Epic Games, the developers behind Fortnite, have announced the "Summer Skirmish" series, an 8 week series of competitions featuring the game's community content creators and competitive players.

A $250,000 duos tournament this weekend will kick-off the Summer Skirmish, with $8 million being awarded overall. The format for each event "may change from week-to-week." Competitors for the series' inaugural matches have already been chosen, but information regarding how to qualify for future matches is forthcoming.

Esports pundit Rod "Slasher" Breslau reports that FaZe duo "Cloak" and "Tfue," as well as pro players from other large esports organizations, have not been invited to the series' initial $250,000 duos tournament.

This series marks Fortnite's first foray into esports. Previous Fortnite events were structured around popular streamers and/or content creators and casual community play, but the Summer Skirmish series looks to highlight and reward competitive prowess.

You can read Epic Games' official announcement here.