The world of tabletop gaming is about to take its first big step into glamorous high-stakes thrills with a recent announcement. It appears that the World Series of Board Gaming is organizing its very first Championship Games event for casual and competitive players alike, with massive cash prizes as a reward.
As the information on the official website states, the World Series of Board Gaming Championships will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 28 to October 2 in 2022. The competition will start with 16 qualifier games between groups of three to four players with winners determined within five rounds or less.. If you manage to win one of these qualifying games, you will be rewarded with an official WSBG Qualifier Ring for the game you have won and gone on to compete in the semifinals and finals.
If you manage to come out on top, the grand prize for the winner is $25,000. However, those who have competed won't go away empty-handed either. While the second and third place winners will win cash prizes of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively, there will be over $100,000 in prizes given away to those who qualify throughout the event.
As for which board games specifically will be showcased at the World Series of Board Gaming Championships, that information will be coming out soon. According to an official schedule on the website, various outlets as well as YouTube and streaming personalities within the tabletop gaming community will be showcasing the board games that will be used in the championships. These will include groups like Drive Thru Games, Rolling Dice & Taking Names, as well as Roll for Crit and Man vs Meeple.
While everyone involved has been tight-lipped about which games will be showcased, a PR representative spoke to Board Game Halv with some clarity about the structure of the event. For logistical reasons, the board games will only be those meant for 3-4 players, no two-player games will be featured. In addition, the games selected will be a mix of recent board games, two of which were just published this year, as well as old classics. As for tickets, according to one of the events being held today by Dice Tower Autumn Spectacular, they appear to be valued at $250 and will be part of a giveaway. They have also confirmed that one of the games featured will be the hyperviolent board game, Blood Rage. If you want to take a shot at the grand prize, start saving your pennies now. As for any additional information regarding the organizers themselves, the game masters, and administrators, the official site is sparse and official statements claim that the benefactors wish to remain anonymous.
Either way, this is a big event for board game fans and enthusiasts. Usually, the venue of Las Vegas is reserved for more commonplace tournaments like Poker, and organizing such an event can be deceptively difficult. But with the prevalence of eSports and the ongoing ubiquity of tabletop gaming, this development wasn't exactly one that came out of nowhere.
