EA has announced that it is going to bring in a brand new e-Sports initiative. The company is going to be putting an impressive $1 million forward in prize money to help build a three-tiered tournament system. Starting with the Madden franchise, EA looks like it is planning to use the competitive scene for the sports series as a tester bed for other titles.
The tiered system is split into three different groupings. The Challenger tier is a more casual e-Sports tier, with a focus on community, and EA is planning to assist gamers with setting up their own tournaments. Meanwhile, the Premier tier is made up of large-scale tournaments that will be hosted alongside other companies. Finally, the EA Majors tier is for top-table events, where regional and world champions will be decided. The first EA Major will be the Madden 16 Championship.
EA did not only emphasise the multiplayer aspect of gaming during its E3 2016 presentation however. The publisher also spent some time looking at some of the most anticipated games in its schedule, such as a behind-the-scenes look as Mass Effect: Andromeda. Meanwhile, the publisher also gave a more cryptic look at its multiple in-development Star Wars games.
It’s easy to see why EA would be interested in trying to curate an e-Sports atmosphere in a number of its titles. The publisher has a strong multiplayer element among its various franchises, and 2016 is expected to grow even stronger from a multiplayer perspective - particularly with the likes of Battlefield 1 arriving later in the year. The first-person shooter also made up part of the E3 2016 presentation, through the launch of a new Battlefield 1 trailer and more gameplay details.
Competitive gaming is certainly one of the fastest growing aspects of video games. Titles such as League of Legends are more than capable of selling out stadiums to fans wanting a piece of the action, while the professional side of video game playing is even seeing stricter rules and regulations regarding drugs testing for tournaments. That said, EA may have to be patient while awaiting its break through - after all, the publisher was forced to cancel its MOBA attempt Dawngate. Let’s see what EA has in store further down the line with this scheme.
