With its next competitive season slated to begin in less than a week, Epic Games took a 1-2 punch this week that may put the future of competitive Fortnite play on shakier ground than ever, despite a recent $20 million bet by the company to increase the Fortnite Champion Series‘ appeal, to both fans and competitors.
First, North American esports stalwart Team SoloMid dropped a bombshell on Monday, announcing its departure from competitive Fortnite altogether. Then came an announcement that impacts Fortnite players around the world.
Fortnite’s Newest Season? Hold That Thought
On Wednesday, Epic announced the latest Fortnite season — Chapter 2, Season 5 (C2S5) — is being pushed back a week due to a bug discovered in an update to the game.
“We have discovered a bug in the v15.30 update that is preventing some players from being able to queue into tournaments,” the company tweeted. “To ensure all eligible players have the opportunity to compete, we are shifting each FNCS Qualifier back one week.”
Hey, At Least There’s No Super Bowl To Compete Against
Perhaps the one ray of sunshine in the announcement is that the first round of qualifiers was scheduled to take place this Sunday. As in Super Bowl Sunday. Now, the three weekends of qualifiers should conclude on Feb. 14, 21 and 28.
And that’s a conspiracy theory making the rounds in the Fortnite universe.
“There’s no bugs in Fortnite that’s impossible we did it @yungcalc,” FaZe Clan’s Timothy “Bizzle” Miller tweeted. “lets watch the superbowl tg.”
But the delay is only the latest in a line of headaches for Epic and Fortnite.
North American Powerhouse Bows Out Of Fortnite
Two days earlier, TSM announced it is getting out of the Fortnite game, releasing the trio of Mack “MackWood” Aesoph, Rocco “Saf” Morales, and Kerry “Ferrrnando” Salas from their contracts.
“Thank you for everything you contributed to TSM during your time with the org. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors,” the company tweeted.
Saf and Ferrrnando signed with the team last August, while MackWood had been with TSM since September 2019. For his part, MackWood didn’t seem broken up about his release on Twitter.
“SUPER HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT I AM OFFICIALLY A FREE AGENT LETS GOOO,” he tweeted.
Departures, Retirements And Worries Over Prize Money
TSM’s exist wasn’t the first when it comes to competitive Fortnite. In January
