Epic Won’t Release ‘Fortnite’ Updates Before Big Tournaments

By Stefanie Fogel

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Fortnite” creator Epic Games will no longer release updates for the battle royale title right before big esports tournaments, it said in a blog post on Thursday.

This move should give players more time to adjust to major game changes and develop new strategies between competitions. The adjustment period could range from a few days to a week after a patch’s release, Epic said.

Epic stressed that “Fortnite” updates will continue to happen every week, but it may make changes for major, official competitions. The new policy begins with the upcoming Australian Open, which will use the core Battle Royale modes.

“Last year was an invaluable learning experience for the entire Fortnite Competitive team,” Epic said. “In the past six months, there have been 33 official online North American and European competitions and two major offline competitions. Those competitions tallied to approximately $20 million in prizes awarded to nearly 1,000 players. Each one of these competitions is helping to grow, evolve and shape the competitive ‘Fortnite’ experience.”

Epic also announced on Friday it’s holding a special invitational competition called the Secret Skirmish . The two-day event will include top players from each Open Fortnite tournament held so far and award $500,000 in prize money. It takes place Feb. 14-15 in a “classified, undisclosed testing facility.” Fans can watch it via ’ official channels.

“This event will covertly be used to better prepare our broadcast team for the upcoming World Cup later this year,” Epic said. “We’re incredibly excited to share more details soon on how you can participate in the Fortnite World Cup.”