Fortnite Champion Series Season X Features $10M Prize Pool, Controversial Mechs

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• The Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) begins August 17 and will offer a $10M USD prize pool.

• Top weekly teams and those with the most “Series Points” will move on to the Season X Finals on Sept. 20-22.

• The B.R.U.T.E. mech will remain in all core game modes and competition, despite player backlash.

Epic Games announced details surrounding the Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) and updates to Season X gameplay. FNCS offers a $10M prize pool with additional prizes to be given away in weekly Cash Cup events.

Beginning August 17, Fortnite will host a three-round Trios event each weekend for five weeks. As revealed during the Fortnite World Cup, FNCS will be based around an online leaderboard system. Teams will be ranked according to “Series Points” awarded based on their final placement each week. The top performers on this leaderboard will advance to the Season Finals on Sept. 20-22 alongside the top weekly teams from each region.

This new qualifier format was designed to “value consistency” over the source of the season but still “rewards the outstanding performance players make when competing in individual weeks,” Epic Games said in the announcement. Compete FNCS rules will be released early next week.

In addition to an arena bug fix and payments update, Epic Games revealed that B.R.U.T.E., a mech added to Fortnite in Season X, will remain in all core game modes and competition. The mech has been criticized by players for being overpowered, creating an unfair advantage to whoever uses one.

Rather than “vault” (remove) the controversial mech, Epic Games outlined a number of changes (or “nerfs,” as players call them) with the hope that they will mitigate any advantages. For example, B.R.U.T.E. will now be given a targeting laser that shows which direction rockets will fire. The laser will also be given directional audio so that players can hear when they are being targeted.

Several esports teams, pro players, and fans expressed their frustration on Twitter using the hashtag #RemoveTheMech, which became the #1 trending topic on the social media platform Friday evening.

This isn’t the first time Epic Games has been criticized for in-game items with a lack of balance. A fighter plane called the X-1 Stormwing was added, then subsequently vaulted in Season 8, because players could sit in them to avoid combat until the last critical moments of the battle royale match.

In December, a Mythic item called the Infinity Sword—added as a promotional item for The Avengers: End Game—was found to give its wielder an unfair advantage. After public outcry, Epic Games vaulted the sword and issued a public apology saying the company “messed up.”

Editor’s note: Epic Games has begun referring to “Fortnite Champions Series” as Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS). During the Fortnite World Cup it was announced as the “Fortnite Championship Series,” but later corrected by Epic as “Fortnite Champions Series.”