Epic Games has revealed their plans for Fortnite with a Fall Skirmish event, taking place over 6 weeks culminating at TwitchCon on the 26th to 28th October. With a total prize pool of $10m (£7.64m), the Fall Skirmish seems to differ slightly from the Summer Skirmish, their first foray into esports. With an increased prize pool and shorter event time, they are also attempting to increase the types of events in the Skirmish.
While the Summer Skirmish was a mix of Solo and Duo gameplay, Epic looks to shake things up by including “Entertainment play” formats, which include challenges like ATK races, golf mini-games and other unique challenges outside of the standard battle royale mode. They’ll be gauging the reaction and will look to incorporate some of these new formats into their events in 2019.
Also mentioned is the release of an in-game tournament system in early October, when they begin the Showdown Royale, allowing anyone to enter and compete to earn prizes in a competitive setting. It’s unclear if this mode will feed into the larger Fall Skirmish event or if it’s a separate mode being added to the game.
While there was no mention of how to qualify for the Fall Skirmish season, Epic mentioned that players would “proudly represent themed teams” as they competed in both “competitive and entertainment” modes. What that means for esports organisations and the general public wanting a piece of the $10m has yet to be revealed.
Esports Insider says: With the Summer Skirmish behind us, it may have been prudent for Epic to work out the kinks in their format before debuting a new season. Nevertheless, the Summer event finished strong and with over 100,000 viewers they may not want to lose momentum. The shift to less competitive modes is interesting, as battle royale developers struggle to find a unique format for the shooter genre. If successful, it could allow Fortnite a niche market to tackle as other games focus on the hardcore audience.
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