14 new york | august 5–18, 2019
intelligencer39 minutes with ...
H1ghSkyThe most popular video game on the planet
anoints its youngest star yet.
by brian feldmanPhotograph by Victor Llorente
Just 90 minutes into the first
day of the inaugural Fortnite
World Cup, 12-year-old H1ghSky
has a problem. The video-game
prodigy is the youngest member of
the e-sports organization FaZe Clan, which
is holding a pop-up at a sneaker store just
off Canal Street. The event, if it had gone as
planned, would have lasted all afternoon.
Fans of pro gamers would meet their idols
and pick up limited-edition merch. But
turnout has been larger than anticipated,
the kind you might see for a new line of
Yeezys—if Kanye were also in attendance.
Die-hards camped out overnight before
the event, and police had to shut down
the street to prevent the store from being
mobbed. The store isn’t happy, and the
manager pulls FaZe CEO Lee Trink aside
to notify him that they’re kicking FaZe out.
Meanwhile, gamers are taking photos
with ecstatic fans. Seated at the front of
the group is H1ghSky1 (in real life, Patrick
Bragaru from Seattle). This is his first-
ever meet-up, and he says he’s “shaking”
from nerves. He’s too young to compete in
the tournament, so he’s spending the
weekend meeting fans and cheering on
fellow players while his older brother
Cristian trails him like a paparazzo. There
are 80 or so gamers in FaZe Clan, with
millions of followers on Instagram, You-
Tube, and Twitch. In exchange for a por-
tion of the revenue these gamers bring in,
FaZe offers access to infrastructure, high-
profile sponsorships, and even-greater
online exposure.
Competing in e-sports tournaments
can be lucrative—clan members won just
over $1.5 million at the Fortnite World
Cup—but the majority of FaZe’s haul
comes from merchandise and sponsor-
ships. H1ghSky1 says that when he plays
Fortnite now, he’s not usually going for
the win (though he has already won more
than 1,000 times) but is instead trying to
pull off trick shots and generate clips that
would make for a good highlight reel on
YouTube. Victory is almost beside the
point: less Golden State Warriors and
more Harlem Globetrotters.Trink estimates that H1ghSky1 has
earned between $200,000 and $300,
since joining FaZe this past March. He
made $40,000 alone from broadcasting
himself playing on the livestreaming plat-
form Twitch. Amid the chaos of the meet-
up, H1ghSky1 can’t fully explain his suc-
cess. He says that he started playing video
games when he was “9, 10-ish” and began
streaming in December 2017. His parents
are “entirely supportive,” and when he
told them he was getting famous, “we
just all started freaking out.” He goes to
school online, and he admits without any
embarrassment that “I don’t really have
many friends in real life. I just play with
online friends.”
Many members of FaZe Clan are in
their late teens or early 20s. They behave
less like athletes than influencers: posing
next to sports cars and private jets, doing
#spon, throwing up the FaZe hand sign
(hold your thumb and index finger paral-
lel to each other and position your middle
finger perpendicular to them). H1ghSky
didn’t have an Instagram account before
March; now he has 1.1 million followers.
He is arguably part of a second generation
of Fortnite stars. He cites Ninja, the
28-year-old pro who became the game’s
first bona fide celebrity in 2017, as an
inspiration. The day after we meet, FaZe
signs a 13-year-old who goes by Ewok, the
team’s first female member.
Until a couple of months ago, most
viewers would have assumed H1ghSky
was also 13, the minimum age for most
major online platforms. It’s also the age
he cites in a video from this past spring
announcing his induction into FaZe. But
his cover was blown in May, when the
clan was sued by a former member,
Turner “Tfue” Tenney, another Fortnite
pro, whose court filing alleges that players
sign unfair contracts that stifle their abil-
ity to pursue business opportunities. “It is
also widely publicized the Faze Clan has
recently signed an 11-year-old gamer/art-
ist,” the complaint reads, alleging that
FaZe knew H1ghSky1’s age, lied about it,
and asked his family to do the same. (Thecomplaint also alleged underage drinking
at FaZe’s L.A. residence. FaZe counter-
sued this month.) After his true age was
revealed, FaZe had to negotiate with
Twitch and Fortnite maker Epic to release
the thousands of dollars H1ghSky1 had
earned while playing underage.
Being drafted into FaZe Clan is an
informal process that usually begins with
scouts looking for talent on sites like
Twitch, then determining how the gamers
could fit into FaZe’s overall strategy.
“What we saw is somebody from a per-
sonality side and a skill side who fit within
FaZe Clan despite his age,” Trink says of
H1ghSky1. “The kid is so cute, and part of
it is he’s sort of like nonplussed by the
magnitude of it all.” (Hanging by a display
case while we chat, H1ghSky1 points at a
shoe designed for a very small child and
jokes with a smirk, “That’s my size.”)
“What we didn’t sort of calculate is what
it did for our young fan base,” Trink adds.
“We almost created a bigger problem for
all those parents of 11- and 12-year-olds
because here is some 11-year-old kid
plucked out of obscurity who became
megafamous almost immediately.” Now
going pro is something any kid could theo-
retically do before high school.
H1ghSky1 is still young, and he’s hang-
ing out with gamers who are almost
twice his age. As the team’s bus pulls
away, it abruptly stops. The roof hatch
pops open as three young men work the
crowd from above. The crowd loses its
mind while the officers and private-
security guards milling about fume over
the minor recklessness. “Our guys are
the rock stars of gaming,” Trink boasts
afterward, having watched it all unfold.
“I’m not going to tell them to be who
they’re not.”
Trink and H1ghSky1 are both aware
that being at the mercy of larger plat-
forms is not the most stable ground on
which to build a business, though only
one of them is bothered by this. After
H1ghSky1’s age was outed, his channels
were shut down, and he recalls his large
Twitch follower count—“I had 300,000,
but I got banned”—with a laugh. He man-
aged to get the YouTube account back,
though now he has to stream with paren-
tal supervision. In retaliation against
Tfue, once his idol, H1ghSky1 did what all
online celebrities do when they have beef:
He recorded a diss track featuring
YouTuber Logan Paul. He’s otherwise tak-
ing the reveal in stride. The night before
the tournament, H1ghSky1 posted a selfie
on Instagram of his face run through the
senior-citizen FaceApp filter, captioned
“T oo old to compete .” ■TRANSMITTED________ COPY ___ DD ___ AD ___ PD ___ EICTRANSMITTED1619INT_Encounter_lay [Print]_35436799.indd 14 8/2/19 5:29 PM14 newyork| august5–18, 2019
intelligencer
39 minuteswith...H1ghSkyThe most popularvideogameon theplanet
anointsits youngeststaryet.
bybrianfeldmanPhotographbyVictorLlorenteJust 90 minutes intothefirst
day of the inaugural Fortnite
World Cup, 12-year-old H1ghSky
has a problem. The video-game
prodigy is the youngest memberof
the e-sports organization FaZe Clan,which
is holding a pop-up at a sneakerstorejust
off Canal Street. The event, if it hadgoneas
planned, would have lasted all afternoon.
Fans of pro gamers would meet theiridols
and pick up limited-edition merch.But
turnout has been larger than anticipated,
the kind you might see for a newlineof
Yeezys—if Kanye were also in attendance.
Die-hards camped out overnightbefore
the event, and police had to shutdown
the street to prevent the store frombeing
mobbed. The store isn’t happy,andthe
manager pulls FaZe CEO Lee Trinkaside
to notify him that they’re kickingFaZeout.
Meanwhile, gamers are takingphotos
with ecstatic fans. Seated at thefrontof
the group is H1ghSky1 (in real life,Patrick
Bragaru from Seattle). This ishisfirst-
ever meet-up, and he says he’s “shaking”
from nerves. He’s too young to competein
the tournament, so he’s spending the
weekend meeting fans and cheeringon
fellow players while his olderbrother
Cristian trails him like a paparazzo.There
are 80 or so gamers in FaZe Clan,with
millions of followers on Instagram,You-
Tube, and Twitch. In exchange fora por-
tion of the revenue these gamersbringin,
FaZe offers access to infrastructure,high-
profile sponsorships, and even-greater
online exposure.
Competing in e-sports tournaments
can be lucrative—clan memberswonjust
over $1.5 million at the FortniteWorld
Cup—but the majority of FaZe’shaul
comes from merchandise andsponsor-
ships. H1ghSky1 says that whenheplays
Fortnite now, he’s not usuallygoingfor
the win (though he has already wonmore
than 1,000 times) but is insteadtryingto
pull off trick shots and generateclipsthat
would make for a good highlightreelon
YouTube. Victory is almost besidethe
point: less Golden State Warriorsand
more Harlem Globetrotters.
Trink estimates that H1ghSky1 has
earned between $200,000 and $300,
since joining FaZe this past March. He
made $40,000 alone from broadcasting
himself playing on the livestreaming plat-
form Twitch. Amid the chaos of the meet-
up, H1ghSky1 can’t fully explain his suc-
cess. He says that he started playing video
games when he was “9, 10-ish” and began
streaming in December 2017. His parents
are “entirely supportive,” and when he
told them he was getting famous, “we
just all started freaking out.” He goes to
school online, and he admits without any
embarrassment that “I don’t really have
many friends in real life. I just play with
online friends.”
Many members of FaZe Clan are in
their late teens or early 20s. They behave
less like athletes than influencers: posing
next to sports cars and private jets, doing
#spon, throwing up the FaZe hand sign
(hold your thumb and index finger paral-
lel to each other and position your middle
finger perpendicular to them). H1ghSky
didn’t have an Instagram account before
March; now he has 1.1 million followers.
He is arguably part of a second generation
of Fortnite stars. He cites Ninja, the
28-year-old pro who became the game’s
first bona fide celebrity in 2017, as an
inspiration. The day after we meet, FaZe
signs a 13-year-old who goes by Ewok, the
team’s first female member.
Until a couple of months ago, most
viewers would have assumed H1ghSky
was also 13, the minimum age for most
major online platforms. It’s also the age
he cites in a video from this past spring
announcing his induction into FaZe. But
his cover was blown in May, when the
clan was sued by a former member,
Turner “Tfue” Tenney, another Fortnite
pro, whose court filing alleges that players
sign unfair contracts that stifle their abil-
ity to pursue business opportunities. “It is
also widely publicized the Faze Clan has
recently signed an 11-year-old gamer/art-
ist,” the complaint reads, alleging that
FaZe knew H1ghSky1’s age, lied about it,
and asked his family to do the same. (Thecomplaint also alleged underage drinking
at FaZe’s L.A. residence. FaZe counter-
sued this month.) After his true age was
revealed, FaZe had to negotiate with
Twitch and Fortnite maker Epic to release
the thousands of dollars H1ghSky1 had
earned while playing underage.
Being drafted into FaZe Clan is an
informal process that usually begins with
scouts looking for talent on sites like
Twitch, then determining how the gamers
could fit into FaZe’s overall strategy.
“What we saw is somebody from a per-
sonality side and a skill side who fit within
FaZe Clan despite his age,” Trink says of
H1ghSky1. “The kid is so cute, and part of
it is he’s sort of like nonplussed by the
magnitude of it all.” (Hanging by a display
case while we chat, H1ghSky1 points at a
shoe designed for a very small child and
jokes with a smirk, “That’s my size.”)
“What we didn’t sort of calculate is what
it did for our young fan base,” Trink adds.
“We almost created a bigger problem for
all those parents of 11- and 12-year-olds
because here is some 11-year-old kid
plucked out of obscurity who became
megafamous almost immediately.” Now
going pro is something any kid could theo-
retically do before high school.
H1ghSky1 is still young, and he’s hang-
ing out with gamers who are almost
twice his age. As the team’s bus pulls
away, it abruptly stops. The roof hatch
pops open as three young men work the
crowd from above. The crowd loses its
mind while the officers and private-
security guards milling about fume over
the minor recklessness. “Our guys are
the rock stars of gaming,” Trink boasts
afterward, having watched it all unfold.
“I’m not going to tell them to be who
they’re not.”
Trink and H1ghSky1 are both aware
that being at the mercy of larger plat-
forms is not the most stable ground on
which to build a business, though only
one of them is bothered by this. After
H1ghSky1’s age was outed, his channels
were shut down, and he recalls his large
Twitch follower count—“I had 300,000,
but I got banned”—with a laugh. He man-
aged to get the YouTube account back,
though now he has to stream with paren-
tal supervision. In retaliation against
Tfue, once his idol, H1ghSky1 did what all
online celebrities do when they have beef:
He recorded a diss track featuring
YouTuber Logan Paul. He’s otherwise tak-
ing the reveal in stride. The night before
the tournament, H1ghSky1 posted a selfie
on Instagramofhisfacerunthroughthe
senior-citizenFaceAppfilter,captioned
“T oo old to compete .” ■