Epic devotes $10 million prize pool to Fortnite esports in 2023 despite growing community concerns

Fortnite is arguably one of the most popular live-service games in the world right now, partially thanks to the strong community it’s built. As far back as 2018, players have been logging into the game and trying their hardest to prove who’s the best.

And now, Epic Games is recommitting to the Fortnite Championship Series in 2023 with a huge cash prize and in-person event. The question is, will it actually be enough?

There will be a $10 million prize pool that will be doled out to winners of various competitions throughout the year, including the new FNCS Majors starting on Feb. 2, according to an official blog from Epic. There will also be an official FNCS Global Championship in Copenhagen Denmark that will welcome the best 75 players to an in-person LAN event.

While Epic seems dedicated to its esports division in 2023, competitive organizations don’t seem as eager to get involved. Beyond Legend, the winners of November’s FNCS Invitational 2022, recently said it would no longer be supporting Fortnite esports and even dropped one of the winners of the competition.

Before that, Bugha was dropped by the Sentinels after three years.

This is worth noting because Bugha is regarded as the highest earner to ever play the game. Some sites put his earnings over $3 million, so it says something that his organization no longer sees the need to keep him around. While Bugha will still likely play as an individual, actual organizations seem to be looking for the door.

This doesn’t mean the FNCS has to die, however, as long as there continue to be players interested in the competitive side of the game.

This could even turn out to be a good thing, as more teams and long-standing professionals leave the game and make room for regular players who might otherwise not be able to compete with those training all day.

If the FNCS is coming to an end, then we’re still in the early stages. This new prize pool and promise of a world championship in Denmark are likely to make some teams second guess leaving the game. It could be that the success in the next season could make more organizations stick around, but we’ll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, make sure you’re practicing with all the new Fortnite weapons and learning the POIs so you can stand a chance when the FNCS 2023 season picks up. If you do well enough, you may find yourself in Denmark sometime this year.