The largest Australian event in competitive gaming, Fortnite Summer Smash at the Australian Open, is set to take place on 26-27 January during finals weekend at the Australian Open 2019.
Some of the best Fortnite players in Australia will compete in a solos tournament with a further 100 personalities from the sports, entertainment and gaming worlds taking part in a ProAm duos tournament for a record $500,000 in combined prize money and charitable donations.
"Fortnite is a global phenomenon, and we're excited to host the Grand Slam of competitive gaming events at the Australian Open in January," Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said.
“We’re proud of our reputation for delivering world-class events and are always looking at new opportunities to reach more people. 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,” Tiley continued.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring the fun of a competitive Fortnite event to fans and players in Australia,” said Epic Games co-founder Mark Rein. “Participants and spectators are in for an exciting weekend of gaming!”
Fortnite fans can register to compete in on-site qualifying events on Saturday 26 January, with winners progressing to the Sunday final. Tickets for the Sunday finals start from $5 for kids tickets and will be available to purchase from 9am AEDT on Monday 7 January 2019 via: ticketek.com.au.
Loserfruit drops into Australian Open
One of Australia’s top competitive gaming content creators Kathleen “Loserfruit” Belsten has signed on to play the ProAm at the Fortnite Summer Smash at Australian Open 2019 alongside Lachlan, Muselk, Lazarbeam and MrFreshAsian.
“I played heaps of tennis growing up and the fact we get to play my favourite game now, Fortnite, at the home of my childhood favourite game is ridiculous but I’m going with it,” Loserfruit said about playing at the Australian Open later this month.
Event organiser Mark Riedy welcomed Loserfruit to the Fortnite Summer Smash line-up with a hit on court. “Loserfruit is one of the most recognisable content creators from Australia with more than a million fans all over the world. It’s great to have players of her calibre taking part in the ProAm,” Riedy said.
“We’re really excited to host an event of this size at the Australian Open. The Fortnite Summer Smash is open to gamers across Australia to take part in and everyone is encouraged to sign up online for the chance to be one of 500 lucky players competing for $400,000 of prize money in the solos tournament.”
Loserfruit’s advice to gamers out there is: “Anyone who thinks they have a chance should enter. I know a lot of OC [Oceania] players who think they are the best and this is the time for them to prove that they are the best and they can make it.”