Just shortly after its stateside reveal at last years Twitchcon and its almost sudden release in the west on the Apple App store and google play, the hyper-fast mobile MOBA (soon to be available on the Nintendo Switch) has been picking up momentum and developer Tencent wants to bring Arena of Valor to the next logical step, E-Sports. Earlier today Tencent announced its plans for the "Arena of Valor World Cup" to be held in Los Angeles California with a prize pool of $500,000.
As ambitious as this may sound for a game that was released less than 3 months ago to western audiences and is still lacking its highly anticipated Nintendo Switch port. Developer Tencent has stated that they have plans to bring the competitive E-Sports scene the game has in Asia to the west as well as multiple regionalized and collegiate-level tournaments. No word on the specifics of the world cup, ticket availability, or even the venue, but one thing is for certain. Tencent is dedicated to making the Mobile 5v5 MOBA a staple in the western E-Sports scene.
If you're not sure what Arena of Valor is or still on the fence with the game, check out my "Worth Playing" video below. I go into why the game has turned someone like me, who generally dislikes MOBAS, into a fanatic and how the game is perfectly suitable for casual and hardcore audiences alike.
Arena of Valor is available for free and features cosmetic microtransactions via hard currency on the iOS and Google Play stores.
What do you think about an Arena of Valor World Cup? Is it too soon for the mobile MOBA to get into the world of E-Sports? Is that really Bayonetta? Does the idea of a Mobile MOBA even appeal to you? Let us know in the comments below!
