Fortnite Season 8 FNCS and Grand Royale announced: Prize pool, Dates, Format and more

ByDavid Coulson Hours
Fortnite FNCS Key Art

Fortnite’s FNCS tournament is one of the most exciting parts of any Fortnite season, with the top players across the world coming together to compete for their share of millions of dollars.

Season 8 won’t be any different, as Epic Games has officially announced the next FNCS tournament.

Here is everything you need to know.

FNCS Season 8 Dates

FNCS will be returning in Season 8, with the dates being officially announced by Epic.

Previously there were four weeks of Qualifiers for teams to try and earn their place in the next rounds of the tournament.

This has been scaled back to just two weeks, with the top five teams each week jumping ahead to Grand Finals, as opposed to the top three like last season.

The Qualifiers will now take place on October 15th-17th, and October 22nd-24th.

When it comes to the Semi-Finals, which will take place on October 28th-29th, things have been drastically shaken up compared to previous seasons.

“Semi-Finals will also work slightly differently this FNCS season. We took a close look at previous season’s Reboot Rounds and really enjoyed how they played out in regions that had the full 6 matches after disbands. Achieving a Victory Royale in any tournament match is a pinnacle Fortnite achievement. We’re excited to deliver more Victory Royale focused action this season!

Now, we’ll get a bit more sweaty as we only take the top 66 (previously top 99) teams in Series Points (2 Heats) in each region. Day 1 will consist of four matches in each Heat. The top 4 teams in each Heat after Day 1 will advance to the Finals. The remaining teams from each Heat will be seeded on their performance and reshuffled into new Heats for Day 2.

Day 2 of Semi-Finals will essentially function in the same way as the Reboot Round from past seasons. There will be 6 games in each Heat (12 total games). The winners of each game will advance to the Finals.

As the Semi-Finals progress across the two days with these changes, all participating teams are never out of the running! The map and contested POIs will dynamically open up as more and more teams advance out after each match, leading to a more natural crescendo for players and fans. Teams’ in-the-moment early game decisions matter more during the duration of these new Semi-Finals.”

Grand Finals will take place on October 30th-31st, with two days of competition consisting of six rounds each.

However, there will be one difference in that the top three teams won’t qualify for the Season 9 Grand Finals, instead, Fortnite will begin 2022 with a fresh start.

READ MORE: Fortnite Season 7 live event date and time announced

Format

As with all FNCS tournaments in 2021, the Season 8 FNCS will be in the Trios format, meaning teams of three will compete in the tournament.

Prize Pool

Like the previous season, Trios of players will compete for their share of a $3 million prize pool. Here is the prize pool for each region.

EUNAEBRNAWASIAMEOCE
$1,351,200$635,100$428,175$222,300$150,600$122,250$90,450

Grand Royale

$5 million will be on the line during Grand Royale, a two-week tournament that will begin on November 12th.

“Any eligible player who has made a single-lobby round of FNCS (Round 4 of an FNCS Qualifier, Semi-Finals, or Finals) this year may  make a trio for the event.”

Arena Changes

Epic Games will be looking to shake things up next season when it comes to the Arena mode, with it being made more difficult to reach Champions Division, the division you need to reach to take part in most competitive events.

There will also be a Fill option implemented during Season 8, which will allow players to be randomly paired in Duos and Trios Arena if they don’t have teammates to play with.

Console Cup

“Following the FNCS Finals, console players will have the opportunity to earn a share of the $250,000 prize pool in the Console Champions Cup on November 5-7. The Cup will run just like it has the past two seasons.”

Other Tournaments

Epic Games will continue to host various smaller tournaments throughout Season 8, including Cash Cups and Hype Nites.

“Trios Cash Cups and Trios Hype Cups on Mondays, new Duos Hype Cups on Fridays, and Solo Cash Cups on Sundays with LTM tournaments sprinkled around. DreamHack Cash Cup Extras are scheduled for October 6, November 3, and December 1. With our tight schedule for Season 8, the NAE and EU DreamHack Open Ft. Fortnite is scheduled for October 7-10.”