Fortnite professional Benjyfishy fears decline of Fortnite competitive scene

Benjy "benjyfishy" David Fish pointed to the declining prize pools in Fortnite tournaments as a potential problem for the future of the scene.

Epic Games develops its golden egg Fortnite relentlessly with a cavalcade of updates and game modes but they may have been overlooking certain aspects of the game. Professional Fortnite player, Benjy “benjyfishy” David Fish expresses concern over the future of the competitive scene. Recently, benjyfishy called attention to the dwindling prize pools of Fornite tournaments and what it could mean for the players everywhere. Professionals competing in games out of passion is just oJne motivator for esports.

Building towards disaster

and with prize pools constantly getting less and less its gonna be even harder for unknown players to start making a living out of the game which will eventually make them want to stop playing and the comp scene will slowly start dying out if it carries on

— benjyfishy (@benjyfishy) January 10, 2021

Fortnite's survival could be at risk without proper incentive for players to keep playing the game. The incoming season of competitive Fortnite sports lower cash incentives for players. Benjyfishy sees this as detrimental to the esport but not for his own financial gain. Low incentives easily translate into lower player participation if left unchecked. No self-respecting esports star devotes his life to something that isn't viable in the long run. On the other hand, the diminishing prize pools could have potentially been caused by the decline of esports events in the previous year due to the ongoing pandemic.

The state of things

Win all 5 trio cash cups this season = $3825 each
Win 1 trio cash cup last season = $4000 each

— crr (@crr) January 10, 2021

Fellow Fortnite professional Chris “crr” Williams weighed in on the prize pool issue. Allegedly, according to crr's computations, 1 tournament win in the previous season equates to 5 wins this year. This is a stark difference for the esport title that exploded onto the esports earning standings. Fortnite consistently challenged the established esports titles for the largest prize pools but they seem to have run out of steam.

Epic shared its overview for the 2021 Fortnite season but has yet to address the cash prize problem. Fans and professionals look on in anxiety as they await an edict from the game developers.