2022 Avatar World Championship
| 2022 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Avatar |
| Location | Verlois |
| Dates | December 2022– |
| Administrator(s) | Glace |
Tournament format(s) | 10 team single round robin 4 team best-of-seven elimination ladder matchups |
| Teams | x |
| Purse | 10,000,000 euclos |
The 2022 Avatar World Championship is an esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena game Avatar. The Avatar World Championship series is the oldest official still-running tournament for the game (being founded in 2013), the one with the largest prize pool, and widely considered to be the most prestigious, with the most publicity and the highest competitiveness. Being held annually, the 2022 event will be the tenth iteration.
The event will run through December 2022, with a total prize pool of 10 million euclos, the equal (to 2021's) largest in the series' history. This prize pool puts the tournament in the top ten esports events with the largest prize pool. The event is to be hosted in Verlois, capital of Gaullica. It takes place after the Summer Invictus Games were hosted in the same city in the same year.
Ten qualifying teams from around the world will compete, first in a round-robin stage, with the four best-performing teams advancing to best-of-seven elimination matchups, which will produce a winner. Glace, the developer of Avatar, is the host and organiser of the event. A majority of teams in the 2022 tournament have qualified again after participating in the 2021 tournament, including the Arucian Angels, who won it.
Hosting
Qualification
Certified regions were able to send their champions, with an extra two places granted to East Euclea and an extra one to West Euclea, because of the regions' strength. This marks a change from 2021, when the Brown Sea, Asteria Superior and East Euclean regions sent two (in addition to West Euclea), for a total of twelve teams. The reduction to ten but the increase for East Euclea has been controversial, particularly given the East Euclean teams' equal 8th place finish last year. The adjustments were made partially based on the results of the Global Qualifiers, another global Avatar tournament, albeit one of lesser stature. Another factor was the Central Euclea region not sending representatives, due to logistical issues, and their ties with the East Euclea region.
Expectations that 2022 might see the Shangean competitive region maturing enough to be allowed to send a team were not met.
Results
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Media
The 2021 Avatar World Championship will be streamed live for the general public, as well as recorded and uploaded to the internet. Official broadcasts are made in languages including Gaullican, Estmerish, Ziba, Shangean, Senrian, Vespasian, Soravian and Weranian; casters and other staff from regional leagues are brought in to create these different broadcasts. The gameplay footage, interviews, music and ceremonies are generally the same, but different streams may differ in terms of the commentary, analysis and other content (giveaways, off-topic discussion and games).
Glace maintains all relevant intellectual property rights in the broadcast; it does not allow reproduction of the live broadcast, but does allow private recordings to be uploaded after the fact. This is part of its media strategy, seeking to generate publicity not only before, but also after the event, to maximise the effect of advertisement both for sponsors and for the game itself.