Fortnite Championship Series Grand Royale Schedule And Community Cup Revealed

The Fortnite Championship Series (FNCS) is approaching the finale of the Grand Royale, Fortnite's most lucrative esports event of the year, and Epic has revealed the full schedule for competitors and viewers alike, including a new Community Cup.

Following on from previous details on the Grand Royale, the year-end tournament will unfold across this month beginning with qualifying rounds around the world. A new Community Cup will also allow players who aren't in the hyper-competitive tournament to compete for prizes beyond the Grand Royale's $5 million prize pool.

It's going to be a busy month, as you can see by the schedule below:

• November 11-13: Middle East Grand Royale Qualifiers
• November 12-14: All other regions’ Grand Royale Qualifiers
• November 16: NA East, NA West, and Brazil regions’ Grand Royale Community Cup
• November 17: Oceania, Asia, Middle East, and Europe regions’ Grand Royale Community Cup
• November 19: Hype Hour Show - Broadcast on our English channels
• November 19-20: Middle East Grand Royale Finals
• November 20-21: All other regions’ Grand Royale Finals

Fortnite Community Cup

Most of us won't be able to compete in the Grand Royale, but that doesn't mean we head into Fortnite Season 9 (or Chapter 3?) empty-handed. The Community Cup will take place on November 16 for the NAE, NAW, and Brazil server regions, or November 17 for the Oceania, Asia, Middle East, and Europe server regions.

Following a standard scoring system for Fortnite competitive modes, the event will be played in trios, and teams will have up to 10 matches and three hours to earn as many points as they can. Winners across each region will earn the new Victor Elite skin along with new back bling to match.

FNCS Twitch Drops

If even that lower-stakes tourney doesn't interest you, you can also unlock new cosmetics just for watching the FNCS on the official Fortnite Twitch channel. Tune into the FNCS finals with your Twitch and Epic accounts linked and you'll earn a trio of cosmetics including a new sticker, spray, and loading screen.

If you want a recap of the Fortnite calendar year, you can also catch the Hype Hour broadcast on Friday, November 19 at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET where you'll find interviews with FNCS players, watch highlight reels of the year's best moments, and hear about a Fortnite competitive announcement for the new year ahead. If you can't make the show, a VOD will be made available immediately following the broadcast to catch you up on your own time.

The FNCS Grand Royale is meant to put a cap on the Fortnite competitive scene for 2021, but for other players, there's still plenty more to come. Don't miss the two new NPCs on the island this week, Ember and Sledgehammer, who are collectively offering 300,000 XP.