The rise and fall of Tfue 

Turner Ellis Turney, aka Tfue, is a name synonymous with Fortnite.

Hailed as one of the pioneers of the game alongside Fortnite pros such as Ninja and Cloakzy, Tfue emphatically rose through the ranks to become one of the poster boys of the game. He went on to win several Fortnite tournaments and gradually became a fan-favourite, currently boasting 8.9 million followers on Twitch and an additional 12 million subscribers on YouTube.

Tfue seemed to be effortlessly sitting atop the streamer mountain until things began to gradually spiral downwards for him.

From getting banned on Twitch to feuding with FaZe Clan, the 22-year-old Fortnite star began to find himself embroiled in one controversy after the other.

The biggest blow to his fans came recently when Tfue began to complain about the game which made him who he is today.

People actually thought aim assist was gonna get nerfed 🤣🤣😂😂😂 Fortnite is a game made for little kids who play on controller

— Tfue (@TTfue) May 26, 2020

The question to be asked is: what exactly went wrong for Tfue?

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Tfue's downfall

Tfue first emerged onto the streaming scene after being picked up by popular esports organisation, FaZe Clan.

After performing well in various Fortnite tournaments, Tfue went on to feature in the first Fortnite Friday event, which was hosted by Keemstar.

Since then, Tfue witnessed major growth in his popularity as he began to trend online. He became one of the leading Fortnite streamers in the world and seemed to be revelling in his new-found status as a celebrity influencer.

Image Credits: Forbes

However, his career witnessed a major roadblock when he clashed with FaZe Clan over claims of mistreatment and financial disputes in 2019. He alleged that FaZe Clan took 80% of his earnings and, as a result, wanted to terminate his contract with them.

Faze Clan were having none of it, and this prompted Tfue to release his infamous 'Release the Contract' video on YouTube:

Apart from his feud with FaZe Clan, Tfue also ended up inviting the wrath of Twitch and Epic Games.

Twitch banned him for allegedly using a racial slur while Epic Games imposed a permanent ban on Tfue for apparently buying and selling accounts.

This problematic pattern continued until Twitch decided to ignore a major instance where Tfue used a racial slur yet again. This caused outrage online as several people began to believe that Twitch was favouring its top streamers. A whole new debate, therefore, began.

This was not all as Tfue began to feud with Fortnite's most popular streamer- Tyler "Ninja" Blevins. Their feud apparently began with Tfue's tweet below:

I actually have been enjoying the game recently after the Gotham City update. If you don’t enjoy the game, stop playing and roasting it all the time.

— Ninja (@Ninja) October 4, 2019

Their feud soon escalated with the online community being forced to pick sides. Though the animosity seems to have been dialled down a notch, it remains a blot on Tfue's online persona.

The most recent slip-up on Tfue's part was during a charity Rock, Paper and Scissors event when he leaked Mr Beast's phone number as well as the code for the contestants to join. The cumulative effect of all his controversies ended up taking a toll on his image and following.

From ruling the Fortnite charts to seemingly struggling on Twitch these days, Tfue's career has now witnessed a bit of a decline as compared to when he initially burst onto the scene in 2018.

To better understand this sense of decline, take a look at his stream statistics:

Tfue's Twitch statistics in 2019 (Image Credits: Shacknews)

Tfue's Twitch statistics from late 2019 to the present day (Image Credits: Twitch Tracker)

Tfue has now made the transition to playing other games such as Call of Duty: Warzone and most recently, Fall Guys. Though his stream figures may have fluctuated as compared to his Fortnite glory days, he is somehow managing to hold his own and rake in the views on Twitch.

With Fortnite now in a shambolic state, we are witnessing several pro players leaving the game. Keeping this in mind, many believe that Tfue took the right step in doing so, while others are petitioning for his highly-anticipated return to Fortnite.

Tfue's streaming setup (Image Credits: The Washington Post)

Irrespective of what Tfue ultimately decides, fans are eagerly hoping that they get to witness the Twitch star return back to the game which started it all - Fortnite.

So many people don’t even play Fortnite anymore. Tfue hasn’t played in weeks.Tim, Symfuhny, Courage, cloakzy don’t even play anymore :( I miss the old days getting excited to get on and actually play a video game or watch big streamers play it😭

— MrConrem ➐ (@MrConRem) August 21, 2020

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