OLYMPIC-STYLE TOURNAMENT
THE World Electronic Sports Games (WESG) is a yearly international e-sports tournament organised by Alisports, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. The tournament, which has a total prize pool of US$5.5 million (RM22 million), will be running over a period of nine months consisting of a number of offline and online qualifiers, and ending with the Grand Finals in March 2019.
What makes WESG unique compared to most other international eSports tournaments is that it follows an Olympicstyle format that limits teams to having members from a single country and the long qualifying road to the final event, starting with national qualifiers and subsequently followed by regional finals.
There will be 36 teams consisting of four different regions competing at the main event of WESG; Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe, and Africa. Included in those 36 teams is a special group under the “Invitational” banner — these teams are some of the best in the world that are being invited to compete.
Only six games will be up for competition in this tournament — Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DotA 2, Starcraft 2, Vainglory, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, and Hearthstone.
While many details have not been finalised yet, such as how the prize pool will be divided among the four games, it is clear that it’s going to be an exciting time for eSports enthusiasts across the globe.