ASUS South Africa, the company behind gaming hardware brand Republic of Gamers, has announced the inaugural ROG Invitation which will be South Africa’s richest short-form Counter Strike tournament. With a prize pool of R150,000, the one-month tournament will culminate in the finals live at the rAge Expo from 27 to 29 September at the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg.
Four of South Africa’s elite CS:GO teams will compete for the honour and the cash against the four top-ranked challengers from the qualification rounds. The elite teams are Big 5 Esports, Energy Esports, Goliath Gaming and Sinister5 CS:GO
Registration for the online qualifiers is opening through www.mettlestate.com, an esports league and tournament operator for the African continent. The round-robin group stage will advance the leaders of each group to the LAN finals in late September. The final eight will compete in a double-elimination bracket at rAge Expo.
“ROG has invested in esports since 2006, and was the first hardware manufacturer to see the importance of being a part of the community through the creation of an inclusive ecosystem and investment in gamers and their community,” says Azin Alikhani, MEA Regional Marketing Head.
The last decade has seen a spark of change in this inclusive ecosystem from casual gaming as a community to the development of a serious sub-culture of professionalism in esports that is driving a new a generation of sporting professionals.
Says Juan Mouton, Asus and Republic of Gamers South Africa Marketing Manager, “The similarities in the skills required to be a competitive gamer aren’t dissimilar to conventional professional sports. Aside from great aim and strategy, a championship esports team requires a stone-cold winning mentality, serious consistency, a lot of commitment and flawless coordination and communication.
“As the world’s leading gaming hardware brand, we see it as our responsibility within South Africa to assist where we can to strengthen the credibility of esports through showcasing not only the exceptional talent and skill that exists in our country but to deliver an experience that really underlines the entertainment value of the sport. That’s the purpose of the inaugural ROG invitational and we expect the showcase to grow exponentially as we continue with this mission.”
The ROG invitational will host the finals in a live three-day showdown at the Tickepro Dome during the rAge Expo, South Africa’s largest gathering of gaming enthusiasts, with more than 35,000 attendees every year.
