NEW YORK – 2K recently announced it is partnering with the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), and ESL, the world’s largest esports company, to create the NBA 2K20 Global Championship.
The NBA 2K20 Global Championship is a new competitive tournament designed for aspiring NBA 2K20 players worldwide and is offering more than $100,000 in prizes.
The global tournament will feature head-to-head competition in a series of online and offline events that will take place from October 2019 to February 2020.
The culminating event will take place in the United States where the first-ever NBA 2K20 global champion will be crowned.
“We’re excited to partner with the NBA, NBPA and ESL to create this first-of-its-kind tournament for NBA 2K,” said Jason Argent, Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations at 2K. “For anyone who is interested to test how their skills match up on a global scale, we encourage you to register and see if you truly have what it takes to become the best head-to-head player in the world.”
“The global scale of the tournament reflects the incredible growth of basketball around the world,” said Matthew Holt, NBA Senior Vice President, Consumer Products & Gaming Partnerships. “The NBA 2K20 Global Championship offers a chance for anyone in the world to compete.”
“We are thrilled to be working with these partners in creating this milestone event in gaming,” said Josh Goodstadt, EVP of Licensing for the NBPI, the commercial arm of the NBPA. “Our players come from all over the world and this is a unique experience which will allow fans from every corner of the globe to engage and compete with them through NBA 2K.”
From October to November 2019, aspiring NBA 2K20 players will compete in local online qualifiers in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions that will lead to online playoffs, which will determine who advances to the regional finals.
The regional finals will be held as live events at the ESL studios in Los Angeles, Paris and Sydney, where each winner will receive $15,000 and other prizes from the NBA and 2K.
The Global Finals will be held on February 22, 2020 at the ESL studio in Los Angeles, where eight finalists will compete to determine who will be crowned the first-ever global champion. The winner of the NBA 2K20 Global Championship will receive $100,000 in prizes.
Interested participants may register and see the official rules of the tournament at www.nba2kgc.com.
By Armando M. Bolislis