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Epic announce a $20 million cross-platform FNCS prize pool for 2021

Epic Games have answered the call of many professional Fortnite players, announcing a $20 million FNCS prize pool across 2020.

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Fortnite Season 6 FNCS

After several complaints from the competitive Fortnite community, Epic Games have once again dedicated themselves to rewarding esports with a $20 million prize pool in the FNCS, alone.

The competitive Fortnite community has been outspoken on the topic of prize pools for over a year now. The 2020 FNCS prizes seemed to be a far cry from those awarded in 2019, and many of the top players weren’t happy about it.

The real culprit in all of this could have been Epic Games’ communication. They still offered a substantial amount of prize money to players, but it was divided among PC, console, and mobile platforms, separately.

This all came to a head in the early days of 2021, after Epic announced the Season 5 FNCS and competitive schedule. With tournaments that award players with Twitter shout-outs and free skins, the competitive players base wasn’t too happy.

Cross-platform FNCS prize pools

On January 19, Epic Games released a blog post that directly addressed these concerns and announced some major changes. They pledged to offer $20,000,000 over the course of 2021 in FNCS-related competitions, alone.

This change was amplified by Epic’s decision to unify all platforms into one bracket. Instead of console players competing for the same amount of prize money as PC players in a separate tournament, all platforms will compete for more money, together.

This, alone, fixed one of the major problems that so many pro Fortnite players had with recent competitive Fortnite history. Their stance was: why should console players get the same amount of money as PC players when all of the pros are on PC? Fortnite doesn’t even broadcast the console tournaments as they do for the PC platform.

Epic also outlined their plans for competitive Fortnite for the next year. They plan to host four FNCS tournaments worth $3,000,000 each, split across all regions. At the end of the year, the top performers in each region will be invited to a new tournament series, worth $8,000,000.

Prize pool splits

The separation of the prize pool was another area of disagreement for a lot of professional Fortnite players. The NA-East region competes for more than double the NA-West region, for example.

In the blog, Epic explained that “The distribution across all regions for the $3,000,000 prize pool is currently based on the most recent competitive participation and regional game population.”

Epic admitted that they will “continue to monitor and evaluate data before each season to make any necessary adjustments,” when it comes to evenly dividing the prize pool amongst these seven regions.

Regardless of region, this is great news for all Fortnite players. Epic offered $17,000,000 in prize money in 2020, but that was further split in each region by platform, significantly reducing the amount of money pro players make.

Even more, console players now have a larger stage to prove themselves. Now, if a console player truly has what it takes to compete against tier-one pros, they have the opportunity to prove it by qualifying and placing in the cross-platform FNCS.

We’ll continue to cover the Season 5 FNCS and beyond, so stay tuned for everything else you need to know to watch or compete in all upcoming open Fortnite tournaments.

Battle Royale

Fortnite pro Cented kicked out of FaZe Clan for using hate speech

Fortnite pro Cented is no longer a part of FaZe clan. He was caught saying a racial slur on stream, and has parted ways with the organization.

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Fortnite pro Cented no longer in FaZe Clan

FaZe Clan has removed Cented from their Fortnite roster after the pro player used a racial slur on a livestream. Here’s what’s next for the aspiring Esports athlete.

When Evan ‘Cented’ Barron joined FaZe clan in March 2021, fans worldwide had sky-scraping expectations from him. To be fair, he did gain a ton of followers across Twitch and Twitter and significantly improved his skills as a pro.

However, the former FNCS finalist and Cash Cups winner has been kicked out by FaZe Clan for using hate speech.

Why did FaZe Clan permanently remove Fortnite pro Cented?

While playing Fortnite recently, Cented joined Twitch streamer nothellfire1’s party and wasted no time in dropping a racial slur. It seems like he was not aware that nothellfire1 was live on Twitch.

This was followed by FaZe immediately announcing Cented’s permanent removal from the clan for using hate speech. The post clearly mentioned how the Esports org is constantly evolving and there is no room for racial slurs/discriminatory language.

Soon after, Cented himself admitted to using the slur on stream and claimed that he should’ve known better. The streamer apologized to the Fortnite community and acknowledged his immaturity and ignorance.

He said, “Somewhere along the way I let my ego get the best of me.”

Fortnite community reacts to FaZe Clan removing Cented

While some players are shocked that FaZe has parted ways with Cented instead of giving him sensitivity training, others like prominent leaker HYPEX did not hold back from making him aware of his mistake.

The mixed response from the Fortnite community is understandable, to say the least. It is fair for people to expect organizations to take rehabilitative measures, and it is equally justified for others to expect more maturity from adults like Cented.

This isn’t the first time that Cented has faced consequences for his blunt behavior. Back in June 2021, Epic Games warned him for abusing a young player and recklessly ranting about the Battle Royale game on Twitter.

Incidents like the one mentioned above have played a major role in decaying the image of Fortnite’s competitive community. Rather than being role models, the pros are infamous for being toxic and disrespectful.

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Battle Royale

Fortnite Champion Series Chapter 3 Season 3 start date and prize pool revealed 

Fortnite has announced the Champion Series (FNCS) for Chapter 3 Season 3 in which pros worldwide will compete for 3 million dollars.

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FNCS Chapter 3 Season 3

The Fortnite Champion Series is easily the most anticipated competitive event every season. In Chapter 3 Season 3, the likes of Bugha, Clix, and Arkhram, among others, will battle it out for a prize pool of 3 million dollars.

Epic Games has finally announced the FNCS for Chapter 3 Season 3. This time around, the logo seems to have a tropical theme that matches the ‘Vibin’ season. The meta has also changed significantly, and it will be interesting to see how some of the most talented esports athletes have adapted to it.

Everything to know about Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) Chapter 3 Season 3

Fortnite Champion Series for Chapter 3 Season 3 will begin on July 6 with 3 Qualifier rounds. The top five teams (Duos) from each round will directly advance to the FNCS Finals.

The qualifiers will take place till July 18 and the Semi-Finals will begin on July 21. As per Epic Games, the key to reaching the finals is Victory Royales and consistency. In the three Semi-Finals sessions, 6 Victory Royale winners and the top six consistent teams will move ahead.

The Finals will take place between August 12-14. There are two ways for a team to win the Fortnite Champion Series in Chapter 3 Season 3:

  • The first team to get three Victory Royales and earn 475 points will be declared the FNCS champion. This is called the Match Point.
  • If no team is able to acquire a Match Point at the end of 12 Finals matches, the duo with the highest points will win.

Chapter 3 Season 3 FNCS prize pool distribution

The prize pool for the Chapter 3 Season 3 FNCS is a whopping $3 million. However, it will be divided across several regions:

  • EU: $1,350,000
  • NAE: $690,000
  • BR: $240,000
  • NAW: $240,000
  • ASIA: $240,000
  • ME: $120,000
  • OCE: $120,000

The prize pool is different for each region, primarily because of Fortnite’s prominence there. It is evident that the viewership numbers in Europe are much higher than in the Middle East and Oceania.

FNCS Chapter 3 Season 2 rewards
Fortnite Champion Series in Chapter 3 Season 2 granted these rewards to viewers

It is worth noting that fans should be able to unlock some free cosmetics by watching the matches. New FNCS-themed cosmetics also arrive in the Item Shop.

All in all, it is safe to assume that the Fortnite Champion Series for Chapter 3 Season 3 will be more exciting than ever. A ton of new features and weapons have arrived recently, and even map changes have been quite frequent.

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Battle Royale

Fortnite star SypherPK quits Zero Build tournament after losing to cheaters

The Zero Build tournaments in Fortnite have been hijacked by cheaters, and streamer SypherPK eagerly wants Epic Games to fix it.

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Fortnite veteran SypherPK has always been vocal about cheaters and stream snipers in the community. The streamer’s latest encounter with hackers in a Zero Build tournament compelled him to quit.

Multiplayer games, especially Battle Royales, have always had trouble with cheaters. Brilliant titles like Apex Legends and Call of Duty Warzone became unplayable owing to the rise of hackers and have lost innumerable players so far.

From the looks of it, there has been a surge of hackers in Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 3 as well following the introduction of Zero Build mode.

Fortnite pros are encountering more hackers than ever in Zero Build tournaments

Fortnite caught a second wind with Zero Build as a ton of new players joined the community. Moreover, big names like Ninja, Dr. Disrespect, and Tfue returned to the game and appreciated the non-sweaty mode.

The developers then hosted Zero Build tournaments that received an overwhelmingly positive response initially. However, hackers have now plagued such tournaments.

Fortnite Zero Build mode artwork
Fortnite players can only rely on their aim, game sense, and movement in Zero Build

SypherPK recently took part in the NA West Zero Build finals and he was well aware of the fact that some teams are abusing aim bot and wall hacks.

Soon after, the streamer reported that hackers eliminated him in the very first game. It is no surprise that this incident led to him quitting the cup. He asked Epic Games to work on a live bans feature or atleast a new anti-cheat system that is dedicated to competitive playlists.

Zero Build mode in Fortnite has helped in exposing cheaters

Previously, Fortnite compelled players to build which significantly increased the skill gap between newcomers and veterans. On one side, there were players with the skill set to make a skyscraper within 30 seconds. On the other end of the spectrum, there were beginners who struggled in every game because the SBMM system rarely matched them with equally skilled/experienced players.

Amidst such issues, we are witnessing the growing use of cheats and devices like the Cronus Zen. This allows cheaters to win more comfortably than ever, but naturally, at the cost of the ruined experience of every player they face.

Until Chapter 3 Season 1, it was harder to track cheaters because mechanics like building and editing were an integral part of the meta.

In contrast, aim and mobility are the deciding factors of a Zero Build game. Accordingly, players can now easily identify cheaters using aim bots and wall hacks.

Countless other players, streamers, and pros have similar opinions on the current state of Fortnite and Epic Games would certainly want to come up with a solution before the Cash Cups commence in Chapter 3 Season 3.

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