Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Just a year after opening the division, Na’Vi have announced they’re shutting down their Fortnite wing. They’re disbanding the team due to quote ‘unprofitability’ in the title. The unfortunate news means that their players LnueF and Quintin are now seeking new opportunities.
The team manager didn’t mince words about how he felt. He wrote quote ”
Unfortunately, despite huge interest in the discipline on behalf of the players, the publisher, Epic Games, does not support the esports clubs, completely ignoring their interests,”. He went on to outline some specific examples, including the Fortnite World Cup. According to him, Epic was unusually strict about placement, size, and which sponsor logos would be allowed to appear. This made it difficult for teams and players to monetize their appearance at the tournament.
Epic’s goal of getting Fortnite Esports off the ground has been rocky to say the least. Their first year was marked by complaints from players about their habit of introducing new content during or just before competitions. There was also issues with cheating during qualifications for the World Cup. They had a mostly successful World Cup, with a lot of press surrounding Bugha winning 3 million dollars. However, if teams are now feeling the pinch and abandoning the scene, it could be bad news for Epic.
Follow Checkpoint XP on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Checkpoint Daily is Monday through Friday, starting at 5:00 p.m. ET, at Twitch.tv/CheckpointXP. Be sure to follow, turn on those notifications, and subscribe!