Posted in: eSports, Fortnite, Games, Video Games | Tagged: Gonna Need Milk, lacc, los angeles comic con, The Milk Cup

Triumphant In Several Ways! Our Experience With The Milk Cup

We attended The Milk Cup in person at LA Comic Con this month. Here's our experience with the all-women's LAN Fortnite tournament

We were invited out to Los Angeles by Gonna Need Milk to attend LA Comic-Con 2024, where they were holding the finals of the all-women's Fortnite LAN tournament, The Milk Cup. In case you haven't been following the events this year, this is the culmination of a major push for women's esports to have their own dedicated competition, complete with a season of qualifiers and this championship round where several teams of three (and a few missing some players) competed for the cup and a slice of the $250k prize pool. We spent two days at the event checking everything out.

We've been covering The Milk Cup since it was announced back in April, as the goal of the event was to provide the best of the best in women's esports a chance to compete in their own event in an esport that is primarily dominated by male players on the pro circuit. MilkPEP worked with streamer and esports player ThePeachCobbler and Women of the eRena (WOTE) to create the series, where 400 women around the globe competed in trios across multiple qualifiers to get to this moment. The finals at LACC were produced by RaidiantGG's all-women production team, with support from Moonrock.

Some of the teams made it instantly and kept the original members all the way to October. Others just weren't finding the chemistry and broke up or dropped members, which paved the way for new trio combinations where some found their grove. In the days leading up to the event, we chatted with teams who thought they were a shoo-in but couldn't find their groove. After dropping a member and picking someone else up before diving in, they made it through a different qualifying round. There were even two teams made up of three pairs, with one of the pairs deciding to split since they couldn't find a third and join the other two separately, with both teams making it to the finals. This is a hell of a testament to how good all of these players are that when they find the right combo, they can make a team work and carry themselves all the way.

Being at LA Comic-Con came with its own vibe. This is the first time I have been at the event myself, although other Bleeding Cool people have attended in the past going all the way back to when it was called Stan Lee's Comikaze Expo. A lot of the event is what you might expect from Comic-Con events in your neck of the woods, with celebrity signings, panels around the building, an artist alley, and tons of merch to buy from all the usual blind-box and specialty retailers. But it was clear that The Milk Cup (along with the haunted attraction Mr. Float's CarnEvil of Souls) were the two main items across both floors that felt original and worth your attention.

As you can see from the images we took and those provided to us, the esports stage that the company designed specifically for this event was always packed throughout the day. So much so that people even filled up the back-end and the sides sitting on the floor just so they could watch the event. That's dedication, as we've personally seen at many past esports events and conventions; oftentimes, if there are no chairs, people usually walk away to do something else until there's seating.

But it wasn't just esports at the booth, as they also provided a few activities for you to do. The big one was the Whak-a-Milk game, where you had to hit at least 15 chocolate milk jugs that popped up within 20 seconds to win a prize. That prize being the small chocolate cow plushie you see below, which we did indeed win one ourselves. While you play the game, they also had the booth take your picture, which they printed out for free regardless if you won or lost. There was some other merch you could purchase, such as pins and whatnot, if you wanted to commemorate the occasion.

The biggest drawback of the day, which became a running joke at one point, was the unplanned and unexpected delay from Epic Games. At some point, it was revealed that the company would be giving Fortnite an update as part of the current seasonal content and that it would take place before the event so that there would be no issues when connecting for the event. But, in true esports fashion, whatever could go wrong with this update did go wrong, as it knocked the game offline for a few hours, delaying the start of the event. The three casters, LemonKiwi, Taco, and Kelly Link, along with host Ovilee, did their best to entertain the crowd and hold things down while people at Epic were frantically trying to get the game back online. Ultimately it was delayed by about three hours, but once the servers were back online, the action immediately kicked off.

We went back and forth between checking the event out in person on the floor and from above in a special box suite that overlooked the event. There were times, even above the crowd behind glass, when we could hear the audience go wild for the action they were seeing on the screen. Some even rooted players on (respectfully) from the sides, even knowing that none of them could hear the chants and encouragement with their headphones on and fully locked into the gameplay. You could tell there was something special in the air for The Milk Cup.

Some of the people in attendance may have come to see or do something else, but it was clear the event attracted more than just loyal fans, friends, and esports enthusiasts. This got people's attention as they watched some of the greatest women in Fortnite fight it out on the island to show why they made it that far. It's one of the reasons why I encourage people to check out a big-time event in person rather than just sitting at home watching it on a laptop. You cannot duplicate at home what you see in person, and this crowd was all for these competitors, no matter who won.

Ultimately, as we reported, Team Moxie came out on top and took the trophy, with the MVP award going to Dieyuhs and the Sportsmanship award going to Kitzi. The event also announced that The Milk Cup would be doing a Winter Split to close out 2024 completely online, with a $50k prize pool on the line. We had a fun time at this and look forward to seeing what the Split and 2025 have to offer, as it's clear all parties involved are looking to return and expand.

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