This past week, the Game Haus was lucky enough to interview the young phenom, FaZe K1NG, to talk about his beginnings and ask him what it means to play Fortnite professionally at such a young age while representing his country.
FaZe K1NG is one of the best up-and-coming Fortnite players in the world at the moment. Thiago “K1NG” Lapp, an Argentina native, is a former “FaZe 5” winner. At the time, he was one of the youngest members of FaZe. Now, after only a couple of years since joining the popular gaming organization in December of 2020 he has certainly made a name for himself.
At the moment, K1NG has already earned 18 first-place finishes as a young superstar in the game. A player who is known for his quick thinking and building, K1NG has recently caught the eye of many top Fortnite professionals as he continues to mow through the competition.
He has since garnered a huge following, amassing 1.6 million followers on Twitch, 1.1 million subscribers on Youtube, 600k+ followers on Instagram, 550k+ followers on Twitter, and 340k+ followers on TikTok. K1NG is already turning heads and living up to his namesake.
Where did you get the name K1NG?
“When I was creating my Fortnite account, I wrote another version of my name which is Thiago. It was originally TG K1NG, but then I removed TG and now it is just K1NG.”
What game was your first love?
“My first love was Counter Strike 1.6.”
Why did you go into Fortnite as an esport and not any other esport?
“Fortnite caught my eye because it’s something different from other games, also because it is in a third-person view. The other thing that caught my eye was that you can also build things, which makes it different.”
What do you love most about competing in Fortnite?
“What I like the most about competing in Fortnite is that I can show my level towards everyone else. I can compete with other players and always give my best to win tournaments.”
What are some challenges that you may have faced that prevented you from competing?
“When I was a kid playing Counter Strike, I was ten. The minimum age to compete was way above that. But when I started to play Fortnite, I was already thirteen which made me really happy to be able to compete.”
Did starting at such a young age have an effect on your play style?
“I wanted to prove that young people, like me, could be up to the level of older pro players.”
Who is the one person you love to play or love playing with?
“The person that I love to play with is Tayson who is a European player. The person I would love the most to play with right now is SeeYun from Brazil, he makes me laugh and I just love to play with him.”
What made you want to join FaZe and why?
“When I was younger, I looked up to FaZe. I really liked their style of clothing. It was one of my goals to join them because I always used to watch their Counter-Strike matches. They launched this competition and I knew I could be a part of it. It was one of my goals to be in it, and I actually won, which was really cool that it happened.”
Being a native of Argentina, is there a sense of pride you have felt for being able to represent your country?
“I am very proud of being Argentinian. I was born Argentinian and I will always be Argentinian. I am proud to represent my flag in competitions and I am really happy to be able to represent my country.”
What is the future looking like for FaZe K1NG, a new game possibly? More content?
“It is not really on my mind right now. I cannot predict the future. But what I can say is I can keep playing Fortnite until there is a new game or something happens. Then, I want to create more content like any other streamer does.”
Featured Image Courtesy of FaZe
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