Aurora (franchise)

Aurora
Genre(s)	First-person shooter Real-time strategy Twin-stick shooter Arcade game
Developer(s)	Dojo (2001-present) Heidan (2012-present)
Creator(s)	Dayacom Gaming Studio
Platform(s)	Dayacom DCX Dayacom DCX2 Dayacom DCX3 Dayacom DCX4 Cross-platform (2012-present)
First release	Aurora: Desolation 10 November, 2001
Latest release	Aurora 6 7 December, 2020
Spin-offs	Aurora Origins

Aurora is a Dayashinese science fiction military shooter franchise created and published by Dayacom Gaming Studio and developed by Dojo since 2001 in collaboration with Heidan since 2012. Set far in the future, the story of the franchise centers around the struggle of humanity against a variety of ancient alien invaders who threaten to eradicate humans from space. Aurora is very commonly associated with esports and gaming culture as a whole in Dayashina and Septentrion, largely thanks to the prolonged global success of Aurora 3's competitive multiplayer scene and the subsequent success of future Aurora titles. The games have sold over 60 million copies worldwide, bringing in multiple billions of dollars worth in value to Dayacom with sales of the game alone.

Cultural impact

An example of an Aurora LAN party using Dayacom DCX consoles

The Aurora series is considered one of the most widely impactful and iconic video game series in history, and pioneered the modern era of combat games, especially first person shooters, in Septentrion. Its consistently unique and unconventional marketing campaigns made games in the Aurora series integral to propelling gaming into mainstream culture in Dayashina and other nations. In fact, by the time Aurora 3 had released, the series had been labeled a "cultural phenomenon" given its crucial role in elevating the idea of a LAN party to the mainstream, with Dayashinese kids and adults alike being interested in gathering up with their friends to play the game. A similar occurrence happened in Themiclesia, which already had a longstanding and established culture around the LAN party, leading to Aurora's almost immediate success in the Themiclesian markets. Games in the Aurora series continue to be referenced as industry benchmark in terms of marketing success and mechanical fluidity. Furthermore, the Aurora series, particularly Aurora 3, helped introduce and popularise the idea of competitive gaming and esports in Dayashina, being one of earliest pioneers of what is now a multimillion dollar industry.

In 2012, when Dojo announced that they would be collaborating with Heidan to bring Aurora games to as many platforms as possible across the world (beyond the Dayacom DCX), the player population exploded, and a "second wave" of craze for the Aurora series took form in nations across Septentrion with their own unique gaming platforms. This decision helped pave the way for competitive gaming and esports industries to develop in other nations, with an innumerable amount of players and organisations looking to get involved in competitive play for the benchmark title of the series, Aurora 3.

Professional competition

Kitaizumi World Pro Series 2018 venue

Aurora 3 MLG T1 Championships

Most recent season or competition: Nakazara World Pro Series III
Sport	Esports
Founded	2008
No. of teams	16 teams (2008–2013) 24 teams (2014–present)
Venue(s)	Various
Continents	International
Most recent champion(s)	Raiko T1 (2nd title)
Most titles	Viral (5 titles)
TV partner(s)	VideoTube, Streamscape, Flide Live
Sponsor(s)	Dayacom

Competitive gaming in the Aurora series traces its origins back to the very beginning of the series in 2001, when avid players of Aurora: Desolation began to establish their own third party tournaments, organising everything via LAN events. This influenced the implementation of the online multiplayer mode in Aurora 2, which introduced ranked game modes and more options for players to experiment with competitive play. Despite this, the standard for playing Aurora at the highest level remained at LAN events, with organisers getting more involved with the players, encouraging the formation of teams and other competitor organisations. Aurora 3 is considered the pinnacle of competitive play in the series, and since its release in 2007, it has remained as the standard for cross platform FPS esports in Dayashina and abroad, only being rivaled by titles such as CS:GO, which were specifically designed for playing on the personal computer rather than the gaming console. Newer instalments of the Aurora series, those being ones released after Aurora 3, have offerings for competitive play, but represent a far-off second to the industry standard that is Aurora 3.

In 2008, Dayacom announced that it would be officially sponsoring Major League Gaming for the formation of a standard competitive league and poured in funds for the organisation of LAN-based tournament events. This resulted in the explosion of Aurora 3 as an esport in Dayashina and in countries with widespread usage of the DCX console. Prize pools for leagues and events quickly rose in volume, with more recent ones accounting for dozens of millions of dollars. Over the course of more than a decade, hundreds of teams and organisations from across the world have formed and competed at the top level of Aurora 3 esports, among the most notable being Viral, Swords Up, Illuminate, Raiko T1, Xterm, Silent Thunder, BlackouT, Internet Daimyō, and GT21.

Tournament	Date	Winner	Finals result	Runner up
Nakazara World Pro Series	August 2008	Viral (DAY)	2-1	Swords Up (DAY)
Takena World Pro Series	February 2009	BlackouT (DAY)	2-1	Viral (DAY)
Shizuna World Pro Series	September 2009	Viral (DAY)	2-0	BlackouT (DAY)
Daishi World Pro Series	April 2010	Viral (DAY)	2-0	Xterm (DAY)
Kien-k'ang World Pro Series	November 2010	Viral (DAY)	2-1	Swords Up (DAY)
Nakazara World Pro Series II	June 2011	Viral (DAY)	2-1	BlackouT (DAY)
Gonghae World Pro Series	January 2012	BlackouT (DAY)	2-1	Viral (DAY)
Leiden World Pro Series	August 2012	GT21 (DAY)	2-0	Silent Thunder (THM)
TBD