Fortnite developers to give $100,000,000 to the game's best players

The prize fund immediately makes Fortnite one of the most rewarding esports games in the world

The world's best Fortnite players will be given $100,000,000, developers have announced.

Epic, who make the hugely popular battle royale game, have announced they will throw themselves behind Fortnite competitions. And they will do so with a huge prize fund that would make the game easily one of the most high-paying esports titles in the world.

The official Fortnite competitions are expected to launch this year. But other than that – and the giant prize fund – Epic revealed few details.

It is not even clear whether Epic will run one big Fortnite competition, or would concentrate on smaller matches.

It did however stress that its approach to the competitive matches would ensure that the games stayed fun and that they would be "inclusive".

"Grab your gear, drop in and start training. Since the launch of Fortnite Battle Royale we’ve watched the passion for community competition grow and can’t wait to empower you to battle with the best," Epic wrote in a blog post.

"In the 2018 - 2019 season, Epic Games will provide $100,000,000 to fund prize pools for Fortnite competitions. We’re getting behind competitive play in a big way, but our approach will be different - we plan to be more inclusive, and focused on the joy of playing and watching the game.

"Stay tuned for more details about competitive structures and eligible platforms in the weeks ahead!"

While the huge prize fund will make Fortnite players better rewarded than any other – $100,000,000 is approaching the total prize money given out for DOTA 2 over the last five years – the money is unlikely to trouble developers Epic. Rumours suggest that the company is making more than $1 million per day from its mobile version of the game alone, and it is available for a whole range of platforms on top of that.

Fortnite is ostensibly free but encourages players to buy cosmetic add-ons and other paid-for upgrades.