If I’ve learned anything over the past couple of years, it’s that VR is very likely the future of esports. Competitive gaming has taken the world by storm and it’s exciting to watch masters of their craft expertly play the hottest video games, but when you can see someone physically competing in virtual reality, it’s even better.
Earlier this year Oculus, Intel, and the ESL teamed up again for Season 2 of the VR League with $220k in total prizes on the line and $120k total just for OC5 Finals. Now, the VR League Finals are coming up soon with live competitions at Oculus Connect 5 from September 26th – 27th at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Live coverage of the VR League Finals will begin at 11:30AM PT on September 26th on Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube. The first day will feature Onward and The Unspoken with day two dedicated to Echo Arena and Sprint Vector.
For Onward, competition has been heating up lately as VR League has partnered with VR Master League. One team has already secured a spot for the OC5 Finals through their domination at the Onward Invitational and starting on August 11th, the VR Master League will run its open qualifier tournament to award two teams spots at the Finals. The fourth and final team slot will go to the winner of the September 2nd Onward Last Chance Qualifier, which will be hosted live at ESL Studios in Leicester, UK. More details on all thins Onward here.
Half of The Unspoken’s lineup for OC5 finals is already set, after an initially shaky period of uncertainty of whether or not it would even be included in VR League. The remaining four slots will go to competitors from the World Finals Qualifier on August 18th (following the preceding Last Chance Qualifier on August 14th). More details on The Unspoken here.
There are still lots of chances to qualify for Echo Arena, including the Stage 3 Finals, Last Chance Qualifier, and World Finals Qualifier across multiple regions. And for Sprint Vector, rankings haven’t even happened yet. On August 17th during the World Finals Qualifier, the top eight players (based on points) will be selected to compete on-stage in San Jose for the VR League Finals. More details for Echo Arena and Sprint Vector can be found at each link.
Seeing a VR platform manufacturer like Oculus continue to not only support — but invest in — the competitive VR esports landscape is extremely exciting. Hopefully this leads to more competitions down the line, including a VR League Season 3 for next year.
To stay up to date on the latest with the VR Leage, make sure and follow their official Facebook and Twitter profiles. Let us know what you think of how the competitions have been thus far down in the comments below!
Correction: We fixed a typo that originally stated the wrong prize pool amount.
