Tag Archives: prize

Fortnite World Cup Beats Major Sporting Events in Prize Money

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Source: Statista

Epic Games, maker of the hugely popular online game Fortnite, is holding the first official Fortnite World Cup this summer, and the qualifying rounds for the esports tournament start as early as April 13. The final event scheduled to be held in New York City from July 26 to 28 will be the biggest Fortnite tournament to date and one lucky gamer will walk away as a millionaire.

In total Epic Games has set aside $40 million in prize money for the Fortnite World Cup, of which $10 million will be awarded over 10 weeks during the qualifying stage and $30 million will be reserved for those players who qualify for the New York City final. The solo champion will bag a record-breaking $3 million prize, making the winners’ purses in some of the biggest individual sporting events in the world look like small change in comparison.

As the following chart illustrates, you could win the Tour de France, the Hawaii Ironman, the New York Marathon and the Masters Tournament in Augusta and still walk (or limp) away a poorer person than the world’s best Fortnite player. The tournament is part of Epic Games’ campaign of making Fortnite the most lucrative game in esports. Last year, the company pledged to put up $100 million in prize money for Fortnite events through the end of 2019.

Gaming Infographic

How eSport Prize Purses compare to Traditional Sports

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Source: Statista

Gaming has long been sneered at by ‘real’ athletes. But in recent years, popular acceptance for eSport has risen and prize pools are skyrocketing. In a direct comparison to ‘traditional sports’ events, professional gaming tournaments can easily compete when it comes to the rewards teams can achieve if performing well.

More often than not, it’s true that gamers cannot claim the same physical fitness levels as football players nor the endurance of professional cyclists and therefore might not be considered “real” athletes. However, defining sports through these parameters means that beer-bellied darts players (whose skills are similar to the skills of gamers – based on hand eye coordination, concentration and nerves of steel) would not fit into the traditional definition of an athlete as well. At least monetary-wise, gamers have already reached the Olympus of professional sports.

eSport Infographic