The Fortnite x Esports World Cup 2024 took place over four days, from August 8 to 11, at Boulevard Riyadh City. Despite the sizable prize pool, the event struggled to gain significant live viewership, ranking only as the game’s ninth most-watched tournament this year.
An unconventional format was used for this event, differing from typical Fortnite competitions. While this format allowed for a more streamlined Group Stage and Playoffs, it failed to attract a large audience, especially when compared to the highly popular Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) events.
XSET remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, ultimately winning the Fortnite Esports World Cup 2024 title.
Shorter Format
The shorter format of the EWC 2024 meant fewer matches for each team—up to a maximum of five—leading to less viewer engagement. Unlike FNCS events where fans can watch their teams compete in nearly two dozen games across different stages, the limited number of matches here had less impact, despite the undefeated streak of some teams.
Sixteen esports organizations from around the world, including Karmine Corp, Gaimin Gladiators, ZETA DIVISION, BIG, and Fnatic, competed for a prize pool of $1,050,000. These teams qualified through regional competitions and placements in the DreamHack Dallas 2024 tournament.
XSET dominated the event, winning 1000 Club Points, $400,000, and the trophy, dropping only three games across five matches.
However, big names like ZETA DIVISION, Fnatic, and BIG struggled, each securing just one match win before being eliminated in the Group Stage. South American teams w7m esports and DRAGONS eSports also exited early, combining for a single match win.
The Fortnite x Esports World Cup 2024 peaked at 72.6K viewers during the final match between XSET and Exceed, both American teams. This final highlighted North America’s strong influence in the game, with three of the four North American teams reaching the Playoffs. The event accumulated 799.2K Hours Watched and had an Average Viewership of 25.5K over 31 hours of broadcast time.
Dominant Language
English was the dominant language for viewership, accounting for over two-thirds of the total watch time. Portuguese also ranked highly, thanks to the popular streamer Gaules covering the event, even though his team, w7m esports, was eliminated early.
Karmine Corp, owned by Kamet0, also contributed significantly to viewership figures, particularly among French-speaking fans, making French one of the top languages at the event. Kamet0’s influence helped draw a broader audience, despite the early exit of his team.
In terms of overall viewership rankings for Fortnite tournaments in 2024, the EWC 2024 was the ninth most-watched but was the top non-FNCS event. However, its peak concurrent viewership fell short of the top ten, partly due to the format and the lack of continuous live coverage by co-casters. If more matches had been broadcasted simultaneously, viewership could have been higher.
The Esports World Cup 2024 continues until August 25, featuring competitions in games like StarCraft II, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, EA Sports FC, PUBG: Battlegrounds, and Rocket League.
