Fortnite World Cup: Epic announces surprise new way to watch competition live while playing game

Watch Fortnite while playing Fortnite

An attendee dressed as a Fortnite character poses for a picture in a costume at Comic Con International in San Diego (REUTERS/Mike Blake)

Fortnite fans will be able to watch the game's World Cup finals this weekend while playing their own game of Fortnite, developers Epic announced.

The new feature will let players open up the competition in its own small window, which will hide itself in the corner of the screen to allow for a full game to be played at the same time.

The Fortnite World Cup runs over this weekend and will see players compete for a $30 million prize fund. It includes duo and singles competitions, as well as a Celebrity Pro-Am event which will see "your favorite influencers, pro players, and celebrity entertainers" play alongside previous winners Ninja and Marshmello as they fight for a charity of their choosing.

Getting into the special mode happens by just heading into the Fortnite lobby, as normal. But, unlike normal, there will be a "Watch Now!" button that can be clicked on to bring up the live stream.

While it loads, there will be a Durrburger mini-game to play as you wait. Then when it's ready, you can click the video to make it full screen or leave it smaller in the corner so that you can play at the same time.

Epic suggested that the same feature could be used for watching other videos too, writing that it was "launching in-game PiP (Picture-in-Picture) streaming just in time for the Fortnite World Cup Finals". Presumably, the same system could be used for watching future competitions – as well as potentially other live videos entirely.

It will still be possible to watch the competition through more traditional live streams, and Epic is providing links on just about every platform. That includes Fortnite's own website, as well as YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Mixer and Caffeine.