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- The Fortnite Professional Players’ Association (FNPPA) has been established by 16 pro players, split evenly between North America and Europe.
- The independent professional organization will advocate a collective players’ perspective towards the future of competitive Fortnite and will add further members.
- The FNPPA is similar to the Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association, which was founded in 2018.
Sixteen professional Fortnite players from across North America and Europe have announced the formation of the Fortnite Professional Players’ Association (FNPPA), an organization intended to help players have a more unified say into the future of the esport.
According to FNPPA’s initial statement, the group is “an independent, worldwide collective of professional Fortnite players, meant to provide us a professional platform to voice our opinions on the future of the competitive scene of Fortnite, so that we may have the most productive dialogue possible with the developers.”
The 16 founding board members include players from NRG Esports, 100 Thieves, FaZe Clan, Fnatic, and Team SoloMid. The group also features Fortnite World Cup Solo competition winner Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf from Sentinels, as well as one of the winning World Cup Duos winners, Cooler Esports’ David “Aqua” Wang. The FNPPA plans to bring in additional regular members in the weeks ahead.
Fortnite’s rapid rise as an esport has come with some hitches along the way, including player complaints about competitive integrity in some instances—such as when Epic Games has issued game-changing patches right before a competition. Recently, the game’s inclusion of the powerful B.R.U.T.E. mech suit drew ample frustration from pro players and streamers, who argued that it disturbed Fortnite’s competitive balance.
The formation of the FNPPA also comes following the conflict between FaZe Clan and popular player and streamer Turner “Tfue” Tenney, who filed suit against the organization in May alleging violations of California labor law amidst other complaints. FaZe Clan has since countersued Tenney for breach of contract, and the dispute remains unresolved.
The FNPPA follows in the footsteps of the independent Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (CSPPA), which was founded in 2018 with advisement from Scott “SirScoots” Smith and assistance from the Danish Elite Athletes Association. The CSPPA advises on player contracts and tournament scheduling concerns, as well as ways to address the fragmentation of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s competitive scene.
