South Africa’s richest short-form Counter Strike tournament, ROG Invitational II, will carry a R150,000 prize pool this year.
Hosted by ASUS Republic of Gamers, the leading gaming hardware brand, it will be backed by Vodacom World and Intel.
“The global pandemic has forced us to take this tournament exclusively online,” says ASUS Republic of Gamers country marketing manager Juan Mouton. “But unlike other sectors that have required creative restructuring to continue to grow, other than the gathering restrictions, we have simply seen an acceleration of existing, pre Covid-19 gaming trends within the sector. The unique dual consumption models of gaming (linear and interactive) means an increase in both gaming engagement and gaming spectatorship.”
The fully digital, elite-level esports tournament will be run in the Soldiers of Fortune format: it follows a double elimination structure that will be made up of two invited teams, namely the finalists from 2019, Goliath Gaming and Sinister 5. Six additional teams will be filled by way of an online qualifier. Each team entering the finals bracket enters with their starting share of the R150 000 prize pool, with the highest seeded teams receiving a larger share of money.
From there each match contains a bounty, where 40% of the losing teams’ starting prize pool is up for grabs. The pointy end of the competition will reward the most consistent teams, but the closer teams get to the final, the more they stand to win or lose.
Registration for the online qualifiers is open now through Mettlestate.com, one of the leading esports league and tournament operators on the African continent. The qualifiers run from 26 August to 9 September 2020. The finals will be broadcast live from the Vodacom World Esports Studios from 17 to 20 September. The stream will be available on the ROG South Africa Facebook page and the Mettlestate Twitch account.
The finals will include a panel of experts and three full days of CS:GO matches, analysis, commentary and fan engagement.