Epic Games is geared up to make Fortnite the most anticipated Esports event of the year, with a recent announcement that the prize pool for the 2018 – 2019 tournament season will be set at $100 million. For the time being, there aren’t many details about what that tournament will entail but that prize pool is significantly more than comparable games featured in competitive play events. According to the associated announcement, the company is also taking a different approach when it comes to the tournament itself. No details have been provided on that front, either. However, the plan is to make sure that they are more inclusive and focused more directly on the “joy of playing and watching the game.”
The news could mean any number of things. It’s entirely possible that Epic Games intends the competition to be more open to players who don’t usually play competitively and geo-fenced. In that case, the prizes doled out would be much smaller than the sum of the prize pool but there’d be more prizes handed out. Conversely, they may just be more open with a more standard format and larger prizes – prompting fiercer competition between participants. Bearing in mind that there’s no way to know for sure until Epic Games provides further details, there’s also at least one other intriguing possibility. The announcement also indicates that more information about “eligible platforms” will be revealed in the coming weeks. Given that, the Android version of the hugely popular game is set to release in the summer. That may be a hint that the company plans to work mobile versions into its Esports tournaments this year.
The possible scenarios where such a large sum of money would make sense in an Esports competition are effectively endless. So, in all likelihood, the best bet is probably still not to make any assumptions until more information is officially made available. With that said, it’s hard not to imagine the amount of publicity and hype the prospect of $100 million in Esports winnings for a single game might create.