An unexpected twist occurs this week, when a former Fortnite professional player shares a video of his apparent abduction – which looks to be a staged marketing ploy for a betting website.
Once a Fortnite World Cup champion, David “aqua” Wang earned the 2019 title after coming top in the Duos category. Recently, indications suggest Wang has teamed up with the disputed betting website CSGOEmpire to enact a bogus kidnapping on X (formerly Twitter), apparently intended to draw attention and sell cases within CSGO.
Now active on Kick, Wang went off-grid on social media early in December. The ex-champion intermittently uses X for Fortnite related content, hence his two-month absence did not instantly set off any red flags.
The commotion initiated just past mid-February when CSGOEmpire’s official X account published a picture, supposedly having “kidnapped” someone bound to a chair. Surprisingly, it appears to be Wang, who is currently playing along to promote the company’s cases unwillingly.
Days after CSGOEmpire shared the fabricated kidnapping image, Wang reinstated his X presence with his own video, showcasing the partnership while seeming apprehensive and frightened. In this video, an unidentified man looms behind a blurred-out Wang conveying the partnership details, imbuing an unsettling atmosphere.
On top of the sham abduction and endorsement, Wang’s account also posted a racial epithet in response to one of CSGOEmpire’s tweets. The controversial tweet created by the betting site “celebrated” Black History Month while deploying numerous detrimental and disrespectful stereotypes.
Responding to the unfolding scandal, an X user rebuked all those implicated: “Labeling these tweets as a ‘kidnapping’ implies you are either a part of CSGOEmpire’s shabby social media campaign or you are naive. Come on, man.”
Captivating as it is, Wang isn’t the only contentious figure in this episode. CSGOEmpire, a hotly disputed organization, has found itself at the center of serious scandals previously. Enraged “protestors” stormed the stage during the PGL Major in Copenhagen the previous year, causing disruption and damaging the trophy. Traces pointed to CSGOEmpire as the mastermind behind the chaos, aiming to discredit G2 Esports.
The uncovered truth led to an immediate withdrawal of many teams and casters from the CSGOEmpire’s $50,000 Cup, slated right after the PGL Major event. The furor culminated in the cancellation of the event and an subsequently tarnished reputation for CSGOEmpire. Interestingly, one of the protestors, now appearing behind Wang in the promo videos, has further accentuated the stunt as a company-backed ploy to grab eyeballs and generate buzz.
“Just when we assumed CSGOEmpire couldn’t get more awkward and embarrassing for the Counter-Strike fraternity, they shift focus to Fortnite,” another X user posted in response to a post summarizing the events. Fortunately, Fortnite caters to a younger crowd than CSGO and wouldn’t facilitate betting over their in-game items in the popular battle royale.
Undoubtedly, this marketing strategy seems reckless, risky and utterly disrespectful, and yet it seems like the two involved parties intend to maintain the charade as they persist with this bizarre faux kidnapping saga.
