Daybreak Games has today announced the Elite Series for their game H1Z1: King of the Kill, which will be an esports circuit with four live events in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, all of which with $250,000 USD prize pools.
"The Elite Series shines a spotlight on the skill and passion of our players from around the world, bringing the community closer together through online programming and in-person competition. It's an arena for the best head-to-head H1Z1 action and will undoubtedly have viewers and players on the edge of their seat," commented Mark Tuttle, director of esports at Daybreak. "There is nothing that can match the scale or intensity of an H1Z1 tournament where everyone is dropped in together, competing amidst the mayhem to be the last one standing, and we are excited to continue to develop this new genre of esports."
The series will start at DreamHack Atlanta from July 21 to 23, with both a 5-player-team tournament, and a solo tournament, the teams having a $150,000 prize pool, with solo getting $100,000. The team side of things will see top teams like Obey Alliance (winner of the Fight for the Crown earlier this year), World Best Gaming, and Counter Logic Gaming take part, and you can even qualify in preliminary rounds on-site at the event.
According to the press release the Elite Series "both shares and advances the spirit of Daybreak's past esports initiatives, including the primetime television spectacle of H1Z1: Fight for the Crown that aired on The CW Network earlier this year and the H1Z1 Invitational, the most watched TwitchCon program for two years running." The press release also announces that the Invitational will return to TwitchCon this October, and that more details on this and future Elite Series events will be announced later this year.
A trailer for the Elite Series has also been released, which you can watch down below. Can H1Z1 cement itself as a strong esport in the years to come?