Epic Games has communicated details for the 2021 Fortnite Champion Series (FCNS). The competition series will move to a Trios format (three-person teams) for the entirety of 2021 and will feature a US$20 million prize pool, a US$3 million climb over the 2020 season, but still far away from the US$30 million amount of 2019.
The company explained: “Our overall goal is to create better consistency throughout the year and tie the 2021 seasons together for a more cohesive experience.” In that sense, after players’ feedback, there will be changes in the format of the tournament. All competitions will take place online. About the schedule, qualifiers will kick off on February 4th, with the finals starting on March 12th.
FNCS CHAPTER 2 SEASON 5 SCHEDULE
Qualifier 1: February 4-7th
Qualifier 2: February 11-14th
Qualifier 3: February 18-21st
Bye Week: February 25-28th
Semi-Finals: March 5-7th
Reboot Round: March 12 & 13th
Finals: March 12-14th
Epics plans to have four FNCS seasons in 2021, each with a US$3 million prize pool, for a total of US$12 million. The distribution across all regions is currently based on the most recent competitive participation and regional game population. Likewise, there will be mid and end of year competitions to bring together the top performing FNCS players in each region in multiple competitive formats to compete for additional US$8 million in prizes.
Regarding broadcast, the company will be expanding the official coverage of the FNCS this season by adding separate broadcasts for French, German and Spanish speakers in the EU server region. NAE and BR coverage will continue, but with the inclusion of new coverage for the NAW and OCE regions.