Not all esports games are shooters or multiplayer online battle arenas — sometimes pro gamers wanna compete in an action role-playing game.
Mount & Blade, which is medieval role-playing game, debuted in 2008, and over the last decade it has slowly and steadily built up an dedicated competitive scene after selling 7 million copies. Now, the pro Mount & Blade community is coming to together in the Battle of Bucharest, the first live tournament in the game’s history. Starting May 12, the Lithuanian Esports Federation is holding online trials from throughout Europe, and the best players will have the chance to compete in the live finals in Bucharest on May 20. You can still register to participate by visiting the Lithuanian Esports Federation’s website.
The Battle of Bucharest has a $10,000 prize pool. The 5-on-5 category will distribute $5,000 to the winning team. Second and third place will get $2,500 and $750, respectively. In the 1-on-1 duels, the winner will get $1,000 with $500 and $250 going to the first and second runners up.
“Battle of Bucharest is a stepping stone for Mount & Blade esports events,” Lithuanian Esports Federation director Sergei Klimov said in a statement. “We plan to develop this format to include other regions in the future, increase the prize pool, and, of course, jump to Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord when it’s released.”
TaleWorlds is working on Mount & Blade II right now, and the studio is planning to launch it soon. The sequel has built up a lot of excitement among the original’s fans, and the developer sees this esports event as a way to connect with those dedicated players.
“[TaleWorlds] has been looking for great ways to engage with our active community at a live event, and this cooperation presents a fantastic opportunity,” TaleWorlds managing director Ali Erkin said. “We are looking forward to meeting the players in Bucharest — one of the top esports hubs in the world.”
This could also help Mount & Blade’s competitive scene find its footing before the new game debuts. It is also validation for that community, which has invested a lot of time and energy into building Twitch channels like BladeCast.tv:
[iframe src=”https://player.twitch.tv/?video=v125020464&autoplay=false” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen=”true” scrolling=”no” height=”378″ width=”620″]
With official live events taking off now, Blade & Mount II could attract even more competitors that could support tournaments worth a lot more than $10,000.