Army Entertainment, a part of the U.S. Army‘s Installation Management Command, is set to launch a Street Fighter V competition: the Army Entertainment Esports Championship Series.
This competition will be hosted in cooperation with MGM Resorts International and USAA, and is open to all active-duty service men and women.
There will be eight qualifiers held at different U.S. military bases, with each being broadcast live on Twitch. Matches will be commentated over by yet-to-be-announced shoutcasters, as well as Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Jones, a Soldier and gamer. Here’s the list of garrisons that will be involved, and when they will be streaming:
- Fort Bliss (July 28th)
- Fort Gordon (August 11th)
- Joint Base Lewis-McChord (August 18th)
- Fort Wainwright (August 25th)
- Fort Riley (No stream)
- USAG Humphreys (No stream)
- USAG Bavaria (No stream)
- Fort Knox (No stream)
The grand finals will take place at PAX West in Seattle on September 1st and are already sold out, though they will also be available to watch on Twitch. The winner from each of the eight tournaments will be in attendance, fighting for a chance to win Twitch merchandise, a two-night stay at the Mandalay Bay MGM resort, an Army Entertainment Esports jersey, a tournament coin, and a gift card containing $500 (£380.18).
The U.S. military is no stranger to esports at this point. Just earlier this month, ELEAGUE announced an expansion to its partnership with the U.S. Air Force to cover all of its platforms. Not long after, Cloud9 announced its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive roster was also partnering with the Air Force.
Esports Insider says: It’s great that esports is being embraced by the likes of the American military, though it’s hard to imagine that it’s not related to one of the main demographics that consumes gaming content: males who are in their late teens or are young adults. Nonetheless, this has a unique spin considering it’ll be service men and women competing.