Fortnite accidentally gives away Axe of Champions to its players
Many Fortnite players might have recently discovered one of the game’s rarest items, the Axe of Champions, in their lockers. However, they didn’t get to hold on to it for long, for Epic Games soon realized their mistake and swiftly corrected the error.
“Oops,” Epic wrote in its Twitter account, accompanied by a sweating emoji. “We’ll be revoking the Axe of Champions from all Grand Royale qualified players and granting it back to just the FNCS seasonal winners from this year until Grand Royale has finished.”
The Axe of Champions
Fortnite’s Axe of Champions was introduced last year as a special reward for the winners of the Fortnite Champion Series, the most prestigious and anticipated event in the battle royale’s official competitive scene. The gold-plated pickaxe is a token that players can show off after beating out every other player in a region’s grand finals to reach the season’s top team.
“Today we are announcing the “Axe of Champions,” the official in-game trophy for FNCS. This in-game item is exclusive to the current FNCS Champions until the next Champions are crowned. Players will now be able to showcase their accomplishment — in game — during their reign as Champion,” Fortnite said in a statement during its release on April 25, 2020.
The Axe of Champions does not stay in the possession of one player and changes hands every season, which means only 21 players — the best three-player teams from each of Fortnite’s seven competitive regions — can keep the Axe of Champions in their lockers at any time.
“No Champion’s reign is forever. After each FNCS Finals concludes, the Axe of Champions will change hands from the previous season’s FNCS Champions to the newest FNCS Champions, regardless of the FNCS format,” Epic Games added in the post-release statement.
Due to its prestige and rarity, the Axe itself comes with a bag full of bragging rights. If you happen to stumble upon one of these people in-game, they are undoubtedly among the very best Fortnite players in the world.
Fortnite pro player Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, who won the NA East grand finals alongside teammates Muz and Mero (real names unknown) in October, light-heartedly tweeted about what servers might look like with so many Axes in the wild, showing a queue of people decorated with the iconic golden pickaxe above their heads without space between them.
Getting the Axe for real
The Grand Royale begins this week with the Middle East Grand Royale Qualifiers before the finals on November 20 and 21. Only one trio from each region will rightfully obtain the Axe of Champions for real.
Fortnite Grand Royale 2021 starts on different dates depending on your region. Here are the dates:
November 11-13: Middle East Grand Royale Qualifiers
November 12-14: All other regions’ Grand Royale Qualifiers
November 16: NA East, NA West, and Brazil regions’ Grand Royale Community Cup
November 17: Oceania, Asia, Middle East, and Europe regions’ Grand Royale Community Cup
November 19: Hype Hour Show
November 19-20: Middle East Grand Royale Finals
November 20-21: All other regions’ Grand Royale Finals
Broadcast times also differ in every region. Here’s when you should tune in:
North America: 3:30 PM ET/12:30 PM PT
EU (English, French, German, Spanish): 6 PM CET
BR (Portuguese): 3:50 PM BRT
Asia (Japanese): 4:50 PM JST
