Cody “Clix” Conrod is one of the world’s most popular Fortnite pros, and he, like many of his fellow Fortnite streamers, engaged in wagers matches against subscribers and pros in custom 1v1 or Battle Royale lobbies. Just like with any wager that one might make, the two playing parties set the conditions of the match and the winner is offered a small purse of money for their performance. Especially within the Fortnite community, these wagers matches have become an essential content stopgap when officially sanctioned competitions aren’t happening.
But according to a tweet shared by Conrod on Thursday evening, it looks like Fortnite wagers might soon be a thing of the past. “Won’t be playing or having anything to do with wagers anymore,” Clix tweeted. “Just got personally messaged by Epic and was told to stop or will result in a ban.” The streamer further added that he “recommend others to stop as well” to preserve their accounts.
While Epic has not yet officially issued a statement on the subject of wagers in light of this tweet, it’s no surprise that the company would allegedly step in to crack down on the trend. After all, like many games of its ilk, Fortnite’s official terms of service prohibit gambling of any kind outside of sanctioned tournaments with cash prizes and strict redemption rules.
Combine those provisions with the fact that many content creator subscribers could be younger than the legal gambling age of 18, and it’s plain to see why Epic might issue a ruling against these actions. In a world where FIFA Ultimate Team and Star Wars Battlefront II have been labeled by critics as glorified casinos, Epic could be acting to avoid unwanted scrutiny of its most profitable property.
Word of wagers allegedly being eliminated arrives during a somewhat turbulent few months for the Fortnite streaming community. The software’s publishers at Epic Games have also begun cracking down on Scrims, matches where pros and fans play each other for channel subscriptions, and competitive Arena play has become overwhelmed by stream snipers. Instead of playing wagers, Clix has said that he will start streaming Box Fights or Green Vs Purple GO GOATED.
As for the #ripfortnite hashtag that spawned shortly after the alleged wagers ban was first mentioned online, it’s since been co-opted as a place for fans to reminisce about the game’s original map and joke about some of the datamined features that still haven’t made their way to the game. While it sounds like there will still be plenty of ways to play Fortnite for money in a competitive sense, maybe don’t expect payment from wagers with streamers.
Fortnite is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC and Android.
Are you upset about wagers potentially being banned in Fortnite? Has the premier Battle Royale seen better days? Tell us in the comments section!
