Blizzard reveals 2020 roadmap for the Arena World Championship and Mythic Dungeon International

It seems the $160 Million broadcasting deal with Youtube kicked Activision Blizzard’s Esports into overdrive. The newest addition to the expanding competitive portfolio coming to Youtube are the 2020 Arena World Championship (AWC) and Mythic Dungeon International (MDI). This season sees improved prize funds for both events and an increase in Blizzard’s commitment to developing World of Warcraft’s competitive aspect.

The Mythic Dungeon International 2020 For its fourth year of competition the MDI is getting a boost in prize funds threefold from $100,000 to $300,000. Teams will compete in two competitive division (Americas & Europe) before the best eight advance to the LAN Finals. The increase in prize funds across the board should motivate more players and organizations to take part in this year’s event. While Mythic+ dungeons are not everyone’s cup of tea, there is a growing audience for PvE World of Warcraft thanks in part to Limit and Method who serve as the main enables for the growth in interest about this type of content. Method is the current MDI champion after they dethroned Kjell’s Angels at the 2019 Mythic Dungeon International Finals. This in turn was revenge for the Kjell’s Angels defeating Method NA in the 2018 finals.

This season we can expect more competition then ever before. If you are a potential Mythic+ champion check out Blizzard’s rules & regulation section and sign-up for this years battle. The Open Cups will begin Saturday Apr 11, 2020 for Europe & Asia followed by the American Open Cup a week later.

Arena World Championship 2020

The Arena World Championship (AWC) has an extremely storied history dating back all the way to 2008. This season will be 13th iteration of the event where the best PvP players in World of Warcraft will face once again for a whopping prize pool of $500,000. Eight teams from North America (4) and Europe (4) will converge for the last Battle for Azeroth Finals.

Registration for this year’s online qualification cups will open this spring. The eight online Arena cups (four in each region) will also offer a $10,000 prize pool and Arena Points. Teams with the most points after all eight cups will be invited to compete in the Battle for Azeroth Finals.

Currently registration is open for anyone willing to take on the best PvP players on the planet. You should check out Blizzard’s rules section if you are eligible to do so. The first competitive week is set for the May 22 and 23rd Weekend in both EU and NA.

Similarly to the MDI, Method is the two time reigning champion in the Arena World Championship, having won both the 2018 and 2019 trophies. They seek to retain their Battle for Azeroth crown before the release of the next expansion WoW: Shadowlands.

The future of World of Warcraft esports

The new decade has a bright future for competitive aspects of WoW, especially with Blizzard pledging to continue the competitive events in the next expansion. Additionally, there are hints that the competitive events will be moved to a new venue in the future. BlizzCon was the default retreat for all things World of Warcraft in years past, but the latest speculation is that Blizzard might consider moving the competitive aspects of WoW to a new venue and keep BlizzCon as a showcase for their future projects and plans. The venues for this years finals in both AWC and the MDI are yet to be disclosed.