Fortnite and YouTube exist hand-in-hand, and now Epic Games is rolling out a new feature that gives players free cosmetics for watching matches on YouTube.
The new initiative is called “Drops,” and allows players to receive special Fortnite cosmetics when they link their YouTube and Epic Games account to watch certain Fortnite events. Epic has done similar things in the past on Twitch. Considering how popular Fortnite content is on YouTube, the partnership makes a lot of sense — especially ahead of the Fortnite World Cup next week. The event is expected to draw millions of viewers as top players compete for a collected prize pool of $30 million — solo players will compete for a top prize of $3 million alone.
Players only need to watch 20 minutes of a broadcast to receive a drop, according to a new blog post from Epic Games. Here’s how to link your account:
- Sign in to YouTube in a desktop browser.
- Go to Accounts and select Settings.
- Under the “Connected accounts” section, select your Epic Games account.
- If you do not already have an Epic games account, create one then start at Step 2.
- Click or tap Connect
- Sign into your Epic Games account.
The first event that will introduce drops is “Game Jam Hollywood.” The event brings together 16 different Fortnite Creative community builders to design new creative levels for the World Cup finals. People who want to collect some Fortnite drops can tune in on July 25th at 12:30pm ET. From there, the next events will be during the World Cup at the end of the month.
The schedule for matches that will feature drops includes:
- 7/25 - Game Jam Hollywood premiere.
- 7/26 - Fortnite World Cup Finals Day 1 live broadcast.
- 7/27 - Fortnite World Cup Finals Day 2 live broadcast.
- 7/28 - Fortnite World Cup Finals Day 3 live broadcast.
Epic Games and YouTube are planning to use drops in future events, too, which will be announced after the World Cup.