Fortnite Offering $100 Million in Prize Funds for Tournaments in First Year

Game Rant

By Jasmine Henry

Published May 21, 2018

Epic Games confirms that it will be offering $100 million in prize funds for Fortnite Battle Royale esports tournaments during the first year of competitive play.

There is already significant interest surrounding Fortnite Battle Royale tournaments. For example, earlier this year a Fortnite tournament stream broke records because it featured several famous streamers and YouTubers for the game, including elrubius. But it seems that Fortnite developer Epic Games wants to take a more active role and has announced new efforts to grow the game's eSports scene even further.

In a post published today on the official Epic Games website, the company revealed that, during the first year of Fortnite Battle Royale competitive play, it will provide $100 million to fund prize pools for these competitions. Epic wants to get behind the Fortnite competitive scene in a "big way" and says that its approach to eSports will be "more inclusive" and will be "focused on the joy of playing and watching the game." More details on this will be arriving in the coming weeks, says the developer.

Since the popularity of Fortnite Battle Royale became more clear, Epic has been steadily taking steps to foster and encourage the game's competitive scene. The developer recently announced the Solo Showdown limited time mode which took place over the weekend and offered the best players free V-Bucks for proving themselves. This allowed Epic to assess the competitive scene in the game and how it can get players involved. The mode seems to be the starting point for the more substantial 2018-2019 competitive season.

Moreover, Epic Games is planning a celebrity Fortnite Battle Royale tournament which will take place at E3 2018. Not only will this event feature famous faces in the traditional celebrity sense but Epic has also confirmed that the top 50 Fortnite Battle Royale players will also be invited. It seems logical to think that Epic will use the leaderboards it put together from Solo Showdown to help it identify who the top 50 best Fortnite players are, and therefore who is good enough to play in the tournament at E3.

The E3 event will be a useful showcase for Epic Games. The developer can use it to present to the world the fun and fury of a Fortnite Battle Royale event and all of the (potentially) stunning plays that can happen during a match. Failing that, if the event doesn't draw people in then that hefty prize pool put forward by the developer may get a few people to consider taking part.

Fortnite is available now in early access for iOS, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Epic Games