Epic Games threatens to ban Clix & other stars for playing Fortnite wagers

Fan-favorite wagers in Fortnite could soon be a thing of the past as Epic Games appears to be adamant on shutting down the friendly competition, following a threat of a ban to NRG’s Cody ‘Clix’ Conrod.

Outside of official competitions and in-game tournaments promoted by the developers, Fortnite’s top players often engage in wagers to pass the time. When public lobbies aren’t cutting it and Arena gets tiresome, wagers are typically the saving grace for streamers when there’s little to no action.

Countless professionals around the globe turn to friendly wagers for a number of reasons. For some, it’s one of the only ways to find proper competition outside of a tournament setting. For others, it’s purely just a means of entertaining their viewers.

After years of wagers in the pro scene, it looks like Epic is pushing to shut them down for players under the legal gambling age: Clix was issued with a strict warning on Mar. 25, all but preventing him from joining a wager lobby again.

“Won’t be playing or having anything to do with wagers,” the 16-year-old pro announced on Twitter. “Just got personally messaged by Epic and was told to stop.”

Regardless of whether it’s a high-stakes wager between rivals, or a small and friendly wager between friends, everything is now off-limits.

 

 If he were to ignore this warning, his account would eventually be hit with a “ban,” Clix explained. “Recommend others to stop as well, tweeting this so people are aware.”

Given a vast majority of Fortnite talent is under the legal gambling age, even low-stake challenges among friends could breach Epic’s terms of service. Wagers inherently come with a form of gambling involved. Some wagers might be for a few dollars while others might be for a few thousand.

Without wagers to compete in, however, this leaves top-level pros with even fewer options than before.  As Clix outlined, he simply won’t be playing Arena moving forward. The online mode is allegedly riddled with “stream snipers.”

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“Nice game, f***ing nothing to do,” fellow pro ‘Wolfiez’ chimed in. “F***ing hell this game sucks,” Benjy ‘Benjyfishy’ Fish also added in a now-deleted tweet.

Without wagers, Fortnite pros will have to find new ways to not only compete, but keep their fans engaged. Universal backlash could see Epic’s stance change over time, but for now, don’t expect to see any wagers online.

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If anyone goes against the grain, a ban could follow suit. Epic is yet to provide an official statement outside of Clix’s DMs, though we’ll be sure to keep you updated as further information comes to light.