The Twitch streamer Cody “Clix” Conroy (20) is upset about the lack of respect. After all, he single-handedly saved the online shooter Fortnite and its eSports scene. The game was “totally dead” until he arrived.
This angers Clix: In a livestream on January 19, 2025, Clix complains that he receives too little respect for saving Fortnite.
I am trying, brother! I am really trying. Brother, I brought this scene back. I brought the damned Fortnite game back when it was already dead! When I won the finals with 5,000 viewers and brought it back with over 100,000 viewers and 180,000 viewers for the big final, as the best player of the season.
He brought the game to where it was. But the pros showed him “zero respect”. All these “motherf…” wouldn’t even be here without him. And he means it just as he says.
While Clix apparently receives too little respect for his achievements, he has a lot of money. At least enough for a Lambo:
Clix complains about “pros with a big ego who show him no respect”
What annoys him? Clix loudly complains that he receives so little respect. Others all have such terrible “egos” – this makes him so angry.
He understands that he used to be a “selfish kid”, but still people should show him some respect.
The decline of Fortnite on Twitch could be halted in 2022
Is there any truth to his statement? Statistically speaking, Fortnite looks like this:
- In 2018, Fortnite had 1.3 billion hours watched on Twitch and an average of 155,000 viewers – that was clearly the peak of Fortnite. Back then, streamers like Ninja and Tfue dominated the scene.
- In 2022, Fortnite still had 620 million hours on Twitch and an average of 70,880 viewers – that was the lowest point of Fortnite. Clix was just ahead of Tfue and Ninja, both of whom had returned, as the biggest streamer on Twitch.
- In 2024, the shooter had 634,833 hours on Twitch and an average of 72,280 viewers. Fortnite has thus maintained this average. Now Clix is indeed far ahead of Mr. Savage as the biggest streamer on Twitch.
So it’s true that Fortnite was declining until 2022, but the decline was then halted. However, the game did not return to its previous values.
Fortnite has always been shaped by strong streamers
What role did Clix play? Clix had his strongest year in Fortnite in 2021 with 19,440 viewers and 30 million hours watched. In that year, however, it was not Clix who was the biggest Twitch streamer in Fortnite, but the game also had strong non-English-speaking creators like Jeity, TheGrefg, or the German-speaking Amar.
The prominent role of Clix is especially true for the English-speaking scene, as “famous names” like Ninja, Tfue, or Mongraal had temporarily stepped back from the game.
Fortnite is more than just the US scene
How can this be viewed? Clix has a very “US-centric perspective” and completely overlooks Spain, where many strong content creators come from for Fortnite. German creators also traditionally play a role in Fortnite. Therefore, when discussing whether “Fortnite is dead or alive”, it is essential to consider the global market and not just the English-speaking scene.
Moreover, changes within Fortnite itself have likely also contributed to making the game more attractive again, such as Fortnite Lego or Fortnite OG.
How differently this is perceived even within the English-speaking community is shown by this comment: “He brought back a shit. OG, Mongraal’s return, and the rise of Savage brought it back. Yes, he plays a role, but he should stop acting like we owe him anything.” (via X)
In other comments on X, many say that Clix was an important part of keeping Fortnite relevant on Twitch because he did not turn his back on the game, but that is also a very US-centric viewpoint.
His statements certainly have some truth, and it is not completely unfounded that Clix played a role in keeping Fortnite relevant on Twitch and in eSports. However, he didn’t save it single-handedly. He contributed to it.
Why does Clix receive so little respect? Overall, Clix sounds strange when he demands “more respect” for his achievements while simultaneously accusing others of having too big of an ego. Overly excessive modesty has probably never been attributed to the 20-year-old.
Clix likely receives “too little respect” from other professionals because he, as he himself says, was a “selfish kid” for a long time, and because he was strong in Fortnite at a time when the game no longer had the status it had in the early days:
- The largest prize money Clix ever won was $112,500 for 19th place at the Fortnite World Cup in SOLO
- 4th place in the Grand Finals 2024 was worth “only” $30,000
What would likely really bring eSports back to Fortnite, and what is missing compared to the past, are extremely high prize pools for a Fortnite World Cup: The Fortnite World Cup made teenagers millionaires: But in retrospect, it was a mistake
