Fortnite’s Reload Elite Series was a duos competition with a combined $2.5 million prize pool: $1.5 million for online play and $1 million for the championship. Epic’s December 2025 announcement said the championship was planned for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; the completed event was held in Paris, France, from August 19 to 22, 2026. BIG’s vic0 and Malibuca won the title and the reported $260,000 first-place prize.
What the $2.5 million covered
Epic announced the Reload Elite Series on December 17, 2025, as a Fortnite Reload duos competition. The headline amount was the total series prize money, not the payout for the championship alone: Epic allocated $1.5 million to online competition and $1 million to the in-person championship. Epic’s announcement set out the original prize breakdown; its completed-event page also lists a $1 million championship pool.
| Prize category | Amount | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Online competition | $1,500,000 | Prize money for the online series, as announced by Epic in 2025. |
| Championship | $1,000,000 | The championship pool, stated by Epic in 2025 and on its completed-event page in 2026. |
| Total series | $2,500,000 | The combined online and championship prize money announced by Epic in 2025. |
How teams qualified
The announced route to the championship ran through regional Opens, Play-Ins, Heats and Finals. Epic scheduled four qualifiers between January and June. Each qualifier began with two Opens, with up to 12 matches in each.
Opens and Play-Ins
The number of duos moving from the Opens to Play-Ins depended on the region: 2,000 from EU, 1,000 from NAC, and 500 apiece from OCE, ASIA, ME, BR and NAW. Players then faced two Play-In rounds, each with up to 12 matches.
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Heats and regional Finals
The top 80 duos advanced to four Heats, each consisting of eight matches. The five highest-placing duos in each Heat moved on to an eight-match Final. Together, the regional Finals qualified 40 duos for the championship. The Esports World Cup competition page records all 40 of 40 championship places as claimed and the qualification stages as completed.
Announced eligibility requirements
Epic’s December 2025 announcement said players entering a Qualifier had to meet all three of these thresholds:
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- Reach Elite rank or higher in Reload.
- Have an account level of at least 350.
- Have participated in 14 tournaments during the 180 days before that Qualifier.
Those are the announcement’s stated thresholds, not a substitute for the complete event rules. Consult Epic’s official announcement and linked rules for the full eligibility language and any additional conditions.
Riyadh was the announced plan; Paris hosted the championship
Epic’s 2025 announcement named Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the planned venue. The completed-event record instead places the Reload Elite Series Championship in Paris, France, from August 19 to 22, 2026. Epic’s event page gives the Paris dates, and the Esports World Cup’s August 22, 2026 press release reports the result from Paris. The available event records do not explain the change, so its reason is unconfirmed.
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Who won the championship?
BIG’s Taylor-Petrik “vic0” Gatschelhofer and Danila “Malibuca” Iakovenko won the championship. The Esports World Cup reported that they received the $260,000 first-place prize; Epic’s event page also lists the duo first in the final round. The EWC release additionally names vic0 as the tournament’s Sony MVP, reporting 32 eliminations and 19 knockdowns for the award.
Speaking about the event and MVP award, vic0 told the EWC release: “I just love it. I could do this all day, every day. It’s the greatest feeling every time, y’know.”
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