[UPDATE: Epic Games has clarified that Clix and any other player that receives a 14-day ban during the current season still has a chance to qualify for the FNCS Global Championship in Copenhagen by competing in FNCS Last Chance Major.]
Popular Fortnite streamer Clix has been temporarily banned from competitive play following a Fortnite Champion Series incident with a stream sniper. The competitive Fortnite scene has grown considerably in the last couple of years, and Epic Games has tried its best to keep it fair and fun for everyone involved. As the stakes of its competitions increased, with large-scale tournaments and hefty cash prizes, competitive Fortnite quickly became a much more serious ordeal. When the roadmap for this year's Fortnite Champion Series was disclosed, gamers were shocked to know that $10 million in total would be given to the best duos throughout the entirety of the tournament.
The FNCS is the biggest competitive Fortnite event of the year, and with so much money on the line, most pro players usually spend as much time as they can practicing and planning out their strategies. This includes figuring out the best landing locations in order to get good loot and not be eliminated right away, studying map rotation options, and memorizing every chest and ammo box spawn. This year's event has already started and is in the second week of Major 2. However, a fan-favorite streamer won't be making an appearance in the next phase.
Epic Games has accused Clix of teaming up in a recent Solo Cash Cup, and he has been banned as a consequence of his actions. During a match in the Solo Cash Cup, a random player appearing to be stream sniping approached Clix. Once Clix realized what was happening, he started telling this player to drop their loot and materials, and throw a Chug Splash (a throwable healing item) or Clix "would get them banned." The stream sniper throws a Chug Splash, healing Clix by 14 HP and getting him to full shield. On top of this, the player also drops the Pizza Party item, a powerful healing item that can only be obtained with the rare Game Time Fortnite Reality Augment. Both actions benefited Clix as he healed up and got to add a powerful item to his inventory as well. In a fair game, they would either ignore each other or engage in combat.
After this incident, Clix went on to win the game and even this solo tournament, which had a $100 cash prize. Despite his claims that he only asked for the items to prove that his opponent was stream sniping, some viewers were outraged that he benefited in-game from this exchange and believe that this money was unfairly granted to him, adding that the player in second place should've gotten it instead. The Fortnite stream sniping incident went viral, which led to Epic Games contacting Clix and banning him from competitive gaming for two weeks, as well as preventing his entry in the FNCS LAN event in Copenhagen and the next FNCS season.
Some players believe that Epic Games was too harsh. Popular Fortnite streamers such as SypherPK have voiced their opinions and commented that this had to serve as an example to prevent it from happening in the future. Regardless, it was an overall unfortunate chain of events that ended up getting a fan-favorite to win the championship kicked from two FNCS events.
Fortnite is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
