In Fortnite there will be the Winter Royale tournament from December 20 to December 22, 2019. With a prize pool of 15 million dollars, it is actually quite a lot of money. We will show you why young PC pros are dissatisfied with how the prize pool is distributed. They want more money than players on PS4, Xbox One, and Mobile.
What kind of tournament is this? In the Winter Royale, different duos compete against each other. The tournament lasts a total of 3 days and is separated by platforms:
- PC
- PS4/Xbox One
- Mobile (iOS, Android) and Switch
each counts as one platform that shares a prize pool.
There are 7 regions where separate tournaments are held for each of the 3 platforms:
- North America (East)
- Europe
- North America (West)
- Brazil
- Oceania
- Asia
- Middle East
This means that there are a total of 21 different prize pools, with each distributing 5 million dollars.
Every day a new tournament starts, with its own rules and different cash prizes. The total prize pool holds 15 million dollars, which is distributed across the tournaments, platforms, and regions.
Because Fortnite is played in so many regions and on so many platforms, the amount “per winner” is relatively small. Players on PC are now complaining about this.
All information about the Winter Royale 2019 can be found on the official Epic Games site.
Young PC players are dissatisfied with the prize money
What do PC players say about the prize money? Some well-known Fortnite professionals who play on PC have commented on the distribution of the prize money. They seem dissatisfied with it.
NRG pro Benjy “Benjyfishy” Fish (15) expressed his displeasure on Twitter. He seems quite shocked about the prize distribution:
“Why do PC players get as much money as Xbox One and PS4? What the hell is going on?”
Benjy “Benjyfish” Fish, Fortnite pro
When Benjyfishy was asked why it bothers him, he said console players are not nearly as competitive as PC players.
It would be impossible to be equally strong with 60 FPS and maximum settings. PC players should get more money.
FaZe pro Kyle “Mongraal” Jackson (15), Benjyfishy’s duo partner, also seems to be dissatisfied with the prize money. He wrote on Twitter:
“There is a prize pool for each platform, region, and placements from 500 to 1000. PC and consoles have the same prize pool. Pray that we get a duo FNCS.”
Although Mongraal is a Fortnite pro, he is not that good at “getting upset”.
Why is the prize distribution so problematic?
What is the problem? Although there is a huge prize pool of 15 million dollars for the tournament, it is distributed among all platforms and regions. Moreover, the 1000th in some regions still receives a prize.
Therefore, individual duos do not have much left from the 5 million dollar prize money per tournament, even if they win.
Here are 3 images showing the different prize money distributions for PC, consoles, and mobile and other countries/regions (1st tournament day):
In Europe, Mobile players in 1st place receive 7500 dollars, but PC players in North America (West) only get 6000 dollars.
Fortnite’s competitive scene has primarily consisted of PC players so far. As seen in the World Cup, mostly PC players earned prize money in the millions there.
At the World Cup, PC players dominated with mouse and keyboard. However, one player on Xbox One made a big impact at the World Cup.
With the new tournament, “Winter Royale”, Epic now wants to give all platforms a chance to earn some money – this seems to annoy some previous pros.
