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Developer The Coalition and tournament organizer PGL have revealed details about the upcoming Gears 5 esports season.
Originally announced in July, the first Gears 5 season will consist of four quarters, each culminating in a major event. The 2019-20 season will conclude with a world championship in July 2020. The total prize pool for the season will be over $2 million.
Tournaments will be open to both professional and amateur teams. The online Pro League will include teams from North America, Central America, and Europe. The initiative will also accommodate teams from South America and the Asian Pacific in international competitions. The Coalition and PGL have pledged to support international teams by providing travel support for them to relevant events.
The fall quarter is currently in the “warm-up” phase, with online play and Pro League qualifications to begin on September 22. The fall quarter Pro League officially begins on October 21, with the fall quarter major taking place in San Diego from December 6-8. The winter quarter Pro League begins January 12. The winter quarter major will take place in Mexico City in March.
Gears 5 launch week a success for Game Pass subscription service
It’s only been one week since Gears 5 launched on September 10, but Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is already declaring the title a record-breaker.
The company reported that over 3 million people played the game during its first week. This figure represents the combined total number of players of the retail version of Gears 5, as well as those who accessed the game through the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The number was further bolstered by players who accessed the game four days early through the premium Game Pass Ultimate service.
Microsoft described the launch as “the biggest launch week of any Xbox Game Studios title this generation.”
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has suggested that non-traditional distribution models like Xbox Game Pass will be a cornerstone of the company’s gaming sector going forwards. The success of Gears 5 on the platform lends weight to his decision to focus more on subscription services, which have continued to see growth even as hardware sales have slumped for the company.
