Intel has announced the Intel World Open, “an international esports tournament” scheduled to take place in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games. Designed as an international tournament for the best gamers from around the world to compete on a global stage, the Intel World Open will feature Street Fighter V and Rocket League. It will also have a prize pool of $500,000 USD.
While the Olympic Games will be held later in the year, the Intel World Open begins in March 2020 with open qualifiers. In June, those teams who qualified in March will compete in Katowice, Poland to determine who moves onto the championship tournament in Tokyo.
The Intel World Open championships will be held in Tokyo on July 22-24, 2020.
Intel World Open
Mark Subotnick, Intel director of gaming and esports business development said;
We introduced Intel Extreme Masters PyeongChang in 2018 and we’re excited to continue raising the stakes for esports with the Intel World Open in 2020. There are more than 490 million esports fans worldwide and the Intel World Open exemplifies Intel’s global leadership in esports and delivers a pinnacle tournament on the world’s biggest sports stage.
The Intel World Open is an extension of Intel’s partnership with the International Olympic Committee and is open to any player at any level. After the qualifiers, the championship event will be held at the Zepp DiverCity venue with teams battling for their share of the prize money and glory.
The format for the event is as follows.
Street Fighter V will begin qualifiers on March 2, 2020. These qualifiers will determine the three best players from each territory. These players will form the team representing their territory in Poland at the live qualifiers. The 12 pre-selected territories are;
- Brazil
- China
- Chinese Taipei
- Dominican Republic
- France
- Hong Kong, China
- Korea
- Russia
- Singapore
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States
In addition to these 12 territories, eight regions will also be included. Teams from these eight regions will also head to Poland to compete in the live qualifier. The regions are; Europe 1, Europe 2, Middle East & Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Asia and Oceania.
- Live qualifier in Katowice, Poland: From 18 -21 June, the final qualifier brings together the winning teams formed from the territory and regional qualifiers to determine who advances to the final Intel World Open event in Tokyo.
- Japan qualifier: As the host country, Japan will have the final guaranteed spot at the Intel World Open finals in Tokyo. Japan qualifiers are single-player matches with the winning team being formed from the top players on the Intel World Open leaderboard.
- Intel World Open finals: The finals take place 22-24 July at the Zepp DiverCity venue in Tokyo, where qualifying teams will compete to claim the majority share of the US$250,000 prize pool.
Rocket League qualifiers will begin on May 2 and will feature 3v3 competitions playing Soccar Mode.
Nine pre-selected countries will draft a team from National Qualifiers with the nine teams competing in Poland. The nine pre-selected nations are;
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Japan
- United Kingdom
- United States
As with Street Fighter V, there are eight additional regions which will draft teams and compete in Poland. These regions are; Africa, Asia (mainland), Asia (Maritime and Oceania), Europe 1, Europe 2, Europe 3, Latin America (Mexico and southward) and the Middle East.
- Live qualifier in Katowice, Poland: The final qualifier in Katowice, Poland, features the 16 best teams in the world separated into two groups of eight teams. The teams will compete in a round-robin, with the top two teams from each group automatically advancing to the Intel World Open Finals in Tokyo to join the host country, Japan. After the round-robin stage, the rest of the teams will participate in a double-elimination bracket. The upper bracket winner and both teams from the lower bracket finals will qualify for the Intel World Open finals.
- Intel World Open finals: The epic culmination of the Intel World Open will be the live final in Tokyo featuring a two-day event showcasing the best eight teams in the world. They will battle through a high-stakes, single-elimination bracket in order to claim the Intel World Open title and majority share of the $250,000 prize pool.
For more information on qualifiers, rules and the Intel World Open, head to the official website. Registration begins on March 2, 2020.
