With no clear solution for COVID-19 in sight, Epic Games is playing it safe by holding off on any in-person events in 2021. This means the Fortnite World Cup, which was already canceled this year, is still not returning next year.

“Our intent is to eventually hold global in-person tournaments again, but our priority for any such event is the health and safety of our players and staff,” Epic Games made clear in a recent blog post.

“With so much still unknown about what is practical and safe, we do not plan to hold in-person events in  2021, including a Fortnite World Cup.”

2019 welcomed the inaugural Fortnite World Cup, which featured a massive US$30 million prize pool distributed among competitors in Solo and Duo divisions. 16-year-old Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf was the big winner of the event, claiming the US$3 million grand prize in the Solo competition, while Emil “Nyhrox” Pedersen and David “aqua” W. split the amount as the Duos champs.

To appease its global legion of fans, Epic Games will ramp up its online tournaments throughout 2021 until it’s safe to stage live, physical events again.

For one, the Fortnite Champion Series will continue throughout next year, with party sizes standardized to Trios gameplay in order to ensure stability and consistency among events. Epic is still keeping the door open for any opportunities or need to “alter the scoring and/or qualification formats season by season.”

The first FNCS event for Chapter 2 Season 5 is slated for a February 4 start date, giving players ample time over the holidays to practice.

While Epic Games sees the FNCS as “the constant measure of success in competitive Fortnite,” the developer is also expanding opportunities for high-level competition by planning more weekly tournaments, Creator Cups, and other unique tournaments for 2021.

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