Fortnite Esports Events Will Be All-Digital in 2021

Good news: 2020 is almost over.

Bad news: Everything else.

Indeed, while a big deal of often made about the start of a new year, slates are not exactly wiped clean, and things that are a problem now will still be a problem then. Case in point, 2020 may have been called an awful year for starting the pandemic, but COVID-19 isn't going anywhere in 2021. We're going to be stuck with it for a long while still, even if a vaccine is ready to go.

Well, Epic Games, the folks behind Fortnite and a lawsuit against Apple, have just put out a new blog post catching people up with their plans for 2021, and it seems they're making the responsible decision regarding eSports: namely, that for the whole of next year, Epic Games will continue to promote remote eSport competition.

From the blog post in question:

"Our intent is to eventually hold global in-person tournaments again, but our priority for any such event is the health and safety of our players and staff. With so much still unknown about what is practical and safe, we do not plan to hold in-person events in 2021, including a Fortnite World Cup. We will continue to provide online competitions throughout 2021 with the hopes that physical events, in some form, can return at some point in the future."

This is considerably more responsible and reasonable than a lot of other organizations, which have either taken a "wait and see" attitude, or have committed to in-person events next year regardless of the state of the pandemic. Indeed, one of the top names in eSports, League of Legends, even had a televised, in-person, stadium-filled final in spite of professional recommendations against it.

Other such organizations that have been less than responsible include Gamescom, which also plans to have physical events in 2021, and E3, which never really wanted to have a remote event in the first place.