Fortnite is coming to the Australian Open this year, folks. As weird as it sounds, that’s exactly what’s happening, the Fortnite Summer Smash will take place in Melbourne on Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of January.
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The tournament will feature some of Australia‘s best Fortnite players, along with sports, entertainment, and gaming personalities. There’ll be a solos tournament and a ProAm duos tournament packing $500,000 in prize money and charitable donations. You can even enter yourself if you reckon you’re any good.
We don’t know all the personalities involved just yet, but from the gaming world, Aussie content creators Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten, Muselk, Lachlan, Lazerbeam, and MrFreshAsian will all be taking part in the ProAm tournament.
“Fortnite is a global phenomenon, and we’re excited to host the Grand Slam of competitive gaming events at the Australian Open in January,” AO tournament director, Craig Tiley, said in a statement.
“The Fortnite Summer Smash at the Australian Open will see some of the best gamers from around the country do battle just hours before the world’s best male tennis players compete for the AO title.”
I dunno, it seems like a weird pairing of events, but I guess the goal from AO’s perspective is to drive a new generation of people to the event who will hopefully find an interest in tennis. It’s not the first sport hitting the esports trail, either. A whole bunch of AFL teams have already acquired esports teams across games like League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
If you reckon you have what it takes to compete, you can register to take part in the qualifying event right here. If you’re more into spectating the event, tickets are available here.
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