If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Epic Games to provide $100 million prize pool for Fortnite esports this year

Developer promises a different, "more inclusive" approach with tournament details to follow in the coming weeks

Fortnite has spent months dominating online discussions, Twitch streams, and even students' attention spans; now, Epic Games wants to tackle esports. Today, the developer announced that it would provide a grandiose prize pool of $100 million across a 2018-2019 competitive season for Fortnite esports.

Though the specifics of how that money would be distributed across what types of events was not specified, Epic Games hinted that something non-traditional was in the cards. In its announcement, Epic Games said, "We're getting behind competitive play in a big way, but our approach will be different - we plan to be more inclusive, and focused on the joy of playing and watching the game."

$100 million is an astronomical amount of prize money for esports. As scene veteran Scott "SirScoots" Smith pointed out on Twitter, this is larger than the top ten esports prize pools of 2017 combined. This investment doesn't specifically include (though it is likely connected with) Tencent's plans to specifically grow the Chinese esports industry to be worth ¥100 billion by 2022, supported by the company's $15 million investment in Fortnite.

Further details about Epic Games' plans for competition and which platforms will be eligible will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Related topics
Author
Rebekah Valentine avatar

Rebekah Valentine

Senior Staff Writer

Rebekah arrived at GamesIndustry in 2018 after four years of freelance writing and editing across multiple gaming and tech sites. When she's not recreating video game foods in a real life kitchen, she's happily imagining herself as an Animal Crossing character.