H1Z1 Pro League unveils 15 teams competing in inaugural season

08 March 2018

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The H1Z1 Pro League™ (H1PL), the first professional battle royale esports league, has today unveiled the 15 charter teams that will compete in its inaugural season beginning April 21st in Las Vegas. 

The H1PL also announced that it will be working with Facebook to exclusively broadcast all digital content. Notably too, Caesars Entertainment will be the official venue and entertainment partner. 

The H1PL will operate as a joint venture between a game publisher, Daybreak Game Company, and an independent league operator in Twin Galaxies LLC.

Jace Hall, Co-Chairman of Twin Galaxies commented: “Our goal with H1PL is to take the leap from Esports 1.0 to 2.0, establishing a league where for the first time in esports history, everyone participates in success – the fans, the players, the teams and all of our supporting partners.

“The battle royale format has quickly become the most popular and entertaining multi-player video game genre, and we’re confident that the H1PL will drive fan engagement and excitement to even higher levels through the use of groundbreaking production techniques along with access to Facebook’s global gaming community.”

For those keen to hear more from Jace, the Co-chairman of Twin Galaxies was the guest on the Esports Roundtable podcast discussing the H1Z1 Pro League a few weeks back. You can have a read and listen to that here.

The calibre of the teams which have signed on to join the H1PL is impressive, and it’s nice to see some European teams included too. The teams will compete over the course of two, 10-week “splits” at Caesars Entertainment Studios. This is a 50,000 square foot production facility closer to the Vegas Strip designed for full-scale feature film, television show and live esports event productions. H1PL is the first esports league to name Las Vegas as its home city, but it’s the city that is already the home of Rogue and the upcoming esports venue at the Luxor. 

The teams joining the H1PL inaugural season are:

Alliance Cloud9 CounterLogicGaming Echo Fox
Epsilon Esports GankStars Impact Gaming Luminosity
Noble Esports Obey Alliance Rogue Gaming SetToDestroyX
Team SoloMid Tempo Storm Vitality

The H1PL will livestream all competition via Facebook Live throughout the season. H1PL and Facebook have also promised a ‘variety of community-focused features to augment the viewing experience, such as  the curation and granting of free, redeemable in-game rewards’ for fans that tune-in during H1PL streams throughout the week. 

Patrick Chapman, Manager of Esports Partnerships at Facebook stated: “The battle royale genre is fast becoming one of the most popular and accessible gaming categories to both watch and play, and we’re excited to help this brand-new league for H1Z1 grow its community on Facebook.

“The league’s primary focus to engage and support players and fans aligns closely to our commitment to help build the world’s community for people to play, watch and share the games they love.”

The Twin Galaxies Esports Arena, inside Caesars Entertainment Studios, will host the matches each week on a Wednesday, with the exception of Split 1 which’ll kick things off on Saturday April 21st, and fans will be able to attend in-person should they find themselves in Sin City. 

This is the studio which hosted the Gears Pro Circuit™ Las Vegas Open this past June. 

“Caesars Entertainment strives to partner with some of the most important esports events in the world, and we couldn’t be more proud to host H1PL,” said Christian Stuart, Caesars Entertainment Executive Vice President of Gaming and Interactive Entertainment. “The combination of an intimate venue, like Caesars Entertainment Studios, and a jaw-dropping production set will deliver a unique experience for anyone who wants to see what competitive gaming is all about. This partnership further solidifies our commitment to esports and builds on our strategy to be at the cutting edge in all forms of interactive entertainment.”

Daybreak Games and Twin Galaxies announced their joint venture to create the H1Z1 Pro League in October of last year. Twin Galaxies Pro League Division is establishing a League Governance Committee for the H1PL; this is comprised of an independent league commissioner, a representative from Twin Galaxies and from Daybreak Game Company, and both a team ownership and H1PL player’s representative chosen by their respective peers. The H1PL League Governance Committee will be responsible for defining, modifying, and enforcing all rules and regulations for the league.

Mark Tuttle, Director of Esports at Daybreak Games noted: “The H1Z1 Pro League will bring together the best players in the world to compete in the adrenaline-filled spectacle that is H1Z1, and we can think of no other city that matches the energy and excitement of battle royale than Las Vegas.

“With our announcement today that H1Z1 is now free to play, the stage is set for a robust and active community ready to tune into the H1PL every week.”

The H1Z1 Pro League, plans for which were first announced in October 2017, will include a guaranteed player minimum salary, team owner and player representation on the governance committee, along with a comprehensive “Player Bill of Rights” and a revenue sharing model. 

Esports Insider says: The battle to be the king of battle royale esports titles intensifies with a well-backed, supported and seemingly well organised pro league structure for H1Z1. It’ll be interesting to see how many come along with its location in Vegas, but with the teams they have involved and the structures in place it looks like they’re committed and in it for the long haul.