Fortnite Zero Build tournaments have, at times, been a pretty good part of the competitive community. Events where players could compete on pure aim! But Zero Build esports aren’t as expansive as they were at once point.
Fortnite esports is a wide term, now including a ton of game modes. Where there are Battle Royale events nearly every day, Zero Build has gotten a lot smaller these days. What happened to Fortnite Zero Build tournaments and is there any still around?
Are There Fortnite Zero Build Tournaments?
At the moment, there aren’t any regular Fortnite Zero Builds tournaments. But in the past, we’ve had substantial spreads of events, with enough regular cups for players to compete in Zero Build esports and actually make some money. Although, they were stopped recently.
In the past, we mainly saw Zero Builds running for Cash Cups. These are the smaller Fortnite events where players compete in two sessions, a qualifier and a final, with cash at the end. There were regular Cash Cups when you competed against other players to place on a leaderboard. However, the Victory Cups were ran for Zero Builds too. Where players got a cash prize for Victory Royales, nothing else. An all or nothing kind of event that just spread the money around those who won games.
At the moment, there aren’t any of these events being ran right now. We’ve got plenty for Builds, even Solo Cash Cup events. However, Zero Builds could get some additional events in the future. Especially since they were only shut down because of outside circumstances, not a lack of interest or problems with the format as a whole. While quite different, Zero Builds esports were entertaining too.
The Big Differences with Zero Build Esports
Fortnite Zero Build tournaments were run in the same map with the same weapons, but had major differences from normal tournaments. The obvious one is no builds, but if you consider how much builds control the flow of games at the esports level, Fortnite Zero Build competitive does look very different.
Players couldn’t rely on the safety of builds. There was a lot more careful play and avoiding open. The major difference might have been in the end game though. Stacked late circles are pretty common in competitive Fortnite. If you look at events like the FNCS Majors, players are in absolute mess of builds by the moving circle, with nobody wanting to exposure themselves. This can’t happen in Zero Builds. Instead, we get a mess of bunkers and shield bubbles.
In some seasons, players even exploited mobility items pretty much constantly in the endgame. Popping a bunker, and Nitro Fisting into the air repeatedly to stay out of fire. Landing in bunkers while they re-charged. It was a different kind of gameplay really. Players could still get very skilled here, but it required a different set of skills at the highest level.
Unfortunately, often the tournaments weren’t won by those with the highest skill level. Which is why Fortnite Zero Builds esports aren’t a big thing right now.
Why Were the Tournaments Stopped?
That’s the big change for Fortnite Zero Build tournaments, but that isn’t why they have been halted. It wasn’t because of how it was played or an issue with Zero Build not being ready for esports. Instead, it was cheating.
The Cash Cup level events were nearly entirely ruined by cheaters by the end of Chapter 5. It had become such a problem that legitimate players weren’t engaging. This was especially the case for Zero Builds. Aimbotting in normal Fortnite gives you a massive advantage, it is cheating. But Build skills are needed too. Zero Builds levelled this playing field, allowing cheaters to unfairly dominate since no other skills were needed.
They became a honey trap for cheaters, being absolutely stacked with them. So, when Epic started to crack down on cheaters in Fortnite esports, Zero Build was the first thing to deal with. While they’ve instituted a ton more requirements to enter Fortnite tournaments, Zero Build events aren’t on the calendar anymore though. Although, it’s possible they’re return.
Can They Come Back?
Since Zero Builds events were removed, Epic has made a lot of progress with the cheating problem. They’ve made it much harder for cheaters to make it to cash tournaments and essentially removed the possibility of these players winning cash. With more steps being taken, it’s possible they’ll manage to properly clamp down on cheaters and eliminate the bulk of the problem.
If this can be taken care of, then it’s possible Fortnite Zero Builds tournaments can come back. There are still events for Battle Royale and even OG. So, Zero Builds joining the ranks could happen again. Zero Builds in general has a less competitive player base, fewer people fighting it out in Ranked. But the tournaments we’ve seen before prove it can be played at an esports level.
