Fortnite: Five Decisions That Improved Competitive Play In Chapter 2 Season 2

Epic Games made some positive strides in competitive Fortnite over the past three months.

Competitive Fortnite is one of the most confusing puzzles in all of esports. It began with invite-only tournaments and eventually spawned the Fortnite World Cup, which featured a $30M USD prize pool. Fortnite also notably features one of the more privileged groups of players who often speak out against topics like aim assist, prize pools, tournament formats and much more. Epic Games reinvigorated life into competitive Fortnite during Chapter 2 Season 2. The developers began listening to concerns in the community and made adjustments when necessary.

We’ve compiled a list of positives that came out of Fortnite’s eleventh season in preparation for the upcoming Chapter 2 Season 3.

C4 Adjustment and Grenade Removal

Chapter 2 Season 2’s competitive landscape looked pretty grim from the outset. Remote explosives, or C4, leaned heavily in favor of those who carried multiple stacks of these powerful weapons. It took almost no skill for a player or team to unload a stack of six remote explosives onto enemy structures. This onslaught typically led to a full team wipe with barely any chance for the team on the receiving end to react. Epic Games noted player concerns and reduced the stack size on remote explosives to only one, rendering them useless outside of early game fights.

The same idea applies to grenades based on the reliance of “nade stacking” early in Chapter 2 Season 2. For those who are unaware, nade stacking is the act of methodically throwing multiple grenades, which like remote explosives, would often lead to a team wipe. Fortnite players discovered an exploit that could destroy a team or player with only one grenade. This exploit prompted Epic Games to disable grenades in all game types. Fortunately, they never returned in competitive play, which created a much more even playing field.

Daily Cups

A massive revelation from Chapter 2 Season 2 came in the form of Daily Duo Cups. These daily tournaments offered players a measly $750 USD to split between two players. However, the amount of content and practice made them worth the while. Epic Games granted each region the same prize pool. Viewers were able to experience dominant performances by NA East combos like Khanada and Unknown as well as European tandems like mitr0 and crr.

A laundry list full of players populated the leaderboards, but only one duo would take home the ultimate prize. The Fortnite competitive team made a wise choice with Daily Duo Cups. Hopefully, we will see more daily tournaments in the future.

Rework of Scoring Systems and Cash Cup Formats

Scoring systems and tournament formats are often a point of contention in the competitive Fortnite scene. For the longest time, eliminations were worth one point, which many did not necessarily have an issue with mainly. However, the scoring system that became the standard in Fortnite began awarding placement points at the top 15 and even top 12 in some cases. DreamHack introduced a different approach, which granted competitors placement points starting at the top 50 and granted five points per elimination. The DreamHack approach, coupled with player urges, led to Epic Games reworking its scoring systems.

In recent reworks, scoring systems for Solo Cash Cups and the FNCS Invitational awarded four points per elimination and placement at the top 75. It’s a step in the right direction as Epic Games as the community continues to seek the perfect balance between eliminations and placement. There is still room for improvement, but it’s reassuring to see a variety of scoring systems for upcoming competitions.

Another massive change took place with the restructure of the Cash Cup formats. Now, players have to participate in two rounds to win cash prizes. Scoring system and format adjustments display Epic Games’ commitment to at least making competitive Fortnite a bit more, well, competitive.

Multiple FNCS Events

Clarity is a quality that Epic Games has lacked since the Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 1 Fortnite Champion Series concluded. The squads FNCS ended on December 19 of 2019. Players and fans eagerly awaited the announcement of the next FNCS tournament or even another rendition of the Fortnite World Cup. Unfortunately, the wait ultimately lasted nearly three full months before the publication of Fortnite’s next major competitive tournament. To fill the gap, players queued into many Cash Cups with no clear picture of what lay ahead.

On March 9 of 2020, the Chapter 2 Season 2 FNCS was announced to a somewhat polarizing response. Critics keyed in on the fact that the tournament would feature a separate prize pool for both console and PC. Despite the pushback, players now had something to work toward as this iteration of the Fortnite Champion Series featured four qualifying weeks, a season final and a $5M USD prize pool. The tournament came and went, with many more questions left in its aftermath.

Epic Games followed up the FNCS Duos event with an FNCS Invitational announcement on April 24 of 2020. This revelation began a trend toward better communication between Epic Games and the competitive Fortnite following.  Another event featuring a $2M USD prize pool instilled confidence that Epic Games would begin taking the competitive side of Fortnite more seriously. They even added an in-game pickaxe reward for all FNCS Champions.

Defined Competitive Roadmap

The crown jewel in Chapter 2 Season 2 for competitive Fortnite arrived in the form of the long-awaited competitive roadmap. To provide some context, Epic Games promised a clear picture of what to expect for Fortnite’s future competitive scene. Fans and players began to lose hope in Epic Games after no Fortnite World Cup 2 announcement came out. The COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on a lot of plans that the Fortnite developers had in mind. However, on April 30th, Epic Games released a detailed outline of what to expect in Fortnite’s competitive future.

Competitive Fortnite’s roadmap included seasonal FNCS tournaments, Cash Cups, third-party event support and even hope for the return of the Fortnite World Cup in 2021. In a straightforward blog post, Epic Games lifted a massive weight off the shoulders of those who rely on competitive Fortnite for prize money, content and organizational sponsors. Reputable esports brands had been withdrawing from Fortnite left and right, but the top dogs will stick around for the time being. Players can rest assured that the developers have not given up on the game that spawned a $30M USD event almost a year ago. Hope exists for the future, and that’s all anyone can ask for at this point.

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