Fortnite Championship Series

❧

Wikipedia

Fortnite Championship Series
Founded2019
First seasonSeason X
Most recent
champions
  • Egor 'SwizzY' Luciko
  • Aleksa 'Queasy' Cvetkovic
  • Andrejs 'Merstach' Piratovs

The Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS),[1] previously formally and still informally referred to as the Fortnite Champion Series, is the premier seasonal Fortnite Battle Royale tournament since 2019.[2] FNCS is divided across seven regions, and generally takes place once every full length in-game season. Since 2024, the first three FNCS tournaments of each Chapter – known as "Majors" – have taken place during Seasons 1–3. These have served as qualifiers for the fourth season's FNCS Global Championship, an annual LAN tournament.

Players earn FNCS leaderboard points through outlasting other players, or eliminating them. Although formats, squad sizes and points systems have changed over the years, the tournaments have always consisted of a set of qualification rounds and a grand final, whose victors are crowned "FNCS winners". Since 2025, Epic Games have also hosted annual in-person FNCS Pro-Am tournaments. Besides large prize money, winners are awarded an in-game harvesting tool known as the "Blade of Champions".

In total, 30 FNCS events have been held—24 online, 4 global LAN tournaments and one FNCS Pro-Am.

Regions

FNCS was initially contested across seven server regions: Europe, North America East, North America West, Brazil, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania. This lasted until 2023, when North America East and West were combined into North America Central. In 2025, North America West was reinstated as an FNCS region with North America Central remaining. With proximity to a server providing an in-game advantage, the physical server locations are kept secret, but reverse-engineering gives the following locations, according to an article by ESTNN from 2024:[3]

Region Europe North America[α] Brazil Asia Middle East Oceania
Server location São Paulo Bahrain Sydney
  1. ↑ Including North America East, West and Central

History

2017–2019: Pre-FNCS

Epic Games didn't host any major regular Fortnite tournaments before FNCS. Instead, one-off tournaments such as the Fortnite Pro-Am, Summer Skirmish, Fall Skirmish and Winter Royale – each featuring $1,000,000 or more in prize money – were held in 2018.[4][5][6][7] Notably, the Fall Skirmish series experienced server issues due to large amounts of players surviving into the closing stages of matches. This prompted Epic Games to introduce a game mechanic known as "storm surge", dealing damage to the players who have dealt the least amount of damage in case the player count exceeds a given threshold at a given stage of the match.[8] This mechanic effectively motivates players to engage in combat, and plays an important role in FNCS tournaments to this day.[9][10]

The Fortnite World Cup was announced in February 2019.[11] Initially intended as an annual event, the COVID-19 pandemic rendered it a one-off tournament;[12] Fortnite world champions are crowned at Global Championships nowadays.

2019–2021: Early tournaments with changing team sizes

FNCS was first announced by Epic Games at the Fortnite World Cup.[13] To compete in the first FNCS tournament, Season X, players had to achieve an in-game rank of "Champion", hence the name Fortnite Champion Series. Players in teams of three competed in five weekly tournaments, each awarding cumulative series points to qualify trios for the "Heats", these being set groups qualifying the highest-performing trios to the "Grand Finals". An age limit of 13 was set for FNCS participation, which persists to this day.[14]

The logo used for FNCS in Chapter 2 (colors varied)

The system of weekly tournaments with cumulative series points, heats and grand finals remained into Chapter 2, but the squad size changed to four players in Season 1, and two in Season 2.[15]

A recurring complaint during the early FNCS tournaments of Chapter 2 was the overpowered nature of "aim assist" – an in-game setting compensating for the supposed disadvantage of controller as opposed to keyboard and mouse. Then highest-followed Twitch streamer in the world and FNCS player Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins was among those critical of aim assist.[16][17] This was supported by clips of controller players "beaming" their enemies, i.e. hitting abnormally many shots in a row, notably from Chapter 2 Season 1 FNCS winner Domnick 'UnknownxArmy' Green.[18][19] Although FNCS was split between PC and console/mobile from Seasons 2–4 of Chapter 2, Epic Games weakened aim assist several times in 2020.[19]

Starting in Chapter 2 Season 2, FNCS winners were awarded the Axe of Champions – an in-game harvesting tool with the FNCS logo – to use for the season following their victory.[20]

On April 24, 2020, Epic Games announced the FNCS Invitational; a solo tournament across all regions. The tournament – taking place in May, 2020 – featured the Grand Finalists from all previous FNCS tournaments, along with 100 players having qualified from an open qualifier, and up to 100 players invited by Epic Games.[21]

The Chapter 2 Season 3 FNCS was also played in solos, but the game mode switched back to trios for the rest of Chapter 2's regular FNCS tournaments, starting in Season 4, with the series points and heats system remaining.[22]

In June, 2021, Epic Games hosted the FNCS All-Star Showdown, which was contested in several events;[23] its Battle Royale tournament was played in solos. It featured one qualifying round and one grand final across all regions.[24] Then, in Chapter 2 Season 8, Epic Games hosted the 2021 FNCS Grand Royale; a trio FNCS featuring qualification rounds on November 11–14 and grand finals on November 19–21.[25] These events were played apart from the regular seasonal FNCS tournaments.

2022–2024: Seasonal duos tournaments and annual global LANs

The logo used for FNCS in Chapter 3 and onwards (colors vary)

In 2022, following the launch of Chapter 3, the competitive game mode switched to duos. The chapter featured three seasonal FNCS tournaments from which the 50 best-performing duos selected by Epic Games qualified to the FNCS Invitational 2022, taking place in Chapter 3 Season 4. Similar to previous FNCS tournaments, Chapter 3 FNCS tournaments consisted of a qualification stage awarding series points, semi-finals and grand finals.[22] The original Axe of Champions was replaced by the "Axe of Champions 2.0", featuring the updated FNCS logo in Chapter 3 Season 2.[26]

The FNCS Invitational 2022 was held in-person in Raleigh on November 11–12, 2022.[27]

Chapters 4 and 5 featured similar FNCS formats as Chapter 3, with the same team size and strictly seasonal tournaments. Epic Games did however lower the rank requirement to participate from "Champion" to "Contender", as well as naming the tournaments Major 1, 2, and 3 respectively, each Major taking place in the corresponding season. Additionally, the fourth season's Invitational LAN was replaced with a Global Championship, for which 50 qualification spots were awarded by high FNCS Grand Finals placements.[22]

Upon a ranked system overhaul in May 2023,[28] the barrier to entering FNCS tournaments was set to "Platinum" rank or above, starting in Chapter 4 Season 3.[29]

In addition to Majors 1, 2, and 3, a "Last Chance Major" tournament was held in August, 2023, qualifying a further 25 duos to the 2023 FNCS Global Championship.[30]

The 2023 FNCS Major 3 winners Egor 'SwizzY' Luciko and Daniil 'Putrick' Abdrakhmanov, and Last Chance Major qualifying duo 'NeFrizi' and Vladislav 'Howly' Korobkin; all Russian players, were disqualified for the 2023 FNCS Global Championship due to sanctions by Epic Games.[31][32]

The 2023 FNCS Global Championship was held in Copenhagen on October 13–15, 2023. On the first day, the 49 qualified duos through Majors 1, 2 and 3 competed in the Upper Bracket for 25 spots in the third day's Grand Finals. On the second day, the bottom 24 duos in the Upper Bracket competed in the Lower Bracket against the 24 qualified duos from the Last Chance Major for the remaining 25 spots in the grand finals.[33][34]

The Fortnite Champion Series was renamed to the "Fortnite Championship Series" ahead of Chapter 5. Much like Chapter 4, Chapter 5 featured three FNCS Majors and one FNCS Global Championship, the latter taking place in Fort Worth on September 7–8, 2024. There was no Last Chance Major in 2024, and the 2024 FNCS Global Championship featured 50 duos.[35] Chapter 5's FNCS Majors each featured two open qualifiers each awarding series points, leading to semi finals consisting of a lower and upper bracket, in turn leading to the FNCS Grand Finals.[22]

2025–present: Divisional system

Ahead of Chapter 6, the Axe of Champions 2.0 was replaced by a new harvesting tool known as the "Blade of Champions".[36] Chapter 6 saw the competitive game mode switching to trios, as well as the introduction of Divisional Cups. To compete in the FNCS Play-Ins, in turn qualifying trios for the Grand Finals, players had to reach Division 1, the highest among 3. Last Chance Qualifiers were also held, in which players from all divisions could play.[37] As well as Majors 1–3 and the 2025 Global Championship, Epic Games hosted the 2025 FNCS Pro-Am in Los Angeles, on May 10, 2025. It featured 20 pairings of professional players and content creators and was played in the Reload game mode.[38]

The 2025 FNCS Global Championship took place in Lyon on September 6–7, 2025.[39] During the event, Epic Games unveiled the competitive roadmap for 2026, revealing the return of duos as the competitive game mode, a mid-season LAN, a Reload Elite Series LAN, a $1,000,000 Mobile Series, Ranked 2.0, the return of the FNCS Pro-Am, and the return of the FNCS Global Championship to Europe.[40]

In October, 2025, Epic Games updated the problematic storm surge mechanic to take into account net damage, as opposed to total dealt damage. This change intended to combat the prevalent strategy known as "surge trading", in which teams would build towers and trade shots without fighting, a strategy that sometimes led to teaming allegations. The update received generally positive reactions from professional players.[41][42]

Epic Games provided a calendar for the upcoming 2026 FNCS in December, 2025, in which it was revealed that Chapter 7 Season 1 would be without an FNCS.[43] This marked the first full-length season without an FNCS since its inception in 2019. However, the FNCS Trial, determining duos' division, is set to take place on January 31, in Season 1.[44] Much like in Chapter 6, players will have to reach Division 1 – the highest among 5 on Europe and North America Central, and 3 on the other regions – to play in the FNCS Play-Ins ahead of each Major, with a Last Chance Qualifier also open for players from all divisions.[45] The 2026 FNCS Major 1, taking place in April, will qualify players to the FNCS Major 1 Summit, a $1,000,000 LAN event in May. This LAN, along with FNCS Majors 2–3, will qualify players to the 2026 FNCS Global Championship. In addition, a new harvesting tool for FNCS winners, the Axe of Champions 3.0, will be introduced.[46]

Though not part of FNCS, the Reload Elite Series plays an important role in players' esports organization affiliations in 2026, with the tournament, played in Fortnite Reload, qualifying duos for the 2026 Esports World Cup. Notably, organization Gen.G returned to Fortnite after five years, signing former FNCS winners Aidan ‘Ajerss‘ Bernero and Maguire ‘Ritual‘ Morton.[47]

Tournaments

Region key
Europe North America Brazil Asia Middle East Oceania
East Central West
EU NAE NAC NAW BR ASIA ME OCE
Official name[a] Start date End date Chapter Season Game mode Regions
FNCS: Season X August 16, 2019 September 22, 2019 1 X Trios EU, NAE, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS: Chapter 2 – Season 1 November 2, 2019 December 8, 2019 2 1 Squads[b]
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 2[c] March 20, 2020 April 19, 2020 2 Duos
FNCS – Invitational May 1, 2020 May 24, 2020 Solos
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 3[c] July 31, 2020 August 16, 2020 3
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 4[c] October 8, 2020 November 1, 2020 4 Trios
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 5 February 11, 2021 March 14, 2021 5
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 6 April 22, 2021 May 30, 2021 6
FNCS All-Star Showdown[d] June 17, 2021 June 26, 2021 7 Solos
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 7 July 29, 2021 September 5, 2021 Trios
FNCS: Chapter 2 Season 8 October 14, 2021 October 31, 2021 8
2021 FNCS Grand Royale November 12, 2021 November 20, 2021
FNCS: Chapter 3 Season 1 February 17, 2022 March 6, 2022 3 1 Duos
FNCS: Chapter 3 Season 2 May 2, 2022 May 29, 2022 2
FNCS: Chapter 3 Season 3 July 6, 2022 August 14, 2022 3
FNCS Invitational 2022 November 12, 2022 November 13, 2022 4 Global
FNCS Major 1 – 2023 February 2, 2023 March 5, 2023 4 1 EU, NAE, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 2 – 2023 April 13, 2023 May 14, 2023 2 EU, NAC, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 3 – 2023 July 20, 2023 August 13, 2023 3
2023 FNCS Global Championship October 13, 2023 October 15, 2023 4 Global
FNCS Major 1 – 2024 January 26, 2024 February 25, 2024 5 1 EU, NAC, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 2 – 2024 April 12, 2024 May 12, 2024 2
FNCS Major 3 – 2024 June 14, 2024 July 28, 2024 3
2024 FNCS Global Championship September 7, 2024 September 8, 2024 4 Global
FNCS Major 1 – 2025 January 29, 2025 February 16, 2025 6 1 Trios EU, NAC, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 2 – 2025 April 9, 2025 April 27, 2025 2
2025 FNCS Pro-Am May 10, 2025 MS1 Reload Duos Global
FNCS Major 3 – 2025 July 16, 2025 August 3, 2025 3 Trios EU, NAC, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
2025 FNCS Global Championship September 6, 2025 September 7, 2025 4 Global
FNCS Major 1 – 2026 April 6, 2026 April 26, 2025 7 2[e] Duos EU, NAC, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 1 Summit – 2026 May, 2026 May, 2026 Unknown Global
FNCS Major 2 – 2026 July 20, 2026 August 9, 2026 3[e] EU, NAC, NAW, BR, ASIA, ME, OCE
FNCS Major 3 – 2026 September 21, 2026 October 11, 2026 4[e]
2026 FNCS Global Championship November, 2026 November, 2026 Unknown Global
  1. ↑ FNCS stands for: Fortnite Champion Series (until 2023); Fortnite Championship Series (since 2024)
  2. ↑ Squads consisting of four players
  3. 1 2 3 Tournament split into PC and console/mobile
  4. ↑ Tournament included several events besides Battle Royale
  5. 1 2 3 Season is unconfirmed; the listed season is based on the season dates of the previous chapter[48]

Source: Epic Games

References

  1. ↑ "Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) 2024 Details". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  2. ↑ "What Is The FNCS? Fortnite Biggest Esports Clash". Hotspawn. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  3. ↑ Ashley, Jordan (2024-10-03). "Fortnite Servers - All 8 Locations and Why Ping is Important". Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  4. ↑ "Ninja and Marshmello win first ever Fortnite Pro-Am". BBC Newsround. 2018-06-14. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  5. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (2018-07-11). "Epic Games Launches $8 Million 'Fortnite' Summer Skirmish Series". Variety. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  6. ↑ Webb, Kevin. "'Fortnite' is getting a new mode for the most competitive players, as it builds towards a $1.1 million showdown". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Fortnite's $1,000,000 Winter Royale Online Tournament announced". Shacknews. 2018-11-20. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  8. ↑ "The highlights of the Competitive Fortnite AMA". Fortnite Tracker. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  9. ↑ Viana, Bhernardo (2019-04-30). "Fortnite: What is Storm Surge and How It Works %%page%% %%sep%% %%sitename%%". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  10. ↑ "Fortnite Storm Mechanics Explained - Storm Surge And Damage". Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  11. ↑ Webster, Andrew (2019-02-22). "Fortnite's $30 million World Cup final is happening in July". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  12. ↑ Webster, Andrew (2020-04-30). "There won't be a Fortnite World Cup in 2020". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  13. ↑ Geracie, Nick (2019-07-29). "Fortnite Championship Series announced during 2019 Fortnite World Cup broadcast". InvenGlobal. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  14. ↑ "Fortnite Champion Series: Season X Official Rules". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  15. ↑ Epic Games (2025-10-09). "Fortnite Champion Series: Chapter 2 Season 1 Official Rules" (PDF).
  16. ↑ Orland, Kyle (2020-05-20). "Controller pros are dominating PC Fortnite thanks to "overpowered" aim assist". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  17. ↑ "Ninjas ilska mot aim assist i Fortnite: "Det är fusk"". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  18. ↑ Pryor, Matt (2020-03-07). "Fortnite: Legacy Controller Setting Will Go Away on March 13th". Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  19. 1 2 Pryor, Matt (2020-03-18). "Fortnite: EpikWhale Explains his Switch from Keyboard and Mouse to Controller". Retrieved 2025-10-09.
  20. ↑ Coulson, Josh (2020-04-28). "How To Get Fortnite's Rarest Item Of All: The Axe Of Champions". TheGamer. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
  21. ↑ Hadzic, Nedim. "Fortnite dev announces FNCS Invitational dates and details". www.altchar.com. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  22. 1 2 3 4 "Rules Library - Fortnite Competitive". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  23. ↑ Joseph Knoop (2021-06-10). "FNCS All-Star Showdown combines competitive mode with creative mode". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  24. ↑ "FNCS All-Star Showdown Official Rules". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  25. ↑ "2021 FNCS Grand Royale Official Rules". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  26. ↑ "Fortnite reveals the Axe of Champions 2.0". Fortnite News. 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  27. ↑ "BLAST to produce FNCS Invitational 2022 as Fortnite returns to in-person events". News Powered by Cision. 2022-10-11. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  28. ↑ Huxley, Ben. "Fortnite Ranked system explained: Leaderboard, game modes, rewards & rankings | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  29. ↑ "Fortnite Champion Series Major 3 - 2023 - Official Rules". Epic Games' Fortnite. Retrieved 2025-10-11.
  30. ↑ "FNCS Last Chance Major: Final results & leaderboard". esports.gg. 2023-08-21. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  31. ↑ "Fortnite pros lose out on $200,000 prize because they're Russian". Metro. 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  32. ↑ "Fortnite to Disqualify Russian Players From $4 Million FNCS Championship". Fortnite Tracker. 2023-09-13. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  33. ↑ "FNCS Global Championship Takes Place Late 2023, $4 Million Prize Pool Announced". Fortnite News. 2023-01-14. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  34. ↑ "Fortnite FNCS Global Championship 2023: Final results and leaderboard". esports.gg. 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  35. ↑ "FNCS Global Championship 2024: Teams, Prize Pool, and more!". Fortnite Tracker. 2024-09-03. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  36. ↑ "Fortnite reveals new FNCS Blade of Champions Pickaxe reward". esports.gg. 2024-11-11. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  37. ↑ "Fortnite reveals 2025 FNCS information: Dates, prize pool and more » Esports | Esports.gg". esports.gg. 2024-11-13. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  38. ↑ "Fortnite FNCS Pro-Am 2025: All confirmed Duos competing on LAN". esports.gg. 2025-04-15. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  39. ↑ "Fortnite Global Championship 2025: Final results & leaderboard". esports.gg. 2025-09-07. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  40. ↑ Fudge, James (2025-09-08). "Fortnite Competitive Roadmap for 2026 Revealed". The Esports Advocate. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  41. ↑ "Fortnite Storm Surge Changes Confirmed For Tournaments". 2025-10-02. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  42. ↑ "Fortnite Teaming allegations Fly Ahead of FNCS Finals". 2025-04-26. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  43. ↑ "When Does FNCS 2026 Start? Huge Changes". 2025-12-15. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  44. ↑ Sayal, Rabia (2026-01-07). "All Fortnite competitive events in January 2026". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  45. ↑ "FNCS 2026: Duos Return, $10,000,000+ Prize Pool, and the Full Road to the Global Championship". Fortnite Tracker. 2025-12-11. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  46. ↑ Morris, Joey (2025-12-11). "Fortnite Championship Series returns in 2026 with $10m prize pool". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  47. ↑ Nicholson, Jonno (2026-01-09). "Gen.G expands into Fortnite esports ahead of 2026 FNCS season". Esports Insider. Retrieved 2026-01-18.
  48. ↑ "Full FNCS Calendar - All 2026 Stages And Majors". 2025-12-25. Retrieved 2026-01-18.