World Showdown of Esports, a multi-title esports tournament series, has announced its entry into Dota 2 with an event on October 14-15th.
Taking place at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas, eight teams will compete for the lion’s share of $100,000 (£76,143) at WSOE 1: The Dota 2 Showdown. The teams set to compete are: compLexity Gaming, Alliance, Team Serenity, J.Storm, The final Tribe, Happy Guys, ROOONS, and Pain X.
Jeff Liboon, President of ESP Gaming said the following in a statement: “Dota 2 is one of the longest-standing competitive gaming titles, and its rich history in esports makes it a perfect fit for the narrative-driven competition of WSOE. The WSOE is an intimate, premium event designed to capture the spirit of competition for fans and players alike. We are excited to present Dota 2 fans a new opportunity to support their favorite teams as they vie to become the first-ever WSOE Champion.”
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) will act as the official hardware sponsor of the tournament series, providing all of the gaming hardware used during the event.
Richard Blankenship, Senior Vice President of Business Development at ESP Gaming commented on the partnership: “Our partnership with ASUS Republic of Gamers gives us the ability to provide best-in-class gaming devices for our competitors while optimizing the viewing experience for WSOE fans around the world. ASUS ROG has been at the forefront of the esports community and we are thrilled to incorporat their high-performance products during our inaugural season.”
World Showdown of Esports is owned by ESP Gaming, an esports content creation company. In August, it was announced that it had entered a partnership with sports network Stadium that would result in original esports programming. Earlier this year, it acquired PUBG tournament organiser Auzom.
Esports Insider says: World Showdown of Esports’ PUBG Pan-Continental proved to be a successful inaugural event for the company with impressive viewership and smooth production. Dota 2 is in an entirely different ballpark however; it’s a long-standing, established esport with a plethora of tournaments throughout its season. WSOE will need to do something radical to stand out from the crowd and to sell fans on its fight-card style premise.