GIANTS Software turned some heads when they started holding esports competitions for their popular title Farming Simulator in 2018, but it actually started back in 2017.
On a very small scale, Farming Simulator 2017 held a championship event that saw the best virtual farmers competing in various events such as hay bale stacking and tractor races. The franchise, which saw its first title launch in 2008, has a huge following, so the interest in something as silly as an esport based around it makes a lot of sense.
Things escalated in Farming Simulator 2018 and now GIANTS has put even more resources into expanding the current iteration of the championship. In a post on the Farming Simulator website, GIANTS CEO of software and the manager of the esports division, Christian Ammann, talked about how excited their team is to try this on a larger scale.
“We have a unique opportunity,” Christian Ammann said. “Competitive farming is something people have enjoyed for years now, but it hasn’t been done in esports so far. We have lots of esports enthusiasts in our company who can’t wait to show the world that farming can indeed be fun and competitive at the same time. We believe we found the right mix of real farming and fun to play game elements to ensure everyone will find it entertaining.”
The newly announced Farming Simulator League will feature 10 tournaments across Europe, with each tournament giving teams points based on their placements, which will be tallied at the end of the season to see who will compete in the Farming Simulator Championship. Said Championship will be held at GIANTS’ own event, FarmCon, in the summer of 2020.
The total prize pool for the League that starts this summer will be €250,000—a little less than $285,000—spread out across those 10 events.
There will also be a major shakeup in the actual competition itself. Instead of competing in bale stacking, players will compete in a three-vs-three mode that has teams challenge each other in various farming-related activities.
Despite all of these changes, GIANTS assures fans that this will not affect the normal updates for the regular game.
The League will feature sponsorships by Logitech G, Intel, noblechairs, and their long-term partner Nitrado, a server company.
GIANTS plans to release more information on the League formatting, tournaments, and further updates to the gameplay that will be used in competition soon.
Published: Jan 23, 2019 01:12 pm