Wisconsinite top 'Call of Duty' player in world after gaming marathon

SHEBOYGAN FALLS — Three days without sleep and hours of nonstop “Call of Duty: Ghosts” play put Sheboygan Falls’ Craig Olson on top of the world.

Afterward, with his eyes watering and having toppled a man presumed to be worth millions and a long time champion in the “Call of Duty” Xbox series rankings, Olson — or OL5ON as he is known in the video game world — said the first thing he wanted was to sleep. However, it was nice to bask to in the newfound praise coming from the gaming community.

“It was nice to bring it back home to the USA,” Olson said.

Olson, 28, is No. 1 in the world in Free-for-All on “Call of Duty: Ghosts” for Xbox One. The popular video game is a first-person perspective shooter game that takes gamers through a variety of simulated war scenarios. Players battle each other online while statistics are tracked, including the number of kills, deaths, accuracy and points.

Gamers can view the top-ranked players in the world in multiple categories.

Starting the game a couple weeks after its release in November 2013, Olson went on a quest to unseat reigning “Ghost” champ, MEGARACER, whose profile claims to be Kim Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, an online piracy website similar to Napster or Pirate Bay.

“Everybody online was talking about passing him but nobody was able to do it,” Olson said. “My win streaks were better, (kill-death ratio) was better, accuracy and everything. I figured that I might as well do it and show him that I am better.”

Olson estimated that if he played for two days with little rest he could pass MEGARACER. He seized the opportunity and, within about 100 kills of the total, victory was imminent. MEGARACER caught on and began fighting to keep his spot, Olson said.

“I just kept gaining on him,” Olson said. “Finally I was about 700 kills past him and my eyes were watering and I couldn’t see anything on the screen anymore so I’m like, ‘All right. I’m done.’”

Despite the rivalry, Olson said there isn’t any animosity between the two. @KimDotcom, MEGARACER’s Twitter username, followed Olson and even private messaged him saying he is a good player. Olson also said Dotcom creates techno-style music as a hobby and lets him use it with his “Call of Duty” YouTube videos.

Olson moved to Sheboygan Falls about 10 years ago from Chico, Calif., and attended Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ rival high school.

He said his interest in video games started as a kid playing Nintendo and the hobby has been a big part of his life since. Before launching his quest to overtake MEGARACER, he averaged about four hours of gaming a day, he said.

He’s also been ranked in the top 20 worldwide for two other games: “Sabotage” and “World at War.”

Olson said after the run, the gaming community treats him differently.

Professional gamers will back out of matches when they see he is playing to keep from dragging down their scores. Others are encouraging Olson to become a professional gamer. For now, Olson said he is against the idea because it would require him to move his girlfriend and two children to California, where he is originally from.