A massive $2 million tournament for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was revealed by PUBG Corp. today, according to a report by Polygon.
The tournament, called the PUBG Global Invitational 2018, will take place in Berlin, Germany from July 25 to 29. The event will pit 20 professional teams against each other for the $2 million prize pool.
Driving the experience for viewers around the world will be Battlegrounds’ in-game camera system, which will allow broadcasters to zoom in on the action and provide live commentary. But the event will undoubtedly be enhanced by PUBG Corp.’s proprietary server-side replay system. Unlike owners of the game on Steam, PUBG Corp. can record entire matches in great detail and parse that data for later viewing.
Teams can qualify for the event by participating in regional tournaments in North America, Europe, and Asia, with more details on that process expected to be announced soon. There will be two teams crowned as world champions—one for first person perspective and one for third person perspective.
PUBG has had multiple large-scale LAN events over the past year, but nothing quite like this, or with a prize pool so big. Past events, like the PGL Spring Invitational, featured a prize pool of $100,000. This is a whole new level of pressure and high stakes for the teams involved, whichever they may end up being.
Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene said in a recent interview that PUBG would be “heavily investing into setting up an esports infrastructure” in 2018. This $2 million tournament would be a big, loud step in that direction for sure.
