'Fortnite' is getting a $100 million prize pool - the biggest ever in eSports, and twice what was paid out in 2016

"Fortnite: Battle Royale" developer Epic Games announced this week that it will be putting $100 million towards prize pools for the game's upcoming competitive season - the largest single eSports prize pool to date. But while Epic's big prize package is sure to draw a lot of attention, it comes as eSports has become more lucrative overall.

As this chart from Statista shows, that total amount has been growing substantially every year. Epic's investment in "Fortnite," which is nearly as much as the $121 million given to eSports winners in 2017 overall, is likely to take the total amount of money in eSports prize pools to a new high in 2018.

Shayanne Gal/Business Insider