The Fortnite World Cup was an esports competition based on the video game Fortnite. It took place between July 26–28, 2019 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York City, United States. A total US$30 million prize pool was available across the various competitions.

Fortnite World Cup
Most recent season or competition:
2019
GameFortnite
Founded2019
Owner(s)Epic Games
Venue(s)Arthur Ashe Stadium

Overview

The Fortnite World Cup uses two of the game modes available to the video game, Fortnite. The main World Cup event as well as the Pro-Am use Fortnite Battle Royale, a battle royale game where up to 100 players airdrop onto an island without any weapons or armor, save for a pickaxe. Once on the ground, players must scavenge for weapons, armor, and healing items, as well as using their pickaxe to knock down existing features to gather wood, stone, and metal resources. This all must be done while avoiding attacks from other players, as well as staying within a shrinking circle on the map or risk taking fatal damage outside it. Players can use gathered resources to build walls, floors, and stairs and ramps to use as cover from attacks. The last player or team left alive wins.

The Fortnite World Cup had online events over 10 weeks from April to June 2019 for people to place. The weeks alternated between solo players and duos teams. During the Saturday of each week, any player or duo could compete with others by geographic region, playing up to 10 matches to earn points through eliminations and victories. The top three thousand players/teams from each region then competed on the Sunday event, again playing up to ten matches to earn points. The top point-scorers in each region from the Sunday event then proceed through to the World Cup, a total of about twenty players/teams each week.[1] An estimated 40 million players vied for spots in the solo and duos World Cup.[2] In the World Cup finals, the competitors played a total of six matches, with points earned for the highest finishers. The solo player or duo with the highest point total after six matches won the grand prize, with other players getting part of the prize pool available.[3] All solo players received a minimum of US$50,000 for reaching the finals, with the top prize being US$3 million. Similarly, each duo team in the final received a minimum of US$100,000 with the top team winning US$3 million.[4]

The Fortnite Creative Cup had a similar online process to select the players for the finals, taking place over five two-week periods from April to June 2019. Each active week, a new Creative challenge is available. Players, once completed with their Creative island, must submit a video of that challenge to Epic in that period. For each period, Epic selected three of the best entries by a panel of judges. Each selected entry earns a cash prize of US$5,000 and a guaranteed spot in the Creative Cup finals. From the fifteen winning entries, five were selected by Epic to be used in the Creative Cup finales.[5] In the finales, eight teams of four, consisting of those that had their Creative island selected and other notable Fortnite players, complete in these five events to earn the best overall score. The winners in the finale split a US$3 million prize pool.[1]

The teams for the Fortnite Pro-Am are selected by Epic Games, with each team made up of a Fortnite streamer and a celebrity. The teams each played five matches, with a scoring system for the winning teams. The team with the highest overall score after five matches won the Pro-Am. Each team received a minimum of US$20,000 with the winning team receiving US$2 million.[citation needed]

History

Epic Games had launched Fortnite in its original planned form, now known as Fortnite: Save the World, as an early access title in July 2017, around the same time that the first influential battle royale game, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) was released. Inspired by this, Epic created a variation of Fortnite and released it as Fortnite Battle Royale in September 2017. While free-to-play, the game was supported by microtransactions. Fortnite Battle Royale rapidly became popular, and by June 2018, with the game ported to computer, consoles, and mobile devices, had reached 125 million players.[6] Total 2018 revenue for Fortnite Battle Royale was estimated at $2.4 billion by analysis firm SuperData Research.[7] Epic designated US$100 million of these revenues to position Fortnite Battle Royale as an esport.[8]

The inaugural Fortnite World Cup was first announced in February 2019.[9][10] While Epic planned to run the event in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led Epic to cancel the event for the year, though will still hold other Fortnite seasonal championship events known as Fortnite Champion Series.[11][12]

2019 events

Format

The Fortnite World Cup was split into two different events, one for solo players, and a separate for two-player teams, or duos.

Both the solos and duos formats consisted of six matches.[13]

World Cup solo and duo final standings:[14]

Solos

The 2019 solo event finals were held on July 28, 2019, and was won by 16-year-old American Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf, who took home the US$3 million grand prize.[15]

The scoring format in solos provided points for eliminations and for placement. Competitors received one point for each elimination and non-cumulative placement points. For solos the placement points were as follows:

  • 16th-25th, 3 points
  • 15th-6th, 5 points
  • 5th-2nd, 7 points
  • Victory Royale (1st), 10 points
Place Player Points Prize Money
1st Bugha 59 $3,000,000
2nd psalm 33 $1,800,000
3rd EpikWhale 32 $1,200,000
4th Kreo 30 $1,050,000
5th k1nG 30 $900,000
6th crue 27 $600,000
7th Skite 26 $525,000
8th nayte 26 $375,000
9th Riversan 24 $300,000
10th Fatch 24 $225,000
11th Rhux 23 $150,000
12th Tchub 23
13th Mongraal 23
14th Stompy 22
15th Dubs 21
16th Pika 21 $112,500
17th BELAEU 21
18th Clix 20
19th Peterpan 20
20th Commandment 20
21st Domentos 20 $50,000
22nd Skailer 19
23rd Bizzle 19
24th Endretta 19
25th benjyfishy 19
Place Player Points Prize Money
26th Kinstaar 18 $50,000
27th kurtz 18
28th Klass 17
29th MrSavage 17
30th K1nzell 17
31st fwexY 16
32nd LeTsHe 16
33rd TAKAMURA 16
34th Pzuhs 16
35th RogueShark 16
36th Zayt 16
37th Issa 16
38th Vivid 16
39th 4DRStorm 15
40th DiegoGB 14
41st LeftEye 14
42nd kolorful 14
43rd teeq 14
44th smeef 14
45th DRG 14
46th Prisi0n3r0 13
47th Klusia 13
48th wakie 13
49th Core 13
50th Chenkinz 13
Place Player Points Prize Money
51st Nicks 12 $50,000
52nd JarkoS 12
53rd Arkhram 12
54th Evilmare 12
55th Hood.J 12
56th clarityG 12
57th leleo 12
58th lolb0om 12
59th letw1k3 11
60th Ceice 11
61st Aspect 11
62nd Megga 11
63rd Fledermoys 11
64th Bucke 11
65th Banny 10
66th Emqu 10
67th Tfue 7
68th sozmann 6
69th UnknownxArmy 6
70th Kawzmik 6
71st Lasers 6
72nd Erouce 5
73rd FaxFox 5
74th snow 5
75th drakoNz 5
Place Player Points Prize Money
76th Touzii 4 $50,000
77th Luneze 4
78th slaya 4
79th Blax 4
80th LYGHT 4
81st BlastR 3
82nd luki 3
83rd Link 3
84th marteen 3
85th karhu 2
86th Robabz 2
87th Astonish 2
88th Snayzy 2
89th Legedien 2
90th Reverse2k 1
91st Maufin 1
92nd Nittle 1
93rd Hornet 1
94th aqua 1
95th Cat 1
96th twins 1
97th Herrions 0
98th Clipnode 0
99th Funk 0
100th Arius 0

Duos

The duo event finals were held on July 27, 2019, with Emil Bergquist Pedersen ("Nyhrox") and David Wang ("Aqua") sharing its US$3 million grand prize.[15]

The scoring format in duos provided points for eliminations and for placement. Competitors received one point for each elimination and non-cumulative placement points. For duos the placement points were as follows:

  • 15th-11th, 3 points
  • 10th-6th, 5 points
  • 5th-2nd, 7 points
  • Victory Royale (1st), 10 points
Place Team Points Prize money
1st Nyhrox + Aqua 51 $3,000,000
2nd Rojo + Wolfiez 47 $2,250,000
3rd Elevate + Ceice 45 $1,800,000
4th Saf + Zayt 44 $1,500,000
5th Arkhram1x + Falconer 44 $900,000
6th Mongraal + Mitr0 40 $450,000
7th Megga + Dubs 38 $375,000
8th Derox + itemm 36 $375,000
9th Zexrow + Vinny1x 35 $225,000
10th Vato + Skite 31 $225,000
11th Deadra + M11Z 30 $100,000
12th EpikWhale + storm 29
13th Noward + 4zr 27
14th benjyfishy + MrSavage 27
15th Keys + Slackes 27
16th MackWood + Calculator 26
17th Spades + Crimz 26
18th hype + Serpennt 26
19th BadSniper + Oslo 24
20th Scarlet + bell 24
21st Th0masHD + Klusia 24
22nd Chapix + Crue 24
23rd Kinstaar + Hunter 23
24th znappy + RedRush 23
25th Tschinken + stompy 22
Place Team Points Prize money
26th Tuckz + Vorwenn 22 $100,000
27th KBB + YuWang 18
28th ronaldo + XXiF 17
29th Nikof + Airwaks 15
30th Lanjok + Punisher 15
31st Nate Hill + Funk 14
32nd letw1k3 + fwexY 12
33rd JAMSIDE + 7ssk7 11
34th Tetchra + Eclipsae 11
35th Sceptic + Clix 11
36th CizLucky + Brush 11
37th Aydan + Sean 10
38th little + jay 9
39th KING + xown 9
40th parpy + volx 9
41st Leno + Barl 9
42nd Ming + Puzz 8
43rd LeNain + Tyler15 8
44th Quinten + Lnuef 6
45th Skram + Mexe 5
46th RoAtDW + BlooTea 4
47th pfzin + Nicks 4
48th wisheydp + GusTavox8 3
49th xMende + XXM 2
50th CoverH + Twizz 2

Creative Cup

The creative cup involved 8 teams, each led by a popular Fortnite icon. The team leaders held qualifiers, in which they had those attempting to qualify participate in a challenge in creative mode. The top 3 performers on each challenge were recruited to their respective leader's team. The cup included three different creative game maps: a king of the hill map, a prop hunt map, and a death run map. Each map had one round with three matches dedicated to it, and the final round had one match on each map. In the end, the “Fish Fam” led by FaZe Clan's Cizzorz won the event.

Creative Cup final standings: [14]

Place Team Prize money
1st Fish Fam $1,345,000
2nd Funky Fighters $345,000
3rd Ravens' Revenge $315,000
4th Lil Whip Warriors $295,000
5th Chicken Champions $270,000
6th Llama Record Co. $250,000
7th Sunshine Soldiers $235,000
8th Cuddle Crew $195,000

Pro-Am

The 2019 Fortnite Pro-Am matched 50 popular Fortnite streamers with various celebrities, and was held on July 26, 2019, at The Forum In Los Angeles, CA,[16] for a US$1 million prize to be split between the winning pair to go to charities of their choice. Streamer Airwaks and music producer RL Grime won the event, their second win after a similar Pro-Am event at E3 2019, with their selected charities being the World Wildlife Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, respectively. Other teams split the remaining US$3 million prize pool for charity, with each team assured a minimum of US$20,000.[17]

Pro-Am final standings: [14]

Place Team Points Prize money
1st Airwaks + RL GRIME 52 $1,000,000
2nd SinOoh + Oking 40 $500,000
3rd Jelty + Gaborever 39 $250,000
4th Jacob + Clare Grant 35 $100,000
5th Tfue + Nav 35 $85,000
6th JT Brown + Marksman 33 $75,000
7th Vinnie Pergola + Symfuhny 31 $65,000
8th Sean O'Malley + CouRageJD 30 $55,000
9th Witt Lowry + Cloak 31 $40,000
10th Nickmercs + Mario Hezonja 25 $30,000
11th Ninja + Marshmello 24 $20,000
12th Michael Drayer + Myth 24
13th Robert Abisi + Aydan 23
14th Robleis + Chigua 23
15th MrFreshAsian + Desmond Chiam 22
16th David Williams + WILDCAT 19
17th Nick Shanholtz + Sean 18
18th Liam McIntyre + Lachlan 17
19th FearItSelf + MacKenzie Bourg 16
20th DJ Van + iFaris 13
21st Calango + Caue Moura 13
22nd Sev7n + PC Siqueira 13
23rd Jawn Ha + Wade 12
24th Nick Eh 30 + Max Carver 11
25th Jordan Fisher + Ewok 10
Place Team Points Prize money
26th Cody Walker + Doigby 8 $20,000
27th Neckokun + ELLY 8
28th Dante + TimTheTatman 8
29th Wax Motif + Muselk 8
30th Aaron Gordon + Ali-A 7
31st Oscurlod + Dedreviil 7
32nd DrLupo + Sigala 6
33rd ONE_Shot_Gurl + Chandler Riggs 5
34th ALEXANDER + VODKA 4
35th Theslayer360 + Greer Grammer 3
36th Kyle Kaplan + Kay 3
37th Friz + Bizness Boi 3
38th Slogoman + Jeremy Ray Taylor 3
39th EduKof + Flakes Power 3
40th Loserfruit + Alison Wonderland 2
41st Alexia Raye + Jordyn Jones 1
42nd Pai Tamben Joga + Detonator 1
43rd Ashley Rickards + Exile 1
44th Jared Abrahamson + Zorman 1
45th Freddie Stroma + Yoshi 1
46th DenkOps + Xavier Woods 0
47th Joey Fatone + XpertThief 0
48th Edwin Hodge + FRAPZZ 0
49th RJ Mitte + Moyorz87 0
50th ActionJaxon + Sarunas Jackson 0

Other activities

In addition to the games in the stadium, the area around the stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was set up for a number of fan events, such as contests and games, and a concert by Marshmello.[18]

Viewership

Epic reported that tickets for the 23,700-capacity stadium venue were sold out.[18] An estimated 2.3 concurrent million viewers on Twitch and YouTube streaming services watched the World Cup finales;[4] additional viewers included those watching the final events from within Fortnite, and China viewership.[19]

Later developments

Shortly after his win in the World Cup, Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf had been swatted while streaming from his home. However, one of the officers responding to the call had recognized Giersdorf from his win, and quickly calmed the situation down to determine that they were responding to a false call.[20]

There have not been any subsequent editions of the World Cup since the inaugural event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Fortnite | World Cup". Epic Games' Fortnite. Archived from the original on 2021-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  2. ^ Taylor, Derrick Bryson; Chokshi, Niraj (July 29, 2019). "This Fortnite World Cup Winner Is 16 and $3 Million Richer". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  3. ^ "2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals Official Rules" (PDF). Retrieved 2023-08-18.
  4. ^ a b Spangler, Todd (July 29, 2019). "Fortnite World Cup Finals 2019 Draws Over 2 Million Live Viewers". Variety. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "Fortnite World Cup Creative Competitions Official Rules". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  6. ^ Statt, Nick (June 12, 2018). "Fortnite now has 125 million players just one year after launch". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
  7. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (January 16, 2019). "Fortnite tops SuperData's 2018 chart with $2.4 billion digital revenue". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  8. ^ Kim, Tae (May 21, 2018). "Epic makes 'Fortnite' biggest esport in the world with $100 million in prize money". CNBC. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2018.
  9. ^ Webster, Andrew (February 22, 2019). "Fortnite's $30 million World Cup final is happening in July". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  10. ^ Vincent, Brittany. "The next World Cup? Fortnite. Here's everything you need to know". NBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b Webster, Andrew (April 30, 2020). "There won't be a Fortnite World Cup in 2020". The Verge. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  12. ^ "Fortnite Competitive". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2020-10-16.
  13. ^ "Fortnite World Cup 2019 Scoring: Point System". Daily Esports. 2019-04-13. Archived from the original on 2019-12-26. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  14. ^ a b c "Fortnite World Cup Finals". Epic Games. July 28, 2019. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved Nov 23, 2019.
  15. ^ a b Khan, Zoya (July 28, 2019). "Teen Wins $3 Million Prize in First Fortnite World Cup Tournament". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  16. ^ Goslin, Austen (2019-05-15). "Here are all the players for the 2019 Fortnite celebrity Pro-Am". Polygon. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  17. ^ Liao, Shannon (July 27, 2019). "Fortnite World Cup: Here's who won the celebrity tournament". CNN.
  18. ^ a b MacLeod, Riley (July 30, 2019). "The Fortnite World Cup Was A Kids' Paradise". Kotaku. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  19. ^ Chalk, Andy (July 31, 2019). "The Fortnite World Cup drew more than 2.3 million concurrent viewers". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  20. ^ Asmelash, Leah (August 13, 2019). "Teen Fortnite World Champion Kyle 'Bugha' Giersdorf was 'swatted' during a livestream". CNN. Retrieved September 23, 2019.