The start of 2021 hasn’t been great for Fortnite and its fans. While the general content of the game is still being updated, that’s the only positive many fans can find. In its current state, the Fortnite meta is not too enjoyable for players, which is echoed by competitive players. However, if that wasn’t enough, Epic Games has also revealed some major cuts to the competitive prize pools. Announced yesterday, the developers revealed a substantial decrease in first place winnings for various Cash Cups. This is paired with the fact that Epic promised a shoutout on Twitter for high-placing competitors rather than cash.
Fortnite Cash Cup prize pools decreased in 2021
The state of competitive Fortnite as a whole has been trending down for some time. In 2020, there weren’t many high-profile tournaments whatsoever due to COVID-19 restrictions and this hindered both the developers and professional players. The scene even lost some valuable members for a variety of reasons.
However, what Fortnite did have over other competitive games was a massive prize pool for its various events. In part, this is what attracted, and helped retain, a large chunk of professional Fortnite players. Unfortunately, that aspect of the scene seems to also be trending downward.
Since the start of 2021, Epic Games has made some changes to the rewards for various tournaments. However, the most egregious seems to be the $600 prize for first place in a Cash Cup and a Twitter shoutout for winning a special tournament.
and every time we see that they lower cash cup prize pool we think that they are gonna put it into fncs or something but it literally never happens
— benjyfishy (@benjyfishy) January 10, 2021
600 for first r u fucking serious bro how does it go from 3k to 600
— BBG Khanada1x (@Khanada) January 10, 2021
Fans and players alike are obviously not thrilled with the way competitive Fortnite is headed. However, it’s important to keep in mind that we’re only 10 days in 2021. Epic Games still has plenty of time to announce bigger prize pools and tournaments with higher stakes. Although, fans are warranted in their current pessimism.
Make sure to stay tuned to Daily Esports for all Fortnite news.
