One of the big growth areas in gaming over the past few years has been esports tournaments. These are large-scale events where teams or individual players compete against each other at video games while spectators watch the action.
The interest that viewers have in this might seem extraordinary to those outside the gaming world, but it should not. After all, competitive gaming of any sort can be exciting to watch, with live poker games always drawing an audience. Esports are just the latest development of that and they are one that is fast growing in popularity. Further proof of that arrived recently with the news that EA Sports – a company behind successful sports video games – was launching FC Pro tournaments.
These events are designed to pit the best players of the games against each other. Read on to learn all about them.
What are FC Pro Tournaments?
There is more than one FC Pro tournament, but all of them are run by EA Sports and they are all esports events. In total there are: the FC Pro World Championship, the eChampions League, the FC Pro Open and the FC Pro Leagues.
Some of the tournaments are directly linked to each other though. For instance, the FC Pro Open is the tournament to determine which players get to compete in the FC Pro World Championship. Of the 20 players that make it into the Open, just four will be left at the end and they will secure their places in the World Championship.
In that sense, it is not entirely different from the football competitions in the real world. In those, teams must come through qualifying events and rounds to earn their place in the big tournaments, so EA has cleverly chosen to mirror that in its FC Pro structure. However, there are also some differences. Despite its name, the World Championship is not really the equivalent of the World Cup. Like all of the other FC Pro events, players represent their preferred domestic football clubs not international sides.
That is an aspect that may need to be ironed out as these events progress. At the moment, it can be hard to distinguish between the FC Pro World Championship and the eChampions League, because both are being marketed by EA as elite club-level esports tournaments. The domestic leagues that are partners of the various FC Pro tournaments include the ePremier League (for the UK), the LALIGA FC Pro (for Spain) and the WOW Virtual Bundesliga (for Germany). These leagues are where the players sharpen their skills.
What are the Rules?
There are quite a lot of rules that anyone thinking of trying for a place in one of these tournaments must comply with. For one thing, they must have a PlayStation 5, as this console is the ‘supported platform’ for all FC Pro events. They also have to register using an official EA Account for each individual tournament that they want to go in for.
This is done by signing into their accounts at Battlefy before linking them with their EA Accounts and then completing the various registration forms. There are varying minimum age rules too – with 16 being the most common – and a need to prove that they are legal residents of a country.
Entering is not particularly easy then and the fact that so many are doing so is evidence that esports events like FC Pro are increasingly important to gaming fans.
However for those who want to take part in tournaments but do not want to submit to all of the official EA rules, it is possible to set up their own as long as they abide by community guidelines. Among these are limits on the number of players who can enter; the prize money ($10,000) and the entry fees that can be charged ($20).
Who are the Top Players?
Two of the top players in the FC Pro world right now are 17-year-old Anders Verjang and Paul Henrique de Souza Chaves Ferreira. They recently competed in the FC Pro finals, playing for RBLZ Gaming and Ajax eSports respectively.
It was Ferreira who lifted the trophy for his team, winning a gripping final by 6-5. He has had numerous successes in esports football tournaments, including the Nations Cup and the 2023 eClub Series. Although still young, Verjang has also had trophy success, winning a world title with RBLZ, the Blacki Cup and the Eligella Cup. Skilled EA FC Pro play demands high levels of dexterity and control of the joystick, to score goals, defend and avoid penalties like the offside trap.
What is the Prize Money?
The total prize money available for the FC Pro Open is $180,000. These tournaments are the latest frontier in esports and playing games competitively.
Comments