Epic Games announces FNCS 2021 prize pool & details

Nicholas Sakadelis

Epic Games has released details regarding the 2021 FNCS prize pool and competitive format.

In an update posted on Januray 19, 2021, Epic Games has announced changes to the FNCS 2021 rules after community outrage regarding the prize pool distribution. Previously, Epic Games had consoles and PC in separate prize pool ladders, but now, they have brought back cross-platform competitive play and prizing.

The joining of the playerbases allows for the prize pool to increase for individual events, making the events much more lucrative for players to compete in.

FNCS Chapter 2 Season 5 Schedule

The schedule for the upcoming competitive season will be as follows:

  • Qualifier 1: February 4-7
  • Qualifier 2: February 11-14
  • Qualifier 3: February 18-21
  • Bye Week: February 25-28
  • Semi-Finals: March 5-7
  • Reboot Round: March 12 & 13
  • Finals: March 12-14

Prize pool distribution

The prize pool will be distributed into four seasons, all with a $3 million dollar prize pool spread across multiple regions depending the regions player count and competitive participation. When the year ends, the top players will all be invited to a seperate competitive series with an $8 million dollar prize pool.

You can see the prize breakdown chart below for each region:

Competitive Playlist Changes

In addition to these announcements, Epic Games have also adjusted competitive to improve the competitive integrity of ranked play in advance to the 2021 FNCS season. The changes are as follows:

  • Addition of Lever Action Shotgun
  • Vaulted Rift Fish
  • Vaulted Shockwave Grenades
  • Removal of Elevators and IO Guards
  • Sand tunneling will remain in competitive playlists and tournaments as long as it remains in the core playlists, as it is a major feature of this Season’s map.
  • We’ve made adjustments to the amount of Bars players start with in competitive playlists. We’ll continue to monitor how the Bars system fits in competitive, and will make adjustments as necessary.

As a side note, for console players, Epic Games has also announced they are planning a few Console exclusive tournaments with exclusive prizing, separate from the official prize pool.

You can read more about the prizing and competitive format changes on Epic Games official blog post.

Image Credit: Epic Games