UK-based esports tournament organiser Gfinity has revealed a prize pool of more than £100,000 (per season) and the dates of its Gfinity Elite Series.
Gfinity will roll-out this tournament format out in the UK, followed by a number locations around the world over the coming year.
The Pro-Am-style tournament aims to push amateur esports players to the next level, and is formed of three parts.
First, it allows amateur players to build up G-Points in a ‘Challenger Series’ (not the League of Legends one with the same name), then compete in an Elite Draft, giving them the chance to get picked up temporarily by one of eight pro teams to take part in an Elite Series split.
There are three game leagues confirmed: CSGO, Street Fighter V and Rocket League.
Registration is now open for the Challenger Series tournaments over at www.gfinityesports.com,
The first Gfinity Challenger Series will start on March 27th and run for five weeks to May 7th. Season two will begin in late May.
The Elite Series will then commence on May 26th and run for 10 weeks, taking place in London’s Gfinity Arena and ending July 30th.
Cash prizes reach as high as £900 for winning cups within the tournament. The format will include internal seeding to pitch players and teams of similar ability against each other.
“There is tremendous, world-class competitive gaming talent in the UK, and the Gfinity Elite Series is going to provide the platform for this talent to showcase their skills to the world.”
Neville Upton, Gfinity
In the Elite Series, the top four-finishing teams from each league will progress to a playoff stage.
The Elite Series will initially launch in the UK and teams will be UK-based, however players do not need to be UK nationals.
Between each Challenger and Elite season, the Gfinity Elite Draft event will see eight Gfinity Elite Series professional teams pick two players for each game title to add to their existing roster (48 players in total).
A minimum of 90 players from the Gfinity Challenger Series will qualify for the Gfinity Elite Draft – 30 from each game.
Neville Upton, CEO at Gfinity, said: “There is tremendous, world-class competitive gaming talent in the UK, and the Gfinity Elite Series is going to provide the platform for this talent to showcase their skills to the world.
“We want more gamers playing harder and better at the top level to showcase new home-grown talent to existing pro teams and ultimately pave the way for more UK pro teams being formed that can go on and compete at global events.
“The Gfinity Elite Series brings world-class-level competition to the UK and is set to be the pinnacle esports event in the UK.”
Further reading: Gfinity to pay UK orgs if one of their players joins an Elite Series team – interview with Paul Kent
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
