Epic Games puts up $100M for Fortnite esports prize pool

Fortnite developer Epic Games is offering up a total of $100 million to fund prize pools for the first year of Fortnite esports events.

The studio shared the brief announcement on its company blog, noting that it is looking to support the competitive side of its game in a "big way” for the game’s inaugural 2018-2019 season.

Epic’s free-to-play spin on the last-man-standing battle royale genre hit the ground running late last year and has since kept that momentum going strong since. While the game itself has attracted a massive following, Fortnite hasn’t yet made its big break into esports, something Epic now looks to change in the very near future. 

“We’re getting behind competitive play in a big way, but our approach will be different,” reads the blog post. “We plan to be more inclusive, and focused on the joy of playing and watching the game.”

Epic plans to offer more details on the “competitive structures and eligible platforms” in the next few weeks.