Epic Games announces $2M Fortnite Champion Series Invitational

Following last weekend’s conclusion of Chapter 2 – Season 2 of the Fortnite Champion Series, Epic Games has announced a new online invitational tournament.

The Fortnite Champion Series Invitational will feature up to 600 players per region, and award a total of $2 million (£1.62 million) in prize money across all regions.

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Epic Games will invite up to 500 players in each of the seven competitive regions: Europe, NA East, NA West, Middle East, Brazil, Asia, and Oceania. Up to 400 of those players per region will be invited based on performance in past Fortnite Champion Series events, with another 100 invited at Epic’s discretion.

Another 100 players per region can qualify for the competition via open qualifying events. Unlike the Duos (two-player) format of the previous Fortnite Champion Series stage, the Invitational will be a Solos tournament with every player competing individually.

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Although Fortnite esports hasn’t had a large, showcase event since last July’s Fortnite World Cup, Epic Games has continually funded online tournaments across regions, platforms, and formats since then.

According to Esports Earnings, Fortnite competitions have awarded more than $85.1 million (£69 million) to date, putting it third all-time behind Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

Esports Insider says: With a loose structure that seems focused more on entertainment than consistency, Fortnite esports really needs those lavish live events to grab eyeballs. Still, until that’s possible again given the current pandemic situation, it’s good to see Epic Games funding ongoing online competition.

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