Promises of a $100 million prize fund from Epic Games at the Fortnite World Cup are no longer just rumours
Esports are set to overtake more traditional sports, such as football and boxing, in the popularity stakes shortly. In light of this, plans of leading developers of popular online games, like Fortnite, to host World Cups for avid gamers appear to be a very logical move.
Contents:
1. The backstory of the tournament
2. More on the upcoming tournament
3. The allure of Epic Games' unparalleled generosity
The backstory of the tournament
Information about a possible Fortnite World Cup first surfaced at the 24th Electronic Entertainment Expo, the international video games trade fair more widely known as E3.
E3 played host to the Pro-AM cup, a tournament featuring various professional and amateur gamers which, as it later transpired, also proved to be something of a ‘trial run’ for Fortnite’s creators, Epic Games. At the end of this tournament, a representative of the American company announced that they were seriously considering the possibility of staging a Fortnite World Cup.
In the considerable time which has passed since then, Epic Games' developers have been working on solving technical problems and gameplay issues. In particular they have been wrestling with how to remove the controversial 'Infinity Blade' weapon and have also created a set of rules to make the tournament format more entertaining for both players and spectators. Nevertheless, Fortnite fans had, by and large, been left in the dark about a lot of details related to the upcoming tournament, namely how the spoils of the promised US$100 million prize fund are to be shared.
More on the upcoming tournament
After much anticipation, Epic Games finally published information on the timeframe and format of the tournament, as well as on the distribution of prizes.
The main qualifying rounds will take place from April 8th to June 16th and each round is planned to last for a week. A variety of cash prizes from a US$1 million total prize fund will also be up for grabs in every round. According to the organizers, they have provided a number of ways for different types of players to win money.
Such an approach to splitting the prize share pot is really innovative on Epic Games’ part, as up until now the lion’s share of prizes have traditionally been the preserve of a select few top gamers.
The finals of the Fortnite World Cup are scheduled to take place in New York from July 26th to July 28th. The top 100 solo players and 50 duo teams will descend on the ‘Big Apple’ for their chance to win a slice of the US$30 million prize fund. It’s also worth mentioning that each participant is guaranteed to take home at least $3,000, whereas the winner will bank a cool US$3 million.
Fortnite's developers have also promised that in addition to the main tournament, competitions for other game modes and formats will also be held as part of the World Cup to give those who are not able to prove their mettle in a grueling 'Battle Royale' a chance to showcase their skills in other disciplines, such as PvP, competitive matches or driftboard races. It's also interesting to note that Epic Games plans to run weekly tournaments with a prize fund of $1 million right up until the end of the year.
The allure of Epic Games' unparalleled generosity
One of the key trends which can be observed in the online games industry is that more and more large-scale professional tournaments are being organized to attract gamers from outside Europe and the USA. For instance, Epic Games allows its sister organizations to use their tools and financial clout to organize their own tournaments in order to increase Fortnite’s popularity in various countries around the world.
One of the main advantages which Epic Games has over its competitors, such as Respawn Entertainment (the creators of Apex Legends), is their immense generosity, as nobody apart from them is currently willing to reward their players so handsomely with the opportunity of winning $100 million.