5 upcoming PUBG Mobile tournaments to look forward to
While PUBG Mobile may be new to the esports scene compared to the likes of Dota 2, CS:GO and League of Legends, the mobile title is certainly picking up pace with massive amounts of prize money and viewership. The rise in popularity of PUBGM, especially in the Asian, South-East Asian and South Asian markets has allowed new audiences and new demographics to enter the esports sphere, which in turn has opened the doors for new tournament organizers and new tournament IPs to flourish. With a rapidly booming PUBG Mobile scene, we take a look at some upcoming PUBG Mobile tournaments that are likely to keep the audience happy.
PMIT - PUBG Mobile India Tour
Tier: India only
Total prize pool: 150,000 USD
Dates: 15th July - 20th October
Location: India
PMIT is widely expected to be India’s biggest PUBG Mobile tournament ever and with an extended online as well as offline qualifying phase as well as a 150K USD prize pool, the tournament is already shaping up to be a banger. With 50 lakh INR on the line as well as the title of India’s best team, squads will go all out in their quest for glory. The format involves 4 groups, which play out into 4 offline regional qualifiers and 1 final grand finale event.
Group A Finals - Jaipur - completed on 25th of August
Group B Finals - Guwahati - 8th September
Group C Finals - Pune - 22nd September
Group D Finals - Vizag - 6th October
Grand Finals - Kolkata - 20th October
Vodafone ESL Mobile Open
Tier: International
Total prize pool: 132,000 USD
Dates: 28th-29th September
Location: Milan
The Vodafone ESL Mobile Open will see teams from Europe, the Middle East and India fight for the lion’s share of a 132 K USD bounty. Synergy Gaming, Orange Rock Esports and Entity Gaming will be representing India in the tournament and the qualifiers for the other regions are still ongoing.
PMCO (PUBG Mobile Club Open) Fall Split
Tier: International
Total prize pool: 25,00,000 USD
Dates: December
Location: TBA
The PMCO is the international gold standard for PUBG Mobile esport and the very best teams from around the world are allowed to showcase their skills in this competition. The Summer Split Finals showed the community the power of Chinese teams and the rest of the regions will be raring to go come December. The exact dates and location are yet to be revealed but it is likely that the event takes place in December.
The PMCO Fall Split also has a tiered structure with Regional Qualifiers taking place across the world to decide which teams will get to represent their region. These Regional Qualifiers are quite a big spectacle in themselves and will take place between 12th October and 3rd November.
Both the South Asia Qualifiers and the South East Asia Qualifiers are big LANs leading up to the PMCO. The details for the LANs are as follows haven’t been revealed to a great extent, but here’s what we know:
PMCO Fall - South Asia Qualifiers
Tier: Regional
Total prize pool:TBA
Dates: TBA
Location: TBA
The India Qualifiers have been replaced by the South Asia qualifiers which can only mean one thing - more competition, fiercer rivalries and enticing storylines.
PMCO Fall - South East Asia Qualifiers
Tier: Regional
Total prize pool: TBA
Dates: TBA
Location: TBA
Since the South East Asian Region comprises of many countries, the structure for this qualifier involves a 24 team League stage which will span for 5 weeks with each team playing 16 maps per week. At the end of 5 weeks, the 16 top teams will move onto the SEA Championship, which will be played out as a LAN. The 24 teams for the League have already been selected via qualifiers and direct invites. The League stage will kick off on the 17th of September and last till 13th October
Dew Arena
Tier: India
Total prize pool: 11,00,000 INR
Dates: October (TBA)
Location: Delhi
Dew Arena is one of India’s oldest esport IP’s having had successful seasons since 2016. This year they added PUBG Mobile to the mix and included an 11 lakh INR prize pool. Dew Arena’s format involves daily qualifiers which started on the 5th of July and will last till 2nd October. This means a total of 90 teams will make it to the grand finale. The winner of the tournament will take home 2 lakh INR.
PGAX - Phoenix Gaming and Anime Expo
Tier: India
Total prize pool: 2,00,00 INR
Dates: October September 27th-29th
Location: Chennai
This is the second year for PGAX and the Chennai based tournament organizers will bring back PUBG Mobile to the table which is hardly surprising since it was their most successful title last year. A 2 lakh INR prize pool should attract quite a few teams and the competition is phased into an online group stage which will last from September 6th to September 20th.
For PUBG Mobile fans, more good news is on the horizon as Tencent has already teased the PUBG Mobile World League which will take place in 2020. While not much is known about the event, it is widely expected to be a premier tier 1 event involving professional teams of the highest tier.