Fortnite Battle Royale starts today with season 5 and that includes the announcement of a tournament. Now Epic Games had already said that they were going to invest 100 million dollars in the e-sports side of Fortnite, but this first ‘Summer Skirmish’ tournament immediately has a total prize pool of 8 million dollars.
The tournament lasts for a total of eight weeks and contains several parts, starting with a Duo competition that gives the winners $ 250,000. If you would like to take part we understand that, but the chances are that it is small: the invitations for the tournament have already been sent and at the moment it is only open to community creators and Fortnite players who have proven that they are really competitive can join.
It all remains a bit cryptic, but Epic Games says at the end of the very short message on their site that the format but also the candidates can change every week, so there is also a time a tournament where you as a ‘regular’ Fortnite player can participate. Epic also says that we have to be patient for a while but then get more information about how you could qualify for an event. So there is something, but how or what exactly is not clear.
Season 5 changes Fortnite
The tournament is a nice kickoff for season five of the shooter, which also gives some more information. There are first three new areas: a desert, an area called Paradise Palms and a golf course called Lazy Links. Paradise Palm is built over Moisty Mire and sits in that desert, while the golf course is laid over Anarchy Acres.
Season 5 brings more news: there is now an All Terrain Kart (ATK) where you can drive around with up to four people. You can board the rifts that we saw in the announcement, but nobody knows exactly what that will do. Epic promises a ‘wild ride’ for those who step in, but where it ends or what it could yield?
New type of storm
The most important aspect of the game that is going to change is that the storm, which causes the players to get forced together, in the last few stages of the game is no longer very rectilinearly smaller to the center that is initially indicated. The eye of the storm will move, so that the safe area will continue to fluctuate and you will not be able to sit around the edge that easily. It also naturally influences where the final center will fall and you will have to do more than just happen to be in the middle of the last circle and build up to the sky to win. Interesting.
Season five starts today, if the servers come online again at least after the (rather heavy) update. It seems to go well for now, but you never know with the most popular game of the moment …