Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment announced $500,000 dedicated to the Mortal Kombat X competitive gaming scene via a press release on March 30. The prize pool will be distributed between the ESL Mortal Kombat X Pro League Season 3, the ESL Challenger Cup and to sponsored tournaments across the both North America and Europe.
The ESL Mortal Kombat X Pro League Season 3 will receive $200,000 of the pledged $500,000 to be distributed among the top eight finalists of the season. The online series is set to kick off in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States on April 3, and it will run for eight weeks before the top 16 players meet to square off in person in Burbank Calif. on June 12. First place will take home $75,000, with the amounts diminishing per placement below. More information on the ESL Pro League can be found here. The trailer for the season 3 of the Pro League is available below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiJM24by_b0 In addition to the pro league, a portion of the remaining $300,000 will go to the ESL Mortal Kombat X Challenger Cup. The ESL Challenger Cup is an online competition that will be held each Saturday starting on April 2 and will run through the same eight weeks as the Pro League. Players competing in the Challenger Cup will be competing for $500 a week and points to judge their ranking. The top 4 players with the most points will face off in streamed matches with $1000 going to the winner every month. The Challenger Cup is exclusively available to Playstation 4 and Xbox One Mortal Kombat X players.
Mortal Kombat X Creative Director and Co-creator of Netherrealm Studios Ed Boon believes Mortal Kombat has always been about competing with your friends, and he believes that there's never been a better time test your might in Mortal Kombat:
" Mortal Kombat has always been about friends going head-to-head in 'couch competition.' With Mortal Kombat X, these players now have multiple ways of jumping into the tournament scene to prove heir skills and win cash," Said Boon. "This is the biggest commitment we've made to the esports scene and with our newly enhanced online experience, we're looking forward to seeing the intense match-ups at the various tournaments we're supporting."
A portion of the remaining funds are still going to sponsoring and supporting tournaments across North America and Europe and their prize pools.
In addition to attending and watching Mortal Kombat tournaments, Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment said that players can support Mortal Kombat eSports by purchasing the Blue Steel Sub-Zero and the Crimson Ermac character skins through either the PlayStaion Store or the Xbox Marketplace. Portions of each purchase will be contributed to Mortal Kombat tournament prize pools.
There is no mention of a PC Pro League or Challenger Cup in the press release.
With League of Legends consistently sitting as the #1 eSport in the world, DOTA 2 getting its first $1 million major last year and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's first $1 million major happening this week, why do you think it's taking so long for fighting games and the fighting game community to reach the same heights?
