Epic Games has announced that the Fortnite World Cup, scheduled for July 2020, will be cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
In addition, all competitions are moving online for the rest of the calendar year. That includes Fortnite Cash Cups, the Fortnite Champion Series, and all third party events.
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The Fortnite World Cup made mainstream news last summer as Epic Games put up a then-record $30 million (GBP23.8 million) in prizes for the solo and duo events. With all competitions moving online, the cross-region nature of the World Cup made it impossible to hold this year.
The developer’s tweet thread continued saying that the company hopes the 2021 event will be able to be held as planned but is taking a cautious approach to the timeline of competitive events. In the meantime, other reoccurring competitions in the Fortnite esports ecosystem will go ahead as planned with online competitions.
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As event organisers in every sector try to figure out when they will be safe to be held, Epic Games is not optimistic the event will be able to go forth as planned in late July.
Earlier this month, the Fortnite Champion Series Invitational was announced with a total prize pool of $2 million (GBP1.62 million) across seven regions.
Esports Insider says: This is a huge cancellation. The Fortnite World Cup was a big moment for mainstream attention on esports last year. The cancellation of the event in July is not a huge surprise but many esports companies have kept events in late Summer on schedules as of right now.