Jessica S. February 9, 2019
New and wildly successful game Apex Legends is getting its first esports tournament just days after launch.
The Twitch Rivals Apex Legends Challenge will feature 48 Twitch streamers competing for $200,000 worth of prizes. Two territories, North America and EMEA, will feature eight teams of three members, totaling 48 competitors for both regions.
Teams will be allowed unlimited attempts to play and accrue points during a four-hour period. Five points will be awarded for a match victory and one point for each kill. Teams will aim to score the most points to move forward in the tournament.
There are two days of competition. The event begins February 12 will conclude on February 19. Each day’s events have separate prize pools of $50,000 for each region.
Competitors announced thus far feature some big names in the Twitch community, including Dr Disrespect, Sacriel, TSM’s Myth, Disguised Toast, RealKraftyy, and Shroud.
Twitch Rivals events stand out from other competitions in the variety of means through which viewers can watch games. The official Twitch Rivals channel will be broadcasting the match, but fans can also tune into their favorite streamer’s personal channel to watch the action from that streamer’s perspective.
Apex Legends’ popularity has been exploding since its surprise launch on February 4. Fans have already begun discussing the competitive viability of the new title. Twitch Rivals will be the first event to put the game to the test.
Apex Legends is already dominating Twitch viewership, far surpassing usual leaders League of Legends and Fortnite.