Epic is the next big game developer cutting physical esports tourneys from its schedule as it deals with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has canceled the 2020 Fortnite World Cup outright in addition to moving all other Fortnite events online. While it was no surprise that an in-person event wasn’t going to happen, Epic added that the “limitations of cross region online competition” also made an internet-based tourney impractical.

The company said it was “hopeful” it could put on a Fortnite World Cup in 2021, but was otherwise focusing on FNCS (including official broadcasts) and Cash Cups. Third-party events will get support, but they must be internet-only “until further notice.”

“Bumble is in the unique position of providing value to an entire generation of gamers, encouraging them to strive for their goals and facilitating ways to connect them IRL. The future is bright and I can’t wait to see the impact we make together!,” said Valnicek in a statement. The 28-year old Canadian is one of the most followed streamers on Twitch, and last year was made head of Gen. G’s new gaming initiatives.

As a part of the partnership, Bumble will provide a dedicated streaming room at the Gen. G training facility in Los Angeles. The dating app company will also work with Gen. G to create new platforms to drive female empowerment in the gaming community. Bumble already has a “gaming” badge on its feature for platonic friends, Bumble BFF, which will allow women to filter matches for other gamers. It will also co-host events and live-streaming opportunities with #TeamKitty, the female gaming network created by Valnicek.

Gen. G, which fields other mixed-gender esports leagues, has said it wants to even the playing field for professional female gamers. “We take seriously our opportunity and responsibility to support emerging segments of the esports community, especially by creating and strengthening platforms for women,” said Chris Park, CEO of Gen.G, in a statement. Fornite‘s appeal to women and other gamers that don’t fit the typical demographic of young males has been crucial to its success. While there’s no shortage of talented female players of the Epic game, there’s a noticeable gap at the professional level. It’s no doubt that the boy’s club atmosphere of professional gaming, where women often face threats and harassment, has played a role. While the demonstrated interest of companies will help, it’s up to the male-dominated gaming community at large to become more tolerant of their fellow players.

He’s not the only player who had a big payday on Sunday. Each of the 100 competitors was guaranteed $50,000, with four of them taking home seven-figure sums. The fifth-placed player in the Solos competition, Argentina’s Thiago “King” Lapp, won $900,000 — King is 13 years old. Saturday’s Duos champions split the same $3 million grand prize and the team of four who won Friday’s relatively more casual Creative Finals took away $1.345 million. If it weren’t already clear, there’s a lot of money at stake in high-level esports.

Congratulations @bugha! pic.twitter.com/nchRlL3wUC

— Fortnite Competitive (@FNCompetitive) July 28, 2019

Let’s give Bugha’s massive paycheck a little perspective. The $30 million prize pool for the Fortnite World Cup matched that of this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, the biggest showpiece event in women’s soccer. The teenager even earned almost 50 percent more than Tiger Woods did for winning the Masters — the golfing legend scooped up $2.07 million along with his 15th major title.

Next month, at the same venue at the first Fortnite World Cup, the US Open men’s and women’s singles champions will secure $3.85 million. Given the immense popularity of Fortnite, there’s every reason to believe next year’s World Cup winners, assuming this becomes an annual event, could win more money than the champions of one of tennis’ Grand Slams.

The Fortnite World Cup prize pool wasn’t the biggest in esports, though. Dota 2‘s The International has the largest one around. It topped $30 million last week, and is likely to grow even more ahead of next month’s event. Last year’s winning squad, OG, took away $11.2 million. But Bugha’s prize is the largest ever for a single player at an esports tournament.

For another point of comparison, his victory played out over 10 weeks of qualifying and a one-day grand final. Blizzard’s Overwatch League, previously led by Fortnite esports chief Nate Nanzer, runs from February to September this year, with the ultimate champions splitting $1.1 million between up to 12 players. That’s chump change for the latest esports multimillionaire, who might just find sponsorship offers rolling in too. You can probably expect Epic Games to mint even more young millionaires through Fortnite’s newly announced Championship Series.

The rest of the 9.41 update isn’t quite so daring, but there are still notable editions like a Storm Scout Sniper Rifle that will tell you where the Storm will shrink to next, plus Birthday Cake and Birthday Present pick-ups to mark Fortnite‘s second year on the scene. Creative players will have access to movie set prefabs as well as a limited-time Prop Hunt mode for some very sneaky hide-and-seek sessions. There are some significant gameplay tweaks here — it’s just that Epic won’t mind if you sit back and watch someone else play for a while.

Eight accounts received bans for teaming, or making unofficial alliances with their opponents. Only one had to give up prizes, but it’s still serious. There’s also one unnamed person who made it all the way to the semi-finals but was permanently banned from the game after they were caught using cheat software in the first five minutes of the tourney.

There’s still a ways to go in the World Cup, whose finals don’t take place until July 26th. Its second week is just getting underway with the first round of duos matches. In that light, Epic’s report on account bans serves as a warning — it’s hoping that the next wave of players will keep things clean. Epic’s bid for esports glory depends heavily on a smooth World Cup, and that means discouraging players from cheating in the first place.

The company has announced a new mode for its upcoming competition: World Cup Creative. Between April 29th and June 7th, Fortnite will host “five showcase events” that will invite players to complete unique Creative trials — courses built by inventive designers — and submit their best attempts by way of a YouTube video. Epic’s dedicated Fortnite captains — most of which haven’t been announced yet — will choose the best submissions and select fifteen participants to battle it out for a $3 million prize pool in New York City.

The first trial will be built and judged by Cizzorz, a top-level Fortnite player known for building incredibly difficult “Death Run” courses inside the game’s Creative mode. A new area will be added every week for five weeks, requiring players to master challenging environments and show off their accuracy. Epic says more information on the trials and who it has chosen to be its captains will be made available via its social channels before things officially kick off.

With $100 million put aside purely for in-game competitions, Epic is ensuring that Fortnite can become an esports hit in its own right. The game already counts over 200 million players and aspiring pro gamers don’t need to be part of an esports organization to make a name for themselves. However, you can bet that professional teams will be watching the World Cup qualifiers and Finals to scout new talent.