Fortnite has always been a staple in the gaming industry. The fan base and hype are huge regarding this battle royale, even after 7 years of its release. Be it its captivating gameplay, unique collaboration, or exciting mechanics, there are a lot of reasons for the huge success of this game.
Not only in normal gaming, this Epic Games title is easily one of the top five e-sports games of all time. And now there is one exciting aspect granted by the game that can lead it to the No. 1 e-sports title in the world.
Fortnite Has Removed Region Lock from Tournaments
Recently, on its official X handle, Fortnite announced that the game has removed the region lock from all the tournaments except the Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS). With this in effect, players can now participate in different regions. For example, a European competitor can now compete in North American tournaments as well.
🚨 Attention competitors!
Effective now (apart from FNCS) we will be removing region lock from all tournaments.
This also applies to this season's ongoing tournaments. If you previously played in one region for an event, you can now play in other regions in that event.
— Fortnite Competitive (@FNCompetitive) June 17, 2024
For those who were unaware of this region lock aspect, this was done to restrict players from participating in tournaments outside of their designated regions. This means that if a player is registered for a tournament in Europe, they can’t participate in the same tournament on another server, like in North America or Asia-Pacific.
So, now the question arises: why was region lock there in the first place? This initiative was implemented to make sure that every tournament was fair by keeping players within their designated regions. This removal might look like a game-changing factor, but there is another upcoming aspect of the game which surely is.
The Impact of Region Lock Removal in Fortnite
The company hasn’t yet shared why it has removed region lock in the tournaments, but it is speculated that this step has been taken to gain more viewership through the tournaments. For example, a popular streamer can now participate in the same tournament via different servers, which will certainly increase the views.
Also, fans will witness a diverse tournament experience when the best players from different regions go head-to-head in the very early stages. However, as the grass is always greener on the other side, this decision also comes with some disadvantages.
There will be huge latency issues when players join another server apart from their designated regional servers. It will also give the players from their own regions an additional edge over the players who are joining from other regions, which is going to be completely unfair.
Talking about fair competitions, a region where it’s already pretty tough to sustain in the tournaments will get tougher as more skilled players join that tournament from various regions. It might benefit the standard and hype of the tournament, but it is going to make the lives of the players very hard.
What’s your opinion on this decision to remove region lock from tournaments? Let us know in the comments.
