PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) has earned the honor of making its esports debut at the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) next month in Oakland, California.
The two-day invitational will feature first-person perspective (FPP) gameplay, and host twenty invited teams from North America and Europe to battle for a share of a $200,000 prize pool. A list of confirmed participants is yet to be revealed but the winning squad will receive $60,000 from the pot.
“Everyone’s been waiting for the title that will come in and be a game changer for esports and it seems like PUBG could be it,” vice president Michal Blicharz said in an announcement. “It’s different, it’s new, and it’s growing at an unprecedented rate. We’re thrilled to be giving the game its competitive debut in North America.”
This is not the first invitational for PUBG. The popular online battle royale game recently hosted its first-ever esports event at Gamescom 2017 in August. It featured all the modes, but the first-person segment was particularly praised for offering intense action and competitive gameplay.
Hence, it is unsurprising to see that the newly created PUBG Corp. is interested in pursuing the same format for better learning opportunities.
PUBG Invitational will take place at IEM Oakland from November 18-19. Tickets for the event are available now from the official source. Those who cannot make it in person will be able to follow the action through dedicated livestreams.
PUBG will take the tournament slot that was previously saved for League of Legends. The League Championship Series (LCS) was proving too taxing on players, which meant that several teams would often pull out from attending IEM-hosted tournaments. This was resulting in loss of viewership for the third-party organizer. IEM Katowice from earlier this year was the last to host League of Legends.
