Fortnite World Cup Champion Comes Out of Retirement - to Eliminate Kids From Their Games So They Make It to Dinner

60 families have already booked Emil "Nyhrox" Bergquist Pedersen to take out their children in Fortnite.

OSLO, NORWAY / ACCESS Newswire / March 23, 2026 / In July 2019, a 16-year-old Norwegian walked onto the stage at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York and won the Fortnite World Cup Duos. The prize: $3 million. His name was Emil "Nyhrox" Bergquist Pedersen, and overnight he became one of the most recognized esports players to come out of Scandinavia.

Then he stepped away. No more tournaments, no more competitive grind. Nyhrox went quiet until now. Nyhrox is back in Fortnite, but this time, he's not chasing a Victory Royale for himself. He's been hired by parents. His job: enter their kids' games and eliminate them before dinner gets cold.

The World's Most Overqualified Dinner Call

The concept is called "Dinner Assassin", launched by Telia, one of Northern Europe's largest mobile and broadband providers, serving millions of customers across the Nordics and Baltics. The premise is dead simple: Parents go to telia.no, submit their child's in-game username, and book Nyhrox. He enters the match, finds the kid, and ends the game, so they can attend dinner with their family.

The service is completely free and available for a limited time.

- I've spent years winning in Fortnite. Now I'm using those skills to help families actually sit down and eat together. My mom laughed when she heard about it - she knows exactly what it's like trying to get a gamer to the dinner table, says Nyhrox.

The Problem Every Gaming Parent Knows

If you've ever tried to call a teenager to dinner while they're mid-game in Fortnite, you already understand. Online games can't be paused. A live match with up to 100 players doesn't have a pause button. Walking away means abandoning your squad, losing your progress, and, in the eyes of many 13-year-olds, social ruin.

The result is a daily standoff that plays out in millions of households worldwide. In Norway, a recent survey found that 75% of parents with children under 16 feel their kids spend too much time in front of screens. According to the Norwegian Media Authority, more than seven out of ten teenagers aged 13-14 have over two hours of daily screen time.

-" Every parent knows the ‘I can't pause it!' moment," says Camilla Watz Johannessen, Head of Brand and Sustainability at Telia. - We didn't want to lecture anyone. We wanted to solve it in a way that both parents and kids can actually appreciate.

So far over 60 families have booked Nyhrox to take out their kids in Fortnite.

How It Actually Works

Since it's virtually impossible to find a specific player in a regular 100-player Battle Royale lobby, Nyhrox runs the eliminations through Fortnite's Creative Mode. He adds the child's username, invites them into a private lobby, and they go one-on-one.

How long does it take? That depends on how good the opponent is, says Bergquist Pedersen:
- But let me put it this way: the parents ordered game over, and that's what they get.

A special comeback

After his World Cup win, Nyhrox became one of Norway's most recognized gamers, but largely disappeared from the competitive scene. His first public appearance on Norwegian national television was alongside his father, who managed his career during the tournament years. Now, the context is different. Instead of competing for millions, he's competing to get kids to the dinner table.

- Gaming gave me a lot, friends, career, experiences," says Bergquist Pedersen. "But balance matters. It's the same whether you play football or Fortnite. There's nothing wrong with logging off to eat with your family."

Why a Telecom company is doing this

Telia is one of the largest telecom operators in the Nordic and Baltic region, providing mobile, broadband, and digital services to millions of customers in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. The Telia Company group has approximately 19,000 employees and reported revenues of SEK 89 billion in 2024.

In Norway, Telia has built a dedicated position around what they call "screen health", a multi-year initiative aimed at helping families navigate digital life.

Dinner Assassin is the latest addition and by far the most attention-grabbing. The campaign was created by Norwegian creative agency TRY, with Mediacom as media partner, in collaboration with Samsung.

_________________________________

About Telia

Telia Company is one of the largest telecom operators in the Nordic and Baltic region, serving approximately 25 million customers across seven countries. In Norway, Telia provides mobile, broadband, and digital services, and has invested in screen health initiatives including the Pauseboksen, the parenting course "Trygg på skjerm" ("Safe on Screen"), and the podcast series "Barn og medier" ("Children and Media"). More at telia.no

Media Contact:
Lila Bouzaida
jalila@try.no
+47 99342435

Please note: We will respond as soon as possible, taking time differences into account.

SOURCE: Telia



View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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