'Fortnite' Tournament Canceled One Round In After Griefers Caught

A local “Fortnite” tournament has been canceled when its lobby was compromised by three players who deliberately griefed the game.

Griefing is the unruly act of purposely sabotaging a player's teammates in an online game. Griefers, on the other hand, are those who perform the action to annoy others, or those who prevent a player from enjoying the game.

The Vanish Cup, one of the biggest online solo “Fortnite” tournament in North America that offered a $3,000 prize pool, was called to a halt after officials noticed a trio players, who used pseudo accounts for the event, teaming together instead of going solo.

The first round of the Cup went well until the griefers were discovered. Casters Arten “Ballatw” Esa and Shayan “ShyoWager” Shehryar called the tournament off and the round to be restarted, said Dexerto.

As stated by Polygon, the decision of the officials to cancel The Vanish Cup was for them to “maintain competitive integrity.” Esa and Shehryar later explained to the viewers why the tournament was postponed.

They also confirmed that the organizers will investigate the incident, trace the players and expose their identities.

The griefers had been invited from the North American eastern pro community, the website added.

Misfits Gaming stalwart Cody “Clix” Conrod and Jonathan Weinman, aka “Nittle” were fan favorites and dominated the first round.

Team Vanish issued an official statement where they apologized to the viewers that were left disappointed following the cancellation of the tournament.

“The Vanish Cup was a success in the short amount of time it was live, although unfortunately, due to players cheating, it will have to be rescheduled to a later date with a larger prize pool,” it said.

An organizer with the handle “Impapamax,” also told Polygon that someone had either “leaked a custom code” or the three players who bombarded others with spammed rockets, “had gone on streamer mode and alternative accounts and done their best to grief the tournament.”

Impapamax also shared his distaste for Epic's “zero regard” when it comes to third party tournaments. The organizers' statement also outlined the same when the said that they are “very dissatisfied” with Epic's custom matchmaking and treatment towards smaller events like theirs.

“Fortnite” players from all over took a stand and poked Epic to provide a better system for third party tournaments. According to them, all it takes is one troll with a code to “ruin everything.”