Epic to contribute $100 million to Fortnite esports in 2019

Epic Games is set to invest a whole lot of money into the competitive Fortnite scene.

The publisher has revealed its plans for the 2019 competitive season, outlining a series of weekly events and formally announcing the Fortnite World Cup. What’s more, it revealed that there will be $100 million on the line for pro players who compete, with $30 million up for grabs at the World Cup.

The build to the Fortnite World Cup begins on April 13 with a series of online open qualifiers to determine the field for the event. The top 100 solo players and top 50 duos will then compete in the World Cup, with the $30 million split between those two events. That top prize will be $3 million for the winner of the solos competition.

The $30 million total for the Fortnite World Cup smashes the record for the largest prize pool for a single esports event, which is currently held by Dota 2’s The International 2018 at $25,532,177.

The bulk of the $100 million will be awarded through weekly competitions. $1 million will be on the line each week during the open qualifiers season, which will be followed by similar weekly tournaments for the remainder of 2019.

The announcement also teased possible partnerships with third-party tournament organizers across the globe.

While Epic is putting down an overwhelming amount of cash, most of the details regarding how it will be divided up remain unclear. Though it guaranteed $50,000 to each player that qualifies for the Fortnite World Cup and confirmed a $3 million top prize prize for the solo event, no specific details were announced past that for the World Cup, and no information was offered regarding payouts for the $1 million weekly tournaments.

The full press release can be found on the official Fortnite website.