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The Game Awards Nominate Fortnite For Three Categories, Including Best Esports Game

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The Game Awards Nominate Fortnite For Three Categories, Including Best Esports Game

Fortnite returns to The Game Awards 2020 with three nominations.

It's that time of the year when the collective gaming community recognizes some outstanding video games. Despite the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the year 2020, video game developers worked tirelessly to provide players with an infinite amount of entertainment. The Game Awards offer fans a platform to voice their appreciation for their favorite video games. Ghost of Tsushima, Call of Duty: Warzone and The Last of Us Part II are just a select few of the many titles up for awards this year. Epics Games' popular Battle Royale title Fortnite is also on that list, in its third year of play.

Fortnite swept the world in 2017 with its captivating gameplay and addicting properties. Players who partook in the phenomenon could not put the game down. That same sentiment applies today, albeit to a much lesser degree. Fortnite does not pull the same numbers as it once did, but that's the natural progression of any game over time. The Epic Games-developed Battle Royale title still sports a loyal fanbase of millions, both competitive and casual. As a result, The Game Awards nominated Fortnite for three categories.

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Best Esport of the Year

Fortnite returns to the Best Esport of the Year category for the third straight year. In 2018, Fortnite lost to Overwatch and then League of Legends in 2019. Epic Games has stood behind Fortnite's competitive community, offering massive prize pools well into 2020; we are talking millions of dollars in its seasonal flagship Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) events. Fortnite has some tough competition in this category, namely League of Legends and Counter-Strike. Those games possess dedicated leagues and organizational support, which Fortnite does not. Let's not forget that cheaters regularly infect Fortnite's tournament play, either.

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The rightful absence of another significant Fortnite World Cup tournament due to COVID-19 may also bring it down a notch. It's not impossible to think Fortnite could win Best Esport of the Year, but overcoming reigning champion League of Legends will be a challenging task.

Best Ongoing

Epic Games walked away with two straight years of the “Best Ongoing” award, and the developers rightfully earned those victories. The past two years of Fortnite were outstanding. Epic Games kept the game fresh with consistent changes from season to season. The map changed regularly, as did the items, weapons and seasonal storylines. For those reasons, Fortnite dominated this category in 2018 and 2019.

This year has continued the ongoing tradition of seasonal alterations and new game enhancements. However, Epic Games did not provide the same detail after the release of Fortnite Chapter 2. The Blackout event in October 2019 reshaped the game forever. The developers introduced a swimming mechanic and reduced Fortnite to a toned-down version of its former self. Chapter 2 – Season 2 added Mythic drop spots, which featured boss characters, Mythic weapons and items, Non-player characters (NPCs) and much more. Epic flooded Fortnite's map in Chapter 2 – Season 3 and kept Mythic locations around.

Fortnite Chapter 2 – Season 4 may have locked up this category for a third straight year. The Marvel crossover was arguably Fortnite's most notable accomplishment of 2020. Epic Games had the privilege to work with Marvel to design new locations and skins. It was an impressive ending to a relatively ho-hum year for the popular Battle Royale title. Call of Duty: Warzone is also in contention, meaning Fortnite may have its hands full.

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Best Community Support

The third and final category that Fortnite received a nomination for is “Best Community Support” at The Game Awards 2020. TGA introduced this category last year, and Destiny 2 secured the victory over Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six: Siege and Final Fantasy XIV. Epic Games might have an even more challenging task this time around. Fortnite will be going up against the likes of Fall Guys and Valorant, developed respectively by Mediatonic/Devolver Digital and Riot Games. Fall Guys ascended to the top of gaming for a period this past summer.

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Although the hype is much lower now, the developers of Fall Guys are still active and engage with its community to make improvements. The community support behind Valorant has been outstanding from an outsider's perspective. It's no secret that Fortnite fans hold Epic Games accountable for all of its decisions, both bad and good. It will be interesting to see if Epic can withstand the onslaught of its opponents in this category.

Bugha Not Nominated This Year

Fortnite World Cup Champion Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf did not receive a nod for “Best Esports Athlete.” It's a strange decision, considering Bugha's name value and continued accomplishments in 2020. Although he did not have any marquee victories, Bugha reached all four FNCS Grand Finals, finishing in 5th, 40th, 4th and 3rd. That sort of consistency is difficult to replicate, even for the highest-earning player in Fortnite history. Perhaps the previously mentioned absence of a significant global competition weakened his overall impact.

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These five players are up for Best Esports Athlete:

Ian “Crimsix” Porter (Dallas Empire, Call of Duty)

Heo “Showmaker” Su (Damwon Gaming, League of Legends)

Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu (Damwon Gaming, League of Legends)

Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-Castro (Dallas Empire, Call of Duty)

Matthieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (Team Vitality, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)

Fortnite will look to add more awards to its extensive trophy case during The Game Awards 2020, which will take place on December 10. Head over to The Game Awards website to cast your vote. The entire event will occur virtually on multiple platforms. Refer to this link for more details.

Stay tuned to ESTNN for more Fortnite news and updates!

Avatar of Matt Pryor
Matt Pryor
Matt is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. He appreciates all esports titles but primarily focuses on Fortnite and Call of Duty. Matt continuously analyzes gameplay and plays the games himself to better understand in-game decisions by the best players in the world.