Not too long ago, we went about scouring for news about multiple eSports events that may be happening in Malaysia this year, and while we may have had awesome sources, we could only tag it as a rumor; until now that is.

“The scale and popularity of competitive gaming has been skyrocketing over the last couple of years, and we have now reached the point where we can focus significant effort on advancing World of Tanks on to the global eSports scene,” said Jonghyuk Baak, Global eSports Director and with that, announces their plans to start a global eSports league with a prize pool of USD2.5 Million.

The new league is currently scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2013, and will adopt the format of traditional competitive gaming by way of regular regional tourneys and playoffs leading up to a Grand Finals. The 2013 Season will have a prize pool of USD 2.5 million (about RM7.5 million or RM 1 million a person – if you win, of course).

The eSports league aims to bring the global World of Tanks communities closer together and bridge the geographical gap that most players were previously facing. While details of the tournament and league is still sketchy, we expect their league to be similar to many older leagues out there, so expect point systems, double eliminations and group stage matches. There are also rumors that these events may take place weekly, giving plenty of opportunities for teams to train, win and gain sufficient experience on their way to winning the first season of the league. If you’re already in the arena, it’s time to get serious; if you aren’t, it’s time to get started.

World of Tanks debuted in the World Cyber Games 2012 in Kunshan, China and has since continued to garner interest from competitive gaming communities worldwide.

If i was any good at the game, I’d quit writing but, I’m pretty sure Asia has its fair share of awesome tank drivers, so I’ll just stick to writing for now. Besides, who’d bring you the news if I was busy playing?

[spoiler title=”Press Release”]

Wargaming Launches Professional eSports League

Wargaming.net League marks company’s break into global competitive gaming

February 12, 2013 — Wargaming announced today the establishment of Wargaming.net League for its armored MMO action game World of Tanks. With the new professional eSports league, the company aims to become a key player in the competitive gaming realm by introducing its unique team-based strategy-focused gameplay to the world of professional gaming, as well as expand the Wargaming brand to new gamers, fans, and professional eSports players.

The new league is currently scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2013, and will adopt the format of traditional competitive gaming by way of regular regional tourneys and playoffs leading up to a Grand Finals. The competitive season 2013 will offer $2.5 million prize pool.

“The scale and popularity of competitive gaming has been skyrocketing over the last couple of years, and we have now reached the point where we can focus significant effort on advancing World of Tanks on to the global eSports scene,” said Jonghyuk Baak, Global eSports Director. “Wargaming.net League is a groundbreaking step in our quest to bring the game’s eSports potential into the international spotlight.”

The newly announced Wargaming.net League will help to bridge the gap between the World of Tanks’ gaming communities, previously separated by geographic boundaries, and unite them into a tight-knit global eSports entity.

“Running our own eSports league allows us to truly focus on making World of Tanks not only a compelling and challenging eSports discipline, but also one that’s incredibly entertaining for spectators,” said Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Global Operations at Wargaming. “Now we have a sustainable tool to broaden our global eSports involvement in an unprecedented way: stimulate the growth of the competitive community, organize bigger and better tournaments with larger prize pools than ever, and provide our best pro gamers with completely viable career opportunities.”

World of Tanks successfully debuted as the eSports discipline at the WCG 2012 Grand Finals in Kunshan, China, and has since continued to garner interest from competitive gaming communities worldwide.

About Wargaming

Wargaming is an award-winning online game developer and publisher and one of the leaders in the free-to-play MMO market. Founded as a privately held company in 1998, Wargaming has shipped more than 15 titles and employs 1400 people across such key regions as North America, Europe, Russia, Asia, and Australia.

Currently, Wargaming is focused on its team-based MMO war series dedicated to mid-20th century warfare that will include the company’s flagship armored MMO World of Tanks, launched in April 2011 and currently boasting 50 million players worldwide, the flight combat World of Warplanes, named one of the most anticipated MMOs, and the naval World of Warships, scheduled for release in 2013.

In June 2012, Wargaming announced the Wargaming.net Service, the epicenter of the online battle gaming universe that will gather the series under a single portal — www.wargaming.net.

Official website: