Playerunknown's Battlegrounds Will Have Its First Big Esports Tournament Next Month

It was just a matter of time before Playerunknown's Battlegrounds got its first big esports tournament. The buzz around the game has only grown since its Early Access release in March, and now that dedicated players have had a chance to master it, it's a good time for a competition. Today, developer Bluehole and the ESL have announced the PUBG Invitational, which will take place next month at the Gamescom conference.

Esports have traditionally been dominated by relatively standard solo or team matches: 1v1, 2v2, etc. Each match of PUBG, on the other hand, features up to 100 players in a free-for-all, all attempting to outlast the others.

This requires a relatively unusual tournament format for the PUBG Invitational. It'll feature 80 players who play in a three-game set to determine the winner. There'll be competitions in all the modes: solo, duo, first-person duo, and squad.

The Invitational will, not surprisingly, have a pretty decent prize pool. Bluehole stated that the prize pool totals $350,000, and the developer will also be selling cosmetic items to the general public to fund the prize pool and event organization, and to give to charities. These items will come in the form of an in-game crate that you can buy for $2.50, which will include several themed items. You can see them below.

The tournament takes place from August 23-26 in Cologne, Germany. It'll be broadcast starting at 7 AM PT / 10 AM ET / 3 PM BST on Bluehole's social media channels.

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