder what it's like, but doing that first hand you realise, it's actually really hard but was a lot of fun," Lachlan continued.
The event also saw 90 of Oceania's best Fortnite players battle it out for $50,000 (USD) in a Competitive Battle Royale Solo's event, with Australian Vortex claiming the top spot after six games, earning $10,000 in prizemoney.
Top ten placings - AO Summer Smash ft. Fortnite Competitive Solo's
1st - Vortex, 116 points, $10,000
2nd - Oatley, 115 points, $7,500
3rd - Anon Fa, 112 points, $5,000
4th - Jace, 96 points, $4,000
5th - Fisher, 95 points, $3,000
6th - EVL Spoctic, 90 points, $2,000
7th - EVL Rise, 88 points, $1,500
8th - PWR Alex 7, 84 points, $1,250
9th - Danath FA, 81 points, $1,000
10th - Skitsgod 7, 75 points, $750
Both competitive and creator events were livestreamed via the Australian Open Twitch and YouTube channels.
“We’ve had an incredible collaboration with Fortnite over the past five years, enabling us to build an authentic connection with the next generation of sports fans, and people of varied interests, whether it be in person at the event, or digitally through our streams and platforms,” Tennis Australia Head of Innovation Machar Reid said.
Developed by Epic Games, the entertainment platform Fortnite has more than 400 million registered accounts worldwide. In Fortnite, players can create their own experiences or squad up in the iconic Battle Royale and action-packed Zero Build. Australia is a key country for Fortnite and is home to a number of the top ranked players and creators.