Photo Credit: Epic Games
According to a recent tweet by esports consultant and insider Rod “Slasher” Breslau, Epic Games’ part two to the 8-week Fortnite Summer Skirmish series will be a $500,000 solo tournament, which is set to take place this Friday, July 20th.
This solo tournament follows what was a horrendous start to Summer Skirmish, in which server lag was so bad that the entire $250,000 duos tournament had to be called off. Epic Games seems to be eager to improve upon that, however, doubling the prize pool to incentivize big names within the Fortnite community to compete.
What seems to be the problem though, is that the scheduled time for this event now conflicts with that of Friday Fortnite, which has been for the most part one of the most popular Fortnite esports events so far. Community influencer and YouTuber Daniel “KEEMSTAR” Keem, who has been for two and a half months co-hosting these tournaments, expressed his discontent over Epic’s decision to make their tournament’s timing coincide with his.
Hi @EpicGames pic.twitter.com/BI9yfXbH1I
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) July 18, 2018
The main reason behind KEEMSTAR’s anger is that he had on July 12 announced that he’d move the Fortnite Friday tournaments to Sunday, so as to accommodate for the Summer Skirmish Series. However, this change would be made after the pre-determined tournaments on July 13th and July 20th were completed, so Epic’s recent decision to make their Summer Skirmish event on Friday — and at the same time as Fortnite Friday — is the cause for KEEMSTAR’s criticisms toward Epic.
In the video above, KEEMSTAR not only expressed his discontent about Epic’s scheduling, but also said that YouTubers told him that they would play in Fortnite Friday instead of Summer Skirmish, finishing by stating “This is what you get for not communicating with me, not working with me, and just being Epic. Just being Epic. I’ll be KEEMSTAR”.
For now, who will play in which tournament is still unknown, but regardless, Friday is sure to be a day packed with action, so be sure to tune in on Friday to watch your favorite players.