Stunlock Studios announces Battlerite Pro League with $80,000 prize pool.

Stunlock has partnered with Nexon to produce the league in Korea.

Battlerite has plenty of esports potential as a unique twist on the popular MOBA genre, but will have to contend with juggernauts like League of Legends and Dota 2 .

Today, Battlerite developer Stunlock Studios announced an official professional circuit, the Battlerite Pro League. Streaming platform Twitch and Korean game publisher Nexon have been confirmed as partners. Nexon will assist Stunlock Studios with production and distribution for the league’s Korean division.

The league will consist of four regions: Europe, North America, South America, and Korea. Each region will hold open qualifiers, resulting in four eight team leagues. Once the regional leagues have been formed, the teams will compete for a piece of the Pro League’s $80,000 prize pool.

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Alexander Hermansson, business development and esports manager for Stunlock Studios, said:

“Our community has grown and matured immensely since Battlerite was released, so it was time for us to provide a platform for the best players to show what they’re made of. By partnering with Twitch and Nexon for the Battlerite Pro League, we’re not only offering an entertaining broadcast, we’re introducing the game’s intricacies to fresh audiences, newer players, and esports fans in many different corners of the world.”

Since the game’s early beta, Stunlock Studios has planned for Battlerite to become an esport. However, they took the time to let the community build the scene first. While the game was in early access, fans ran multiple grassroots tournament series, including an early third-party attempt at a similar structure to the Pro League. Stunlock Studios provided in-game rewards as prizes for these grassroots tournaments, and even partnered with Next Generation Esports to run the BattleRekt tournament series.

It certainly has plenty of esports potential. Battlerite combines two of the most popular esports genres: MOBAs and fighting games. The perspective and character design closely mirror popular MOBAs like League of Legends , but the win condition is completely different. Rather than eliminating structures in the opponent’s base, players win by defeating all of their opponents. This creates a viewing experience that is immediately recognizable to MOBA fans, but with faster gameplay and a greater emphasis on individual player skill.

Matches last roughly as long as a match of Street Fighter , usually no more than fifteen minutes. With a greater emphasis on skill over planning, and a quicker game speed overall, Battlerite could appeal to MOBA esports fans looking for a change of pace.

Battlerite offers another unique opportunity for spectators in the form of virtual reality.

A gameplay trailer from 2016 showed Battlerite’s VR spectator mode was already on par with major competitors like Valve’s Dota 2 spectator hub.

Battlerite is a small, independant game attempting to break into the highly competitive esports market. While the gameplay is unique, the visual style and top-down perspective will likely put the Battlerite Pro League in direct competition with League of Legends and Dota 2, two of the biggest games in the scene. According to Steam Charts, the game averaged 7,075 players in the last 30 days. In that same time, Dota 2 averaged 432,225 players. Battlerite may be able to carve out a solid niche in the market now, but it will need to see major growth if it hopes to contend with more established games.

However, with a developer committed to esports, a fast-paced take on an established genre, and unique viewing options for spectators, Battlerite has all the pieces in place to grow an audience and compete with some of the biggest names in esports.