Epic Games To Fuel Fortnite Esports With $100 Million

The wait is over and 2018 - 2019 should be a strong start for Fortnite's competitive endeavors. 

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The Fortnite devs tested the esports waters with the latest limited Solo Showdown mode for Battle Royale and is diving in a big way. Today, Epic Games has announced that it will provide $100,000,000 for Fortnite Battle Royale esports tournament prize pools during the first official year of competitive play.

Not only will Epic get right into the mix with esports, the blog post on the official site suggests a plan to be "more inclusive" and focused on the "joy of playing and watching the game." Exactly what this means isn't known yet, but additional information should be rolled out as the 2018 - 2019 season gets underway.

The team plans to reveal competitive structures and eligible platforms in the weeks ahead, so stay tuned to Shacknews for additional updates.

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 21, 2018 10:05 AM

    Charles Singletary posted a new article, Epic Games To Fuel Fortnite Competitions With $100 Million

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      May 21, 2018 10:28 AM

      I get that this game is popular, but is it taking in the can to justify this?

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        May 21, 2018 10:34 AM

        They made over 124 million in revenue in February alone, and I am sure they have kept that run rate over the last few months especially with the mobile market getting a wide release.

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        May 21, 2018 10:38 AM

        Better question: how does it pull in money? Like, I've dicked around in it a little bit via my phone just to check it out and it's cool and all but how is it a cash cow?

        Someone correct me but my following of the situation was

        - Epic makes Fortnite, a MOBA-style game, essentially an Overwatch competitor with a crafting mechanic
        - Fortnite goes on to sell fuckall
        - PUBG comes out, sells a fuckton of copies at $30 or less retail each, is essentially a mod right down to extensive use of prefab assets, but the gameplay is incredibly addictive and becomes a cultural phenomenon (note I'm not blasting it for being a retail mod or using prefab assets for an off-the-shelf engine, that's brilliant actually)
        - Fortnite implements a PUBG-like mode, makes it free as "Fortnite: Battle Royale"
        - F:BR becomes incredibly popular very quickly to the point where people forget about the original retail Overwatch competitor (plus the "Battle Royale" suffix is dropped on the iphone version)

        Are the monies coming in via cosmetic upgrades or what?

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          May 21, 2018 10:42 AM

          Close. The original Fornite Save the World was a PvE game with resource gathering and base building tower defense type game, kind of like Orcs must die in some ways.

          The MOBA game you are thinking of that Epic made was called Paragon and has since been canceled.

          Fortnite makes money w/ in app purchases for skins and the battle pass that gives some other stuff.

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            May 21, 2018 10:48 AM

            I guess this is one of the reasons I'm not in the game business because I would never have guessed that you could make serious money off of optional components for a F2P game. I mean I know it happens and it's how games are F2P but to go from circling-the-drain commercial title to Hollywood blockbuster money off of optional doohickeys is just next level shit.

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          May 21, 2018 10:53 AM

          [deleted]

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          May 21, 2018 11:29 AM

          Lots of gimmicks and tie ins. Like Thanos

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            May 21, 2018 12:34 PM

            which was not a profit venture

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              May 21, 2018 11:35 PM

              Everything that brings in new users or increases engagement is a profit venture

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          May 21, 2018 12:36 PM

          skins and emotes and accessories, as well as the rpg-like battle pass (quests and gameplay to unlock a bunch of dlc)

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            May 21, 2018 2:37 PM

            DLC? How does a battle royale game do DLC?

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              May 21, 2018 5:16 PM

              You get a ton of challenges (that are actually really fun) + skins and other cosmetic items.

              Plus, if you buy one season for $10, you will earn enough in-game currency to get all future seasons for free. It's a damn good deal if you enjoy the game.

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                May 21, 2018 5:36 PM

                yup, it’s self-funding so 10 bucks once gives you quests and goals and random shit forever

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          May 21, 2018 12:41 PM

          [deleted]

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            May 21, 2018 1:19 PM

            wings or dinosaur or go home

            actually now i just favorite every item i have and randomize over that. whenever i get a loud ass glider it scares the hell out of me when it opens WHOOOOSH *rainbows and car horns*

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          May 21, 2018 5:14 PM

          Kids don't understand money and dish it out for completely frivolous shit. (Skins. In a previous life, hats)

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        May 21, 2018 12:39 PM

        They are also giving this away as "V-bucks" so it's not like they are dropping cash on the winners.

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          May 21, 2018 1:04 PM

          Got a link? I haven't seen that anywhere.

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            May 21, 2018 1:20 PM

            That's what Ninja and DrLupo were saying on stream today. Said it's in the fine print somewhere.

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              May 21, 2018 1:24 PM

              Gotcha, and yeah, that's a pretty big distinction in terms of whether this would attract top tier FPS players from other games.

              That must be what they meant by "focused on the joy of playing."

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            May 21, 2018 1:22 PM

            [deleted]

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              May 21, 2018 1:27 PM

              Yea, I'm just going by a comment Ninja made when playing with DrLupo today. I figured he'd have some insight, but maybe he was just guessing too.

              It would make sense for them to give part of this away as V-bucks since it wouldn't really cost them anything.

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                May 21, 2018 1:37 PM

                [deleted]

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                  May 21, 2018 1:38 PM

                  Hell yes! I typically watch Lupo on the regular. I'll watch TimTheTatMan when Lupo isn't on, and if neither are on then I'll watch Ninja's stream.

                  But, damn, that command center Lupo has is fucking amazeballs.

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                    May 21, 2018 1:42 PM

                    [deleted]

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                      May 21, 2018 1:45 PM

                      If I'm up late on the weekends that's normally when I'm streaming. I'll throw him on my follow list though.

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                      May 21, 2018 1:47 PM

                      I also love that Lupo has a Nightbot command !whereistim that just responds with 'Probably down.'

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                      May 21, 2018 2:02 PM

                      How much Time has blown up? You people who are just know learning about lupo don't know shit. Go back 3+ years and see where lupo came from streaming destiny.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        May 21, 2018 1:30 PM

        Popular doesn't begin to describe this game.

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        May 21, 2018 1:45 PM

        yes. it's called momentum. see overwatch, LoL, etc...

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        May 21, 2018 5:42 PM

        [deleted]

Hello, Meet Lola