“Fortnite World Cup Finals” attracts with highest prize in video game history

Is eSports sport or not? While politics and associations are still discussing it, professional gaming has long since established itself as a global entertainment spectacle.

The tournaments attract tens of thousands of fans in stadiums and several hundred million in front of the computer to be there live in the stream. One of the biggest eSports events of the year will take place shortly: the “Fortnite World Cup Finals”! Find out everything you need to know about this mega-event, which revolves around the online shooter “Fortnite” from Epic Games – and attracts with the highest prize pool in the history of video games to date.

When will the “Fortnite World Cup Finals” take place?

After ten weekly online open qualifying rounds, which took place from April 8th to June 16th, the final rounds of the “Fortnite World Cup” will now take place from 26 (Friday) to 28 (Sunday) July. Day 1 is scheduled for the supporting programme. On day 2 (July 27th), the 50 best duo teams in the world will compete for the World Cup from 7 pm Central European Standard Time in six matches before the big show will be celebrated on day 3 (July 28th) from 7 pm. Around 40 million players worldwide fought for participation in the “greatest tournament of all time” – the 100 best shooters and then build for the World Champion title and a handsome prize money.

Where do the “Fortnite World Cup Finals” take place?

The venue for the “Fortnite World Cup Finals” has been chosen by organizer and “Fortnite” developer Epic Games to be the American metropolis of New York. More precisely: The competitions will take place in the Arthur Ashe Stadium of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. There, in Flushing Meadows in the Queens district, the US Open in tennis takes place every year.

What is it all about?

“Fortnite” is a colourful online shooter that is currently played by around 250 million registered gamers worldwide on PCs, consoles and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Even if the competing title “PUBG” has established the game “Battle Royale” – it only became a mass phenomenon with “Fortnite”. To put it simply: 100 players compete and jump over an island from an aeroplane – and at the end of a fierce fight for survival, in which the battle zone shrinks further and further, one remains. The highlight of “Fortnite”: The users may not only shoot at each other with the weapons hidden everywhere but also build up structures like walls or stairs with collected materials in lightning speed.

Which modes are played?

On July 27th, the 50 best duos will compete to prove their teamwork. On July 28th, the solo fighters will show off their skills on the battlefields, which are becoming ever tighter, making confrontation inevitable.

What is there to win at the Fortnite World Cup Finals?

Such prize money makes even professional footballers jealous: At the “Fortnite World Cup Finals”, young “Fortnite” gladiators fight for prize money totalling 30 million US dollars. The winners of the “Solo” and “Duos” competitions each go home with three million US dollars. The second and third places in the “Solo” Cup will be rewarded with 1.8 million and 1.2 million dollars respectively. The “Duos” will receive 2.25 million and 1.8 million dollars respectively for silver and bronze. But the competition is also lucrative for all the other participants: All those who have qualified and do not make it into the top 20 will receive at least 50,000 dollars.

What does the supporting programme look like?

Day 1, July 26th, will be the opening day of the “Fortnite World Cup Finals”. From 3:30 pm Central European Time, the Fan Festival – a kind of mini leisure park with mini-golf and rope slide – opens its doors before the opening show for the subsequent creative finals takes place from 6:30 pm CEST. 20 participants asked for their share of the $3 million prize pool by completing the tasks as well, quickly and creatively as possible. These can be runs through obstacle courses or the erection of certain objects under time pressure.

At 10 pm CEST, duos from “Fornite” pros and celebrities such as DJ Marshmello or actor Liam McIntyre (“Spartacus”) will finally gamble on “Pro Am” for prize money of 3 million dollars for a good cause – by the way, the only way to experience what is probably the best known of all “Fortnite” players because Tyler “Ninja” Blevins failed to qualify. Tens of thousands of players witnessed Blevin’s gliding dragon disappearing in a live stream in May – apparently, a bug – and the professional with the colourful hair got so out of concept that he couldn’t win a single game. After the embarrassment, “Ninja” tried to justify himself and explained that he had never played so badly before: He would not have felt in his element, and he would have missed the pumpgun that Epic had removed from the game a short time earlier.

Where can you watch the Fortnite World Cup Finals?

The finals will be broadcast live on Fortnite’s official social media channels. A “Watch Live” button will also appear in the game itself.