INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightEpicImage caption
Epic Games is offering $100m prize fund for Fortnite players
Publisher
The prize fund has been set aside for the first year of competitive play of the popular game due to start later this year.It is believed to
be the biggest sum of money offered for an e-sports tournament.Epic made the announcement in a blog post.It said: "Fortnite Competitors!
Grab your gear, drop in and start training
Since the launch of Fortnite Battle Royale we've watched the passion for community competition grow and can't wait to empower you to battle
with the best."In the 2018-19 season, Epic Games will provide $100m to fund prize pools for Fortnite competitions
We're getting behind competitive play in a big way, but our approach will be different - we plan to be more inclusive, and focused on the
joy of playing and watching the game."Fortnite is a survival shooting game that lets players build structures out of materials they scavenge
from the game world.No further details have been revealed at this stage but games industry experts believe the announcement is a smart
marketing move by Epic."It is quite an impressive headline figure, but there is no detail on how the money is going to be divided, whether
there will be a traditional tournament and a world champion player or lots of smaller tournaments." said Piers Harding-Rolls, director of
games research at IHS Markit."China's Tencent, who own part of Epic, have said that they plan to launch Fortnite in China, so, in effect,
this is a very large marketing budget."Launching the game into a competitive e-sports market like China means that it is less of a gamble
than the headline suggests," added Mr Harding-Rolls
He added that the game has not yet been established as an e-sports game so this would be a good way to try to "establish itself as a major
e-sports proposition".E-sports is organised, competitive computer gaming and can be staged in front of a live audience and watched by
millions more people online.Fortnite first was launched in June 2017
Its most popular format is the Battle Royale mode, launched in September of that year, which pits 100 players against each other, some of
whom are in small teams, to see who is the last person standing.The game is free but players can spend real money on in-app purchases
including skins to customise player avatars
According to games analytics firm Superdata, Fortnite made $126m in February this year from in-game purchases
