10 Reasons Fortnite’s Esports Plans Could Be Pure Gold

When developer/publisher Epic Games announced last week that Fortnite’s initial foray into esports would be a “World Cup,” I immediately thought about the enormous possibilities of such a truly international competition. While they haven’t officially declared “Country vs. Country” as the direction they’re going (outside of the name itself), I’ve spent a good amount of time crunching financial forecasts, business models, sponsor opportunities, etc. and concluded that such a format would be pure gold. Here are 10 reasons why:

1. FIRST MOVER: While all esports are obviously international, no publisher has specifically put country-based competition at the foundation of its esports structure. (Yes, Overwatch has its own World Cup, but it’s a very limited invitational and secondary to its franchise modeled Overwatch League). A “World Cup” would essentially treat entire countries as franchises — as in USA vs. France. While some have talked about esports being involved in future Olympics, Epic would be creating its own Olympics for Fortnite. Just being the first to that market is the basis of many of the following points.

2. NATIONALISM IN SPORTS SELLS: The FIFA World Cup and International Olympics are two of the most successful sports properties in the world — especially when valued by their broadcast deals alone. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) generated over $4 billion in broadcast revenue for the Brazil Olympics and FIFA will earn nearly $2 billion for Russia 2018. Obviously the rights fees and structure would be vastly different, but Fortnite is essentially creating a possibly-annual platform that’s a combination of both World Cup and Olympics. And promoting nationalism through competition is a surefire revenue generator.

3. A SPONSOR’S DREAM: Major brands (and their respective agencies) like writing one check, per se — and succinctly activating and calculating impressions and ROI from it. One of the concerns for prospective esport sponsors to date is the wide-range of games, leagues and teams (‘Where do we start?’ is a common refrain I hear from major brands wanting to get more involved with esports). By declaring its World Cup will “not be selling teams or franchises, and won’t allow third-party leagues to do so either.,” Epic will have full control over who gets to use Fortnite’s intellectual property in competitions, and as such, a single source for sponsors. For what it’s worth, the IOC generated over $400 million in Rio 2016 from marketing deals with companies such as Coca-Cola, Samsung and Visa.

4. BRANDS REALLY, REALLY NEED THIS AUDIENCE: International sponsors obviously want (and need) to market to Millennials and Gen Z’ers, but those demographics are increasingly less likely to watch events such as the Olympics. With over 40 million players logging in to play Fortnite every month and a record number watching Fortnite on Twitch, it’s a safe bet that a good number of them are between the ages of 8 and 18. The average age of viewers of the Olympic Games in Rio … 53.

5. “SANCTIONED” EVENTS OUT OF THE GATE: For years, many publishers have allowed third-party esports organizers to create events and online competitions based on their IP because it was viewed as a marketing tool for the game. With a reported (yet unverified) $300 million in revenue last month, Fortnite doesn’t need to push out its competitions for the purpose of generating player interest and can restrict its events to only “sanctioned” partners. Obviously this gives Epic much more control over the way tournaments are run, marketed, viewed and rewarded.

6. FOCUS ON VIEWER/ ENTERTAINMENT: By declaring the competition will “focus on solos and duos,” and not four-person “squads,” Epic may be signaling it’s putting as much value on “entertainment” as the competition structure — and that balance is a great thing for the long-term development of esports. Squads may have been the expected esports direction for competitive Fortnite, but spectating a Fortnite squad event (especially as a casual viewer) is exponentially more difficult — and less thrilling — than 2 person or single spectator viewpoints.

7. DEVELOPMENT OF THE “CASUAL FAN”: I usually don’t watch Gymnastics, Swimming or Bobsledding (and others), but come Olympics time I and many others are completely engrossed in those sports if there’s a captivating story or if Team USA has a chance of earning a medal. Attracting the casual esports fan is at or near the top of the list of every esports organization and it’s easy to see how a national team perspective could attract the casual viewer.

8. “FEEL GOOD” FACTOR: Like it or not, it’s a fact that esports suffers from an image problem at times, especially from those who aren’t familiar with its dynamics. But put a smiling kid with an American flag, Team USA designation and Fortnite logo on a Wheaties box and it automatically has that “feel good” factor that esports may need to change the perception of many. Require all sanctioned Fortnite competitions to be 50/50, male/female, and Fortnite could change the perception of competitive video gaming … overnight.

9. DEVELOPMENTAL LEAGUE STRUCTURE: Recent controversies notwithstanding, both the Olympics and World Cup soccer have an impressive record of developmental league structure and success. Fortnite could make huge strides for all esports by announcing a relative similar framework in parallel to its top end competition. “Making Team USA” (or insert other country) is a calling cry for international sports and creates a built-in, top-down ladder system. Not to mention the possibilities for a Team USA “Fortnite Training Center.” (And I know a group that’s already building one in Los Angeles).

10. FUTURE ESPORTS PLATFORM: With its expected success, it’s easy to see how Epic Games’ World Cup could be the basis of all future esports formats — whether it be for Epic or other games wanting to take advantage of the structure. USA Soccer or USA Swimming didn’t need to join the World Cup or Olympics, respectively, but the international events’ marketability and potential revenue share made it an easy choice when it came time to operating those sports successfully.

Bottom line, this isn’t about fabricating nationalism for the sake of “Us vs. Them” to make a buck. That’s not the purpose and I’m sure the lighthearted, intelligent team at Epic Games would never promote, or even consider, such a perspective. But an international competition in a let’s-get-the-world-together-and-have-some-fun-with-this format would be a blast for everyone — players, fans, sponsors, etc. Knowing Epic Games’ player/community-first mantra, any profits generated from such a platform would quickly make its way to the players at all levels. And that’s the pure gold part.

(Brett Morris is an esports, technology and entertainment consultant; former founding President/COO of esports innovator Super League Gaming (SuperLeague.com) and former Senior Vice President for Mark Cuban (MarkCubanCompanies.com). He’s also written several articles about the NBA and its 2K League and other emerging technologies. He can be reached at Brett@MorrisStrategic.com or follow him on Twitter@MorrisStrategic)