Fortnite‘s competitive events for the year will kick off this week with the Chapter 3, Season 1 Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS). The new season will once again mix up the format of Epic’s big esports event, with a shared prize pool of over $3,000,000 on offer for the champions.
In a change from last year’s Trios format, all FNCS events for 2022 will instead run Duos as the primary competitive game mode. This change to the format means more teams will be able to qualify directly for the finals from one of two qualifiers, with the top eight teams from each session going straight to the finals.
This year’s competitive season will also shake up the way both semis and finals work. The semis will put more focus on competitors achieving a Victory Royale, which is described as a “pinnacle Fortnite achievement.” Players who make it to the semis will either have to win a game or be one of the six most consistent teams in order to advance to the finals. A total of 50 teams will compete in the finals: 16 directly from the qualifiers, 11 from the first session of semis, 11 from the second session, and 12 from the final semi-final session.
The finals also have some format changes, with a new variable called Match Point. Under this new rule, a team will be able to bring home an automatic win by earning “500 total points and 3 Victory Royales,” even if all scheduled games are not completed. If no one triggers this by the end of 12 games, the finals will proceed as they have in previous seasons.
Running over two weeks, the Season 1 FNCS will begin on February 17, and include two Qualifiers, a Semi-Final run across three sessions, and the Finals running across two days. Here’s the schedule for the FNCS, which will be streamed live on Fortnite’s Twitch channel. Starting with this season, the event will also be broadcast live within the game from Legends Landing.
- Qualifier 1: February 18
- Qualifier 2: February 20
- Semi-Finals: February 25-27
- Session 1: 5 Matches; 2.5 Hours; 1st – 50th on the Series Points Leaderboard
- Session 2: 5 Matches; 2.5 Hours; 1st – 61st on the Series Points Leaderboard
- Session 3: 6 Matches; 3 Hours; 1st – 72nd on the Series Points Leaderboard
- Finals: March 5-6
Each day of play will run to the same broadcast schedule, as follows:
- Show Begins:
- 12:50 PM ET
- 9:50 PM PT
- 6:50 PM CET
- EU Live Coverage:
- 1:00 PM ET
- 10:00 AM PT
- 7:00 PM CET (10 PM CET on February 18 only)
- Break:
- 4:20 PM ET
- 1:20 PM PT
- 10:20 PM CET
- NAE Live Coverage:
- 4:50 PM ET (9 PM ET on February 18 only)
- 1:50 PM PT
- Break:
- NAW Live Coverage:
- 9:15 PM ET
- 6:15 PM PT (9 PM PT on February 18 only)
- Broadcast Ends:
Chapter 3, Season 1 will have players competing for a share in a prize pool worth $3,000,000, with the winnings shared out between seven regions.
Fortnite players who aren’t quite at pro level will also be able to get a taste of the action with the FNCS Community Cup on February 28, which involves competing in 10 matches over three hours. While top teams in the Community Cup don’t get to compete for a cash prize, they’ll be able to unlock the FNCS 3:1 Champion Outfit and Winner’s Mark Back Bling for peak bragging rights.
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