The Fortnite World Cup drew more than 2.3 million concurrent viewers

Fortnite's suitability as a top-tier esport may up for debate, but there's no question that it's a crowd-pleaser. Esports analyst Rod Breslau tweeted while the event was running that two million people were watching concurrently across Twitch and YouTube, and today Epic confirmed that the total peak concurrent viewer number was actually significantly higher.

"On Sunday during the Solo Finals, concurrent viewers peaked at over 2.3 million across YouTube and Twitch, making the Fortnite World Cup the most-watched competitive gaming event (excluding China) of all time. These numbers do not include fans watching in-game and on other streaming and social media platforms," Epic wrote in today's update. "We couldn’t have hosted such an event and showcased the top Fortnite players without your support. Thank you to the entire Fortnite community!"

The update also offers a glimpse at Epic's next big idea for Fornite competitive play, which was announced during the World Cup as the Fortnite Champion Series.

"Starting with Fortnite’s upcoming Season X, players will compete weekly with the goal of becoming Fortnite Season X Champions with millions of dollars at stake," Epic explained. "We’re also adding a leaderboard so you can track your progress and follow your favorite players in the quest to become Season Champs."

Epic said that details about the Fortnite Champion Series will be revealed in an upcoming blog post. Fornite Season 10 begins on August 1, which is almost upon us—here's everything we know about it so far.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.