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7 hours ago
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An all-female video game tournament was turned on its head when it allowed a male to compete and win an enormous cash prize.
A Fortnite gaming tournament called the Milk Cup says that it was created to provide women with more opportunities to succeed in video game competitions.
"It's a space designed for women to compete at the highest level, for serious money," the company says. However, it took just one year since the tournament's inception for it to become dominated by a male.
'It felt crazy to lift that trophy.'
The 2025 Milk Cup in San Diego, California, boasted a $300,000 prize pool and alleged $78,000 first-place prize. This year's top prize was award to a duo of gamers going by "XSet" Nina Fernandez and allegedly transgender gamer Vader, a male who believes he is female. The pair placed second in 2024.
Vader celebrated the win on his X page, exclaiming, "1st ($78,000) at [Milk Cup] LAN WE F**KING DID IT."
Nina and the tournament organizers similarly celebrated the victory online.
Vader's X profile seemingly lists him as "18" years old, with a transgender flag next to the age. A gamer ranking website also lists him as born in July 2007. His Twitch profile describes him as using "she/her pronouns."
"[Our win at Milk Cup] shows you can be your true self and not be apologetic about it," Vader said on a post-match press panel, per ESports Insider. "There are spaces for everybody, so never give up."
"It felt crazy to lift that trophy," Vader added, saying he wanted to "prove people wrong."
"Anybody can participate in esports. Don't let people stop you. Don’t let comments get to your head. Believe in yourself."
While online communities often cater to such delusions, it may come as a surprise that the tournament itself is backed by a nonprofit organization that operates under the United States Department of Agriculture.
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The website "Gonna Need Milk," representing the organization behind the tournament, claims that "in a world where male athletes take center stage," the organization is "redirecting the spotlight to women."
The company further explains it is making an effort to, perhaps ironically, "drive awareness to gender inequality in sport."
The bottom of the page denotes that the website is maintained and funded by MilkPEP, the Milk Processor Education Program, which came into existence after the creation of the Fluid Milk Promotion Act of 1990. The USDA's National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board sponsors both MilkPEP and Gonna Need Milk.
At the same time, MilkPEP boasts that the tournament is run by a collaboration of all-female teams and that its program is "funded by the nation's milk companies."
Dan Wheldon celebrates his winning of the 89th Indianapolis 500 by drinking milk. Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images
Blaze News reached out to MilkPEP and Gonna Need Milk to see if they took issue with a male gamer winning the all-female tournament; neither entity responded.
The USDA was also asked if the inclusion of the male violated federal orders. A representative for the USDA said the agency could not provide a response to the question within a reasonable time frame due to "the ongoing government shutdown."
Gamers Vader and Nina were also asked to comment on what the determining factors should be regarding allowing a male in the female category and whether they had a response to the backlash; neither responded.
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