Esports have become a huge phenomenon. As a result, the number of people subscribing to and viewing Esports content has increased over the last two years. In 2019 alone, there were around 397 million viewers globally.
That number rose to 435 million in 2020. This year another 25 million joined the online sports-viewing frenzy. It clearly shows that the Esports segment might be globally recognized soon. Due to massive subscriptions to the virtual gaming world, a new professional virtual gaming arena has developed in countries like the United States, China, and Japan.
Some people have made millions of dollars by playing these online games and building a career out of them. No wonder we subscribe to streaming services like Twitch and Live YouTube and that people flock to watch these online events. In this article, we have shared everything about the Fortnite World cup. It will help you understand the mega event better.
- What Is Fortnite?
- Fortnite Save The World
- About The Event
- Fortnite Qualifiers
- Initial Games
- Pro-Am Games
What Is Fortnite?
Fortnight is an online game that was released for the first time in 2017. Published by Warner Brothers, Interactive Entertainment, and Epic Games, this game has earned over 9 million dollars for Epic games since 2018.
Between 2018 and 2019, the company made a net profit of 5 billion dollars from Fortnite alone. There are three formats in which you can play the game. Fortnite Save the World, Fortnite Battle Royale, and Fortnite Creative.
You can play this game on top gaming platforms like PlayStation, Xbox, Android, Nintendo Switch, and iOS. Additionally, you can visit the official Fortnite website to get your hands on some fantastic merchandise.
Though people have loved all three formats, Battle Royale has become a cultural phenomenon worldwide for gamers. Most of Fortnite's revenue generated from 2018 to 2019 came from this category of the game. It has an accumulated 120 million players that are hooked to this category.
Formats Of The Fortnite
As mentioned, there are three categories in which you can play Fortnite. All of these categories are hosted on the same engine, have similar graphics and visual renderings.
In short, all game categories have the same basics, but their features differ slightly. In the next section, we will explain each of the categories in detail.
Fortnite Save The World
As the theme suggests, it is a survivor game whereby four players work together as a team and defend the Earth against the aftermath of natural calamity. The gameplay begins with a massive storm destroying the planet.
The only people left as survivors are the team players who must be prompt, agile, and swift in their actions to save the Earth. You will need to take care of the resources and assets against and a coming zombie attack.
The team members get rewards for taking actions that save humanity. These rewards can be assets, equipment, or upgrades. In addition, your heroes can upskill and upgrade based on the points that you collect during the game.
Fortnite Battle Royale
As the name suggests, it is a PVP (player versus player) game. Up to 100 players airdrop to fight it out across the map. As the players land on the map, they need to run to grab weapons and other resources to help them stand their ground and fight other players.
As time passes by, the gameplay area will shrink, which forces the players to come out of their hiding spots to face each other. And the winner of the game is the last surviving player. In the solo category, only one individual is considered a winner. In duo, two share the glory and likewise.
There is also Fornite Creative. As the name suggests, it is a sandbox mode, whereby players can spawn whatever they want as long as it is on the game map. Here you can let your creativity be the creator of different challenges and battle areas.
About The Event
Fortnite World Cup is a fandom event based on the game Fortnite game. The first of such events took place in 2019, in July, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. With various short games played at the event, the total prize money went beyond 30 million dollars.
In this event, the Battle Royale category was the primary teams' category, where numerous teams battled it out to be awarded the title of the best team and the massive prize money.
These teams would scavenge for resources and build temporary structures to protect themselves from others.
There were solo, duo, and Pro-Am competitions featured in the Battle Royale game format. While during the sandbox mode competitions, the participants helped create challenging maps for others to try out.
What Happened In 2019?
The Fortnite World Cup was planned and organized in a very structured manner. Just like any other international tournament where mass participation is encouraged. The tournament spanned two and half months in 2019.
Every week on a Saturday, singles and double matches took place between players in the same region. They played ten games to get as many points as possible. The top 3,000 teams or individuals then went on to play the Sunday Event.
They also played up to 10 matches of trials and tribulations. The winners of these Sunday Events got shortlisted for the World Cup. A maximum of 20 players in a team could get a spot in the World Cup.
Fortnite Qualifiers
The shortlisted players then played a total of 6 matches to see who will be the highest point earner. The team with the highest points or the individual with the highest points won the Grand Finale and the prize money.
Each individual who made it to the finals won a minimum of $50,000. Similarly, if a team made it to the finals, they won at least $100,000. But the Grand Finale prize money was $3 million for the solo winner and the winner of the teams.
Epic Games selected and shortlisted the Fortnite Pro-Am participants for the World Cup. One streamer and a celebrity teamed up to represent a team. The team with the highest score won the Pro-AM. In addition, each received at least $20,000, and the match's final prize money was $1 million.
Categories In The Fortnite World Cup
As mentioned, there are three popular formats played in the Fortnite World Cup. Solo, Duo, and Pro-Am. In 2019, Kyle Giersdorf, also known as Bugha (avatar), won the Grand Prize of $3 million at the tender age of sixteen!
The single format was not a simple one to win.
Initial Games
The initial World Cup games were tough competition for players, with the elimination based on the allocated points per their placement in the game. For example, people placed between 2nd and 5th got seven points.
Those who got placed between 6th and 15th got five points, and those placed between 16th and 25th got three points. The winner received 10 points.
The duo game finale took place in July 2019. The team that won the Grand Finale of $3 million as prize money were Emil Bergquist Pedersen and David Wang. They are also known as Nyhrox and Aqua on Fortnite.
The duo-game point system was as follows - 2nd to 5th got seven points. Then, 6th to 10 got 5. 11 to 15 got three points. The winner received 10 points.
Creative Cup
If you thought that Fortnite Creative sandbox mode had no contribution to the World Cup, then you would be surprised that eight teams played this format.
Every team's leader qualified the team members by putting them through rigorous creative maps that challenged their mental agility, thinking, and gameplay.
Leaders shortlisted the players who got the highest scores to be part of the team. As a result, a team called "Fish fam" won the Creative World Cup 2019.
Pro-Am Games
Lastly, the Fortnite Pro-Am teams saw an amalgamation of top 50 streamers who joined hands with different celebrities. This event took place in July 2019 at The Forum in Los Angeles, California.
The winner could choose their charity of choice and donate a million dollars to them. The streamer called “Airwaks” and music producer RL Grime won the prize.
The charities that benefited from this event were World Wildlife Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. In addition, each team that played the qualifier won a minimum of $20,000 for participation.
In short, this was more of a PR exercise by Epic Games, bringing in a noble cause, celebrity, and excitement of gaming.
Fortnite Games Cancelled
Due to the pandemic last year, Epic Games decided not to organize live events, including the Fortnite World Cup that gathers hundreds and thousands of people together in a stadium.
As per the company's statement, there will be no Fortnite games this year as a pandemic refuses to stand down. However, the company is doing its best to ensure that fans engage online with the different community events and competitions held throughout the year.
It is also another way to keep the momentum going so that when people get a chance to get out of the houses, the company can organize their next mega World Cup event.
Conclusion
The Fortnite World Cup has become the shining star of Esports gaming. With a massive first event success, Epic Games have already carved their space in international competitions.
If you are a fan who loves watching these games on streaming services or someone who would like to get a shot at bringing home millions, then you will have to go to the next Fortnite World Cup event and buy a Battle Pass to start your gaming career.
