America Has A National Fortnite Mobile Team: 5 Facts You Need To Know

10/31/2018 Team Ball Out

The sports world was rocked this month with the announcement of the official US Fortnite mobile National Team. Fortnite – an obscure online multiplayer game has recently garnered significant attention thanks to Samsung, who has aimed to push the title to mainstream consciousness via its emerging mobile platform. Little is known about the national team, but here’s what know so far:

1) Top Fortnite streamer ‘Ninja’ is the team captain. It’s very exciting to see a high level PC player make the leap from a pro gaming rig to playing competitively on his phone. This clearly speaks to the bright future of competitive mobile gaming and Ninja’s confidence in the platform. With a lucrative $1.5 billion contract – he is now the highest paid athlete in the world.

2) There appears to be alternates. With the 11th hour addition of a teenage player known only as “Honey”, there are 6 players on the team now by our count. Currently, squad matches only support 4 player teams – so it will be interesting to see how the coaches handle the roster over the course of the season. Anticipate Ninja getting rested during lower level brackets, perhaps against the Marshall Islands or Vatican City national teams and activated for an early match up with Peru, a team that is poised to challenge hard for the title.

3) Little is known about team rookie, Honey. Honey’s rise to the US National team can be categorized as meteoric and her privacy has been guarded closely by the US Fortnite Consulate. The American teen went from being sponsored by a local game shop, carrying rapper Travis Scott’s squad to numerous wins and eventually being called up by Ninja himself to join the national team in the course of about a day. No one had ever contacted her directly though. Rather, a game store owner, Travis Scott and Ninja chose to reach out to her mother, who relayed the good news to the prodigious teen. Based on early reports, Honey is slotted to be a starter, and likely a co-captain to Ninja.

4) Rumor has it that the National Team’s uniforms are designed by Nike. Early leaks indicate that the unis resemble white lab suits, with a slight puffiness to the jacket. A beautiful ‘USA’ patch adorns the upper left quadrant of the chest. It’s unclear if the team is expected to wear cleats, but it’s an easy venture to guess that Nike would do just as good a job, if not better on the footwear. We’re still waiting to see if the white uniforms are their home or away jerseys.

5) Expect big things from the arena. Players enter through a very cool, endless mirror type hallway onto a stage with 4 phones awaiting them. From there, players will stand in a circle playing on their phones with a giant screen behind them. It’s unclear if the international teams will compete in one arena, or stream live from their respective countries, but from what we’ve seen – other leagues could take a cue from the attention to detail and presentation of the American team’s Fortnite Mobile arena.

More details can be found in this exclusive video from Samsung: