Fortnite announces World Cup, US$100mil prize pool for 2019

At US$3mil (RM12.20mil) for its Solos Champion, the 2019 Fortnite World Cup sets a new individual prize record in eSports. — AFP Relaxnews

Ten weekly qualifiers for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup will begin on April 13, with 100 solo players and 50 teams of pairs going forward to the US$30mil (RM122mil) finals in New York, July 26-28.

Weekly prize tournaments until the end of the year, ten qualifier weeks running April to June, and a three-day World Cup Final have been announced by Fortnite developer and publisher Epic Games.

The worldwide tournament is open to players aged 13 years old or over, with parental permission required for under-17s, national and local laws notwithstanding.

Epic is dangling a total of US$100mil (RM406.73mil) in cash prizes for qualifying players, weekly winners, and World Cup champions.

Payouts will be distributed broadly, Epic announced in a Feb 22 update, with US$1mil (RM4.07mil) split between eligible qualifying-round participants.

Some US$30mil is going into the World Cup Finals prize pool, with US$50,000 (RM203,359.57) the minimum payout and the World Cup Solo Champion in line to receive US$3mil (RM12.20mil).

Then, US$1mil is set aside for weekly tournaments that are to feature "a wider variety of modes and formats to open up the competitive playing field", eventually accounting for the full 2019 US$100mil prize pool budget.

In addition, the Fortnite World Cup Finals event will also feature "fun custom challenges in different modes and formats", with the aim of widening its appeal beyond Battle Royale players and, it would seem, into territory inhabited by fans of the game's building and creative modes.

The US$30mil purse for the Fortnite World Cup Final surpasses that for previous record holder, the Dota 2 International final in 2018, whose fan-funded prize pool reached US$25mil (RM101.68mil), with US$11mil (RM44.74mil) awarded to the winning team and then split between its five players, manager, coach, and organisation. – AFP Relaxnews