A lucky gaming fan has won a life-changing £100,000 house deposit in an unprecedented Call of Duty-inspired giveaway.
Reece Edwards, from Portsmouth, was awarded with the bumper prize after an innovative three-part challenge fronted by Roman Kemp.
To mark the launch of Call of Duty ® : Black Ops 6, the Safehouse Challenge gave followers of three secret agents the chance of winning £100,000 to buy their own Safehouse, the part of the game where players conduct their missions from.
1991 – the year in which Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is set – was when the UK average house price was £57,959, a figure that has risen dramatically since and meaning that 40% of young people between 18-34 are living with parents.
And 46% say that their biggest anxiety is having to rent forever and never owning their own home.
The prize money was offered as a lifeline to help one gamer get on the property ladder.
Edwards, 28, had been struggling to get onto the housing ladder since graduating with a photography degree and currently lives with his partner and two young children at his partners’ parents’ house in Portsmouth.
This means, among other things, compromising on his love of gaming where his console must compete for space with toys in a shared living and play space.
Speaking about how the prize will change his life, Edwards said: “When I received the call, I was upstairs with my newborn, and I didn’t think it was real!
“The £100,000 will help my family a lot. To get on the housing ladder is a massive relief and to have a deposit that size to put down on an actual place is going to be more than enough.
“My current living situation is me living with my parent’s partner at the moment.
“She is unfortunately disabled as she had a stroke, so my partner is her full-time carer. Us moving out will enable us to move on and help her get the care she needs as well.”
An avid fan of the Call of Duty franchise, Edwards’ windfall was made possible as a result of choosing popular influencer Danny Aarons as the secret agent he thought would win the challenge.
Aarons emerged victorious in the ‘Safehouse Challenge’, a six-week series hosted by Roman Kemp which saw agents; Angry Ginge, Ash Holme, and Danny Aarons go head-to-head in a series of intense Black Ops-style tests and forfeits.
Aarons, who eventually came out on top, pulled off an audacious ‘Split or Steal’ misdirection in the final challenge, against Ash Holme, to ensure the prize went to one of his followers. Out of thousands of entrants, Reece came out on top.
Speaking about picking Danny as the winner of the challenge, Reece said: “I knew when I saw Danny, that’s who I was going to vote for! I knew from the get-go that he was going to take that money.”
All the action from the Safehouse Challenge is still available to watch on Call of Duty’s social media channels – @CallofDutyUK (X), @CallofDuty (TikTok).