Fortnite fans are getting their first taste of the new Alpha Tournament being run by Epic Games.
It’s a brand new feature that was added to the game today via the Fortnite events tab.
The new Tournament options can be found in the in-game Events tab, which will host a range of online competitions.
The good news is that this new competition will be open to everyone, not just the best players.
Unlike the current Skirmish events being held by Epic Games, Tournaments aren’t so orientated toward eSports and prizes.
However, Epic Games has confirmed that players will be able to collect Shiny Pins, which provide bonuses.
All Tournaments will have a target score and reaching this will award Fortnite players with a shiny pin.
This new item can advance you to the next round of a tournament and also unlock prizes.
Each tournament will have scheduled dates and times and will reset after every run, so no one goes into an event with better stats.
The first Alpha Tournament is a solo event which has started today and will be split between regions but not controller settings.
“We’ve been observing the performance of controller players in our Summer Skirmish, PAX West, and Fall Skirmish tournaments while playing against mouse and keyboard players at the highest levels of competition,” Epic Games confirms in a new post.
“Competitors such as NickMercs, Ayden, KamoLRF, and AmarCoD have shown that controller players can be successful while competing against some of the best PC players in the world.
“Combining everyone into a single competition will allow for players to compete with their friends regardless of platforms and will allow us to place a single shining spotlight onto the world’s best players, increasing prize pools and player exposure from our competitions.”
This will be followed a Duo Beta Tournament, which will kick off next week on October 23, running until October 25.
Tournaments should be live in some regions right now, while others will have to wait until tonight to get started.
Event times will be the same for all days during which the tournament is running, although more will be revealed about the process going forward
Event times for Alpha Tournament in all regions:
NA (Note: NAW & NAE share the same tournament, but matchmaking will be selected by server region)
- 2300 – 0200 UTC
- 7 PM – 10 PM ET
- 4 PM – 7 PM PT
EU
- 1600 – 1900 UTC
- 6 PM – 9 PM CEST
BR
- 2200 – 0100 UTC
- 7 PM – 10 PM BRT
ASIA
- 1000 – 1300 UTC
- 7 PM – 10 PM JST
OCE
- 0600 – 0900 UTC
- 5 PM – 8 PM AEDT