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| (Image Source: eSports Insider via 2K Games) |
2K Games, a subsidiary of Take Two Interactive Software and renouned publisher
of the NBA 2K video game franchise, officially teamed up with the National
Basketball Association (NBA), the National Basketball Players Association
(NBPA) and the world's largest eSports company ESL to create and launch the NBA
2K20 Global Championship, a highly competitive tournament open for aspiring NBA
2K20 players around the world with US$100,000 cash at stake.
Aspiring NBA 2K20 players who are interested in taking part in the
global championship are slated to take part in a series of online and offline
events featuring head-to-head competitions that will take place from October to
November 2019. They will compete in local online qualifier events across three
regions across the globe - Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific - leading to the regional
finals at ESL studios in Los Angeles, Paris and Sydney which will determine who
will go on to the global finals and take home US$15,000 cash and various prizes
from NBA and 2K.
The Global Finals will be held at ESL Los Angeles on February 22, 2020
where the chosen eight finalists are vying to be crowned as the first-ever NBA
2K20 Global Champion and to take home the grand cash prize of US$100,000. For
more information, visit www.nba2kgc.com.
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The NBA 2K League announced the addition of a Shanghai club for its upcoming
2020 season. Highly regarded as the first franchised team outside North America,
Shanghai will be operated by eSports organization Gen.G and is slated to join
22 other teams in the league which are operated by existing NBA franchises.
Though it is yet to have an official name, the team will be trained and molded inside
Gen.G's Los Angeles headquarters next year.
The 2K League officially announced its partnership with Gen.G that will
allow both parties to scout and develop promising eSports talent in Asia. Prior
to the addition of Shanghai in the 2K League, Gen.G, in which one of its
investors is Los Angeles Clippers alternate governor Dennis Wong, has teams
competing in seven professional gaming leagues such as the Overwatch League's
Seoul Dynasty. Run by the NBA, the 2K League partnered with internet giant Tencent
in July 2019 to stream its games in China for the first time. Majority of the
league's games are being held at the 2K studio in New York City although the league
has already staged tournaments in Las Vegas, Nevada and Orlando, Florida
throughout this year.
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ONE Championship, the largest global sports media property in Asian
history, officially announced the details of its own mobile game ONE Fantasy
where it can be enjoyed by combat sports fans during the promotion's live
events via the ONE Super App on their smartphones. First-time users can have a chance
to enjoy playing ONE Fantasy during the promotion's historic 100th event, ONE Century,
which will take place at the Ryogoku Kogukikan in Tokyo, Japan on October 13,
2019.
ONE Fantasy can be found on the ONE Super App's Events section. From an
allotedly limited number of credits, users can select from a roster of athletes
that are scheduled to compete in a ONE Championship fight card and rank them
based on the likelihood of them winning their respective bouts. They can get
score updates and follow their team's progress in real-time on the app, all
while watching the event. At the end of each show, users can compare their
final scores and ranks to those of players from around the world.
