The Fortnite World Cup is the latest event to be canceled because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Today, Epic Games revealed the upcoming roadmap for competitive Fortnite, and unfortunately, that included news that all events will be held online for the foreseeable future. “Due to the limitations of cross-region online competition, there will not be a Fortnite World Cup in 2020,” the developer wrote in a tweet.
Given the uncertainty around the pandemic, it’s not clear when in-person tournaments might happen again, but the developer apparently isn’t giving up on the concept. “We don’t know when a return to large, global, in-person events will be practical, but we’re hopeful to be able to put on some form of Fortnite World Cup in 2021,” Epic says.
The first-ever Fortnite World Cup took place last July in at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, with 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf (pictured above) winning the main event — and $3 million in prize money. He even made an appearance on The Tonight Show. It was a massive event that led many to believe esports would become a major part of Fortnite moving forward — though that never fully materialized, despite the subsequent launch of the Fortnite Champion Series.
That said, while the big showcase has been canceled, the season-based Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) will still continue this year, as will regular Cash Cups and other third-party events. As a small silver lining, Epic says that it will return to official broadcasts for the FNCS, starting this season. The first competition kicks off at 1PM ET on Saturday, May 2nd on both Twitch and YouTube.
Outside of the competitive scene, Fortnite has seen a resurgence of late, thanks in large part to a massive virtual Travis Scott concert tour and a brand-new, violence-free mode called party royale.
