Epic Games announced today that Fortnite‘s next esports event, the Winter Royale Online Tournament, will start November 24 and award $1 million.
The battle royale shooter is a giant hit on PC, consoles, and mobile. As a free-to-play game, it has earned hundreds of millions of downloads and over $1 billion in revenue. Epic is using esports events to help promote Fortnite and keep current players engaged while potentially expanding its audience.
Any player can participate by accessing Fortnite’s tournament mode. The in-game tournament system launched in October.
“There will be several chances for anyone to try and get a high score during the Winter Royale Qualifier days,” Epic Games details on a blog post. “The highest score you achieve during any event session will be the one that counts, so be sure to give it your all! As part of our ongoing competitive tests to prepare for the Fortnite World Cup, Winter Royale will use the same game settings as the currently available Pop-Up Cup.”
Epic Games will reach out to the top performers in each region and invite them to compete in the Winter Royale Finals.