Epic Games' battle royale Fortnite continues to be a juggernaut title with a huge casual fanbase and streaming community, as evidenced by it being the sixth most tweeted about game in 2021 so far. However, there is also an esports component to the game that, while not as huge as some other titles, is continuing to expand. This is all the more apparent after the Fortnite competitive development team announced a tournament with a $3 million prize pool coming later this year.
Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 6 kicked off on March 16 with the Zero Crisis cinematic trailer introducing its "Primal" theme - highlighting a new mechanic with which players can craft makeshift weapons with greater power. The end of the Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) for Season 5 followed soon after with a post by Epic Games highlighting its winners and setting the stakes for what competitive players can expect this season.
This post, published on March 19, says finishing touches on the Chapter 2 Season 6 FNCS are being completed, and full details will be revealed in the near future. For now, players know that a "Competitive Preseason" is being held from March 16 to 23, with the official Champion League starting after that. The FNCS will begin on April 22, using trios with cross-platform play, and its mid-year invitational All-Star Showdown will take place from June 23 to 26 with "top Fortnite players" vying for a share of the $3 million pool.
The All-Star Showdown will be invite only based on players' overall final rankings in Seasons 5 and 6, as well as performances at FNCS events throughout. After that event will be a two-week break from June 28 to July 11, and then regular competitive play will resume on July 12, according to Epic Games.
Though this focus on multiple seasons' worth of performances may be a detriment to professional players like Wrigley, who was reportedly kicked out of all ongoing FNCS events after an offensive tweet telling Epic Games' CCO Donald Mustard to kill himself, the amount of money on the line will no doubt draw a crowd. For now, fans will have to wait to learn more about what Season 6's competitive offerings will look like "in the coming weeks."
As impressive as the idea of a $3 million prize pool sounds, even that pales in comparison to what other esports competitions have netted players in recent years. Dota 2's The International 2020 broke its prize pool record by offering more than $34.4 million. As video game competitions become more popular, its likely these figures will continue to grow with them.
Fortnite is currently available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Epic Games