The rising prevalence of e-sports just got a whole lot legitimate in terms of dollars and cents. As this latest announcement from Epic Games has just confirmed the pooled prizes for upcoming Fortnite tournaments will come to an insane $100 million USD. So if you ever needed more of an excuse to plug away and game the hours away, this right here is it.
Fortnite gained an undeniable status of celebrity and cultural fixture in the past year with the likes of Drake and Travis Scott dipping a recreational toe or two into the online pool. And the massive bankrolling of such tournaments should come as no surprise. Streamers such as Ninja who play the game live on both platforms of Twitch and YouTube earn anywhere between $500,000 USD to a cool million USD a month… depending on what reports you read of course.
Grab your gear, drop in and start training. Epic Games will provide $100,000,000 to fund prize pools for Fortnite competitions.https://t.co/ZcBe9fZD0S
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) May 21, 2018
This extensive following of competitive gaming has actually been in the mainstay of the industry for some time now, particularly in the Asian spheres. In South Korea, for example, stadiums are filled with fans during international tournaments for games such as League of Legends. International tournaments that run laps around The Superbowl in viewership.
The coming Fortnite events, however, may just be push e-sports needs to present itself in the centre spotlight of the mainstream. And it might just even make it a lot more accessible for Western fans. Suffice it to say, it’ll definitely be interesting to see where the future leads the culture.
