It’s not quite a return to the World Cup from 2019, but Fortnite is getting a major in-person tournament this year. Today, Epic Games announced the FNCS Global Championship 2023, which will take place in Copenhagen toward the end of the year. A specific location hasn’t been announced yet, but Epic says that the tournament will feature 75 different duos teams and have a prize pool totaling $4 million.
The announcement is the highlight of a larger plan for competitive Fortnite in 2023, which includes the return of the online Fortnite Champion Series, or FNCS, tournament structure. This year, there will be three “major” tournaments throughout the year, each of which will last five weeks, with the first starting on February 2nd. Duos will compete in matches over the first three weeks, earning points for placement, and each major will culminate in a grand final with the top 40 teams qualifying for a chance at their share of a $2 million prize pool (and qualification for the global championship at the end of the year). Subsequent majors will kick off in April and July. (You can check out the full details right here.)
Back in 2018, Epic made esports a major part of the Fortnite scene, putting up $100 million in prize money for a year. However, following the World Cup, which was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York in 2019, things slowed down significantly as subsequent World Cups were canceled due to the pandemic. Last year saw the scene return to in-person competition with the smaller-scale FNCS Invitational, held at the Raleigh Convention Center. (It did at least feature a very cool trophy.)
The news comes as Fortnite got a big boost in December following a large-scale live event that ushered in a new chapter (and a significant visual overhaul).