Meet the gamers who fell in love after meeting on Fortnite despite living 1,000 miles apart
- last year
Meet the gamers who fell in love after meeting on Fortnite - despite living in different countries 1,000 miles apart.
Carla Valle Cazorla, 22, from Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain, met Niels van de Kolk, 22, from Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2019 when she was playing Fortnite on her computer.
After joining a randomly-selected group, Carla and Niels started speaking to each other in English on the game through their microphones.
They hit it off - bonding over the game - and decided to play another game together.
The pair soon formed a solid friendship, swapping numbers, and would chat on the phone every day.
Carla and Niels eventually decided to meet for the first time in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in February 2020, just before the pandemic.
They met as friends because Carla was in a relationship.
Lockdowns kept the pals apart, but they stayed in touch online and met up three more times when restrictions were lifted.
Carla broke up with her partner in June 2021 and she and Niels remained "close friends" - even having "what if" conversations about getting together, before deciding they wouldn't be able to cope with the long distance.
But in December 2021, Carla travelled to Amsterdam to stay with Niels and his family and they "couldn't suppress their feelings any longer" and made their relationship official.
Niels will complete his next university semester as part of the Erasmus programme in Girona, Catalonia, Spain - close to Carla - and she plans to move with him to the Netherlands once she has gained her degree.
Carla, a dentistry student, said: "We were such good friends before and we didn't rush into things.
"I believe if it's meant to be it will be - I feel so safe around him and I can trust him with my life."
Niels, an applied psychology student, said: "It came out of the blue. We met through Fortnite and became friends instantly.
"From that point on, it kept evolving."
Speaking on their first encounter, Carla said: "We were playing with random people and I asked if anyone had a mic.
"Niels joined and said he had a mic - so we started playing and chatting.
"He asked if I wanted another game and we added each other."
The pair then added each other on Snapchat - just to ask if the other was playing the game.
In June 2019, they exchanged numbers and started talking more on WhatsApp and had long calls on Discord - a video game streaming platform.
When she was 19, Carla travelled to meet Niels for the first time with her mum, Silvia, 50, in tow.
In 2021, lockdown restrictions had finally lifted and they arranged to see each other again.
The pair finally were officially dating after three years of friendship and Niels spent Christmas with Carla's family in Spain - despite not speaking a word of the language, so Carla took on the role as interpreter.
Niels added: "Sometimes you don't know what's right in front of you.
"I realised she's the best for me, and I'm the best for her.
"I tell her she's my favourite coinciden
Carla Valle Cazorla, 22, from Terrassa, Catalonia, Spain, met Niels van de Kolk, 22, from Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 2019 when she was playing Fortnite on her computer.
After joining a randomly-selected group, Carla and Niels started speaking to each other in English on the game through their microphones.
They hit it off - bonding over the game - and decided to play another game together.
The pair soon formed a solid friendship, swapping numbers, and would chat on the phone every day.
Carla and Niels eventually decided to meet for the first time in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in February 2020, just before the pandemic.
They met as friends because Carla was in a relationship.
Lockdowns kept the pals apart, but they stayed in touch online and met up three more times when restrictions were lifted.
Carla broke up with her partner in June 2021 and she and Niels remained "close friends" - even having "what if" conversations about getting together, before deciding they wouldn't be able to cope with the long distance.
But in December 2021, Carla travelled to Amsterdam to stay with Niels and his family and they "couldn't suppress their feelings any longer" and made their relationship official.
Niels will complete his next university semester as part of the Erasmus programme in Girona, Catalonia, Spain - close to Carla - and she plans to move with him to the Netherlands once she has gained her degree.
Carla, a dentistry student, said: "We were such good friends before and we didn't rush into things.
"I believe if it's meant to be it will be - I feel so safe around him and I can trust him with my life."
Niels, an applied psychology student, said: "It came out of the blue. We met through Fortnite and became friends instantly.
"From that point on, it kept evolving."
Speaking on their first encounter, Carla said: "We were playing with random people and I asked if anyone had a mic.
"Niels joined and said he had a mic - so we started playing and chatting.
"He asked if I wanted another game and we added each other."
The pair then added each other on Snapchat - just to ask if the other was playing the game.
In June 2019, they exchanged numbers and started talking more on WhatsApp and had long calls on Discord - a video game streaming platform.
When she was 19, Carla travelled to meet Niels for the first time with her mum, Silvia, 50, in tow.
In 2021, lockdown restrictions had finally lifted and they arranged to see each other again.
The pair finally were officially dating after three years of friendship and Niels spent Christmas with Carla's family in Spain - despite not speaking a word of the language, so Carla took on the role as interpreter.
Niels added: "Sometimes you don't know what's right in front of you.
"I realised she's the best for me, and I'm the best for her.
"I tell her she's my favourite coinciden