The event will be open to local teams of amateur gamers hoping to be crowned Shanghai’s top League of Legends and Honor of Kings talents.
Shanghai authorities on Monday announced an open-to-all video game tournament featuring late-stage matches at spectator-filled arenas, in a step toward solidifying the city’s ambition of becoming a global esports capital.
The Esports Shanghai Amateur Championship invites local teams to join separate tournaments for League of Legends and Honor of Kings — both tactical, team-based games owned by internet giant Tencent — for a chance to win the 50,000 yuan ($7,500) first prize out of a total prize pool of 200,000 yuan.
The esports tournament is a new component in an event called the Shanghai Citizen Sports Meeting, now in its third year. It pits locals against one another in 342 forms of competition including darts, soccer, triathlon, tai chi, square-dancing, fishing, and the ancient board game Go.
Over 10,000 amateur gamers are expected to sign up for the tournaments before the Nov. 13 deadline, which will be followed by selection and knockout rounds online, then offline rounds held at local malls and esports arenas. The games will begin Nov. 21 and run for one month, and esports fans outside Shanghai can watch the matches on popular livestreaming platforms Huya and Douyu.
There are no restrictions on who can participate, though the competition is aimed at average Joes and Jills.
Shanghai authorities are hyping the event as the city’s first government-organized esports tournament to be open to all residents. The event intends to “broaden the city’s esports ecosystem” and “popularize esports culture,” while helping Shanghai become synonymous with esports, according to Monday’s announcement. Continue to read the full article here
– This article originally appeared on Sixth Tone.
