The event is said to feature Street Fighter V and Rocket League tournaments with nation-based teams, with each event offering a US $250,000 prize pool.
Any player who wishes to represent their country at the Tokyo Olympics needs to qualify via open qualifiers, which are set to begin in early 2020.
Once the national squads are assembled, each of the teams will then have to compete for their spot at the World Open qualifying event in Katowice, Poland, in June 2020.
Out of all participating teams, only seven will earn a ticket to join Japan at the main event, set to kick off on July 22 at Zepp DiverCity.
The qualifying process, dates and venue will be the same for both Street Fighter V and Rocket League tournaments.
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The two tournaments are set to run for two days and conclude on July 24, which is the same day as the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics.
The World Open further builds on the collaboration between Intel and the IOC for the IEM PyeongChang esports event that took place ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
“As we explore the engagement between esports and the Olympic Movement we are looking forward to learning from this event and continuing to engage with the passionate esports community from around the world,” said Kit McConnell, IOC sports director.
Mark Subotnick, the leader of Intel’s esports efforts, also revealed why Intel chose Rocket League and Street Fighter as the two games featured in the World Open tournament.
“These two titles are something that the average consumer or audience member can look at and get what’s going on, and that’s unfortunately not always the case in esports,” he said.
“So that makes a lot of sense to work with these two partners.”
While esports events are not yet part of the Olympic Games, there is a possibility they could enter the fold after Paris 2024.
The UK-based esports promoter will begin construction of these venues in a newly announced partnership with Hoyts Group, which runs one of the biggest cinema chains in the country. Whether the plan is for a revamp of existing theatres or the introduction of additional spaces remains to be seen, but it’s exciting news for Aussie esports fans regardless.
Sydney’s Moore Park location will be the first to be built and finished by April to play host to the first ever Gfinity Elite Series in Australia, which will run for seven weeks and feature the highest-level play in the region for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League and Street Fighter V in front of a live audience.
“Sydney’s Moore Park was a natural fit for the first dedicated eSports Arena, given its history as a sporting precinct, Hoyts CEO Damian Keogh said. “With proximity to the Sydney Cricket Ground and Sydney Football Stadium, we feel this is the perfect setting to offer eSports fans the impact of a cinema styled viewing experience that will be unlike anything else in Australia.”
The esports arenas will be equipped with the latest gaming equipment and state-of-the-art broadcast and production suites to attract more future competitive gaming events in Australia. While an official broadcast partner has yet to be announced, it’s safe to say Gfinity with upload all of its coverage to live-streaming sites like Twitch and YouTube Gaming.
Gfinity has been very busy Down Under these past few months. Aside from the new Hoyts partnership, it also inked a deal with media organisation HT&E to create its Australian league, which will be run by the general manager of the Sydney Sixers cricket team, Dominic Remond with the aim to turn it into the equivalent of the Big Bash of pro gaming in Aus.
“The Esport Arenas will be a game changer for esports in Australia and will allow fans and players to enjoy the best gaming action within a high quality location,” Remond said in the official partnership announcement.
“We are excited that our inaugural Gfinity Elite Series presented by Alienware, will be the first event to be staged at the new Arena, in front of a live audience, each weekend for seven weeks.”
All participating teams in the upcoming Elite Series will be part of six city-based franchises, and the pre-existing Gfinity Challenger Series, an amateur feeder competition, acts as the official pathway to playing in the Elite Series.
While team names and the cities they will represent are yet to be finalised, last year HT&E initially announced the planned franchises as the Adelaide Photonics, Brisbane Deceptors, Melbourne Metattak, Melbourne Rebolte, Perth Subnets, Sydney Blue Surge and Sydney Opsydian.
Interested in joining the Gfinity Challenger Series as a competitor or as a gateway to the eventual Elite Series in Australia? You can register your details to compete in Gfinity online qualifier tournaments here.
]]>Provided by translation from Bloomberg Japan tech reporter Yuji Nakamura, the Japanese government via the Japan Esports Association (JeSPA) will begin granting pro licenses to its most talented competitive gamers in a push to make the country an “e-sports powerhouse” and by-pass complicated gambling laws presently lumping esports with the likes of video poker and other forms of traditional gambling.
The aim, as summarised by Nakamura, is to distinguish gaming “pros” from the general public, which will be defined by the developer of each popular esport title rather than a community-granted or self-styled status.
The original document, which you can read untranslated here, lists several popular esports titles to receive licenses first, including Street Fighter V Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, Winning Eleven 2018, Puzzle & Dragon and Monster Strike.
The pro licenses will provide a way around the present-day legal wording, but local laws which prevent prize money from being pooled together using proceeds made from ticket sales, a common money-raising practice that international game developers and other tournament organizers use to great effect, will still need addressing.
Japan’s esports growth has been stunted by such heavy gambling restrictions, which has prevented star talent from emerging because making a living from competitive gaming is extremely difficult compared to in other countries.
Millions of Japanese citizens used to watch nationally televised video-game tournaments in the 1980s and 1990s hosted by big-name gaming companies like Konami, but players were never paid or awarded prize money.
In the meantime, several game developers such as Square Enix are quietly preparing for an imminent legislative push, opening up theatre cafes for gaming demonstrations. We can only hope Japan’s new measures can allow the country to enter the world stage soon, given next year the industry is predicted to be worth a whopping $1.6 billion.
]]>ESPN have announced they will provide live coverage of the 2017 Street Fighter V World Championship finals from the Evolution Championship Series (Evo 2017) on ESPN2 and via the ESPN app, starting at 7 PM PT/10 PM ET on July 16.
Running over three days and held in Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, the world famous pro fighting game tournament is the largest organised event of its kind in the world, hosting competitors and fans to compete and watch the most popular fighting video games in the esports circuit.
The first day will feature the likes of BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Injustice 2, King of Fighters XIV, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 – alongside Street Fighter V.
“It’s great to be back at the Evo Championship Series Final with Street Fighter V this year,” said Kevin Lopes, director of ESPN programming in a press release. “This final will provide no shortage of compelling competition, and we look forward to delivering this event to fans.”
“Fighting games bring a tremendous level of hype and excitement, and Evo’s mission is to share that experience with fans worldwide,” said Joey Cueller, president of Evo. “We’re pleased to team up with ESPN and Disney to bring these games to new audiences.”
ESPN and ESPN2 has previously held televised broadcasts for the 2016 Street Fighter V Evo Championship Series and the 2016 Capcom Cup, Halo World Championship Tour at X Games Aspen 2016, and the February 2017 FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Series across their ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN3 channels.
The American global cable and satellite sports television network previously announced they would be airing and hosting the $75,000 Rocket League esports tournament during the 2017 X Games in Minneapolis this weekend as part of X Fest, the entertainment side of the annual action sports event.
They join fellow sports broadcaster NBC Sports in providing consistent live coverage of esports this year.
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Australia’s largest fighting game major, Battle Arena Melbourne, is returning for its 9th year.
Running from May 12 to 14, CouchWarriors’ BAM 9 will bring a range of stars from all over the world together at the Melbourne Convention Centre, a venue which is three times the size of the 2016 venue.
BAM9 will be an eSports conglomeration with FGC tournaments, exhibitions, cosplay competitions, previews to upcoming games, and more. It is also a Global Premier Event on the Capcom Pro Tour 2017.
The main tournament titles include Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros Wii U and Melee, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear XRD, Dead or Alive Last Round, Mortal Combat X, and Kings of Fighters XIV.
Side events include Ultra Street Fight IV, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Ultimate Marvel v Capcom 3, Super Smash Bros 64, Street Fighter 3 with 3v3 teams, Rivals of Aether, Blazblue Central Fiction, Virtual Fighter 5 Final Shutdown and Street Fighter II Turbo.
There will also be a number of special events revealed on the day.
BAM has broken records two years in a row for attendance and hopes to do so again this year. The event will see over 1000 competitors, along with spectators, which will be watching the tournaments live or viewing at home via Twitch.
You can register for this year’s event by heading to the BAM 9 website, with pre-registration for venue entry set at $50. It will be $60 on the day.
You must pre-register for Smash WiiU and Melee while all other on-the-day registration games has to be done one hour prior to the game’s first pool starts.
If you prefer to be a spectator, entry costs just $20.
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