According to ongoing rumors, PUBG Mobile esports, led by director James Yang, is planning on an integrated prize pool by bringing Battlegrounds Mobile India and Game For Peace/Peace Elite esports prize pools under the global umbrella of the PUBG Mobile esports scene.
Until now, GFP in China has enjoyed its own ecosystem with its self-governed league, the PEL, and India with BGIS. Here we will talk about the consequences that might come with it.
An analysis of the PUBG Mobile esports integrated prize pool idea
Following the inception of PUBG Mobile esports in 2018, the game was banned in China and from 2019 onwards the Chinese authorities of GFP, the Chinese version of PUBG Mobile, instated a domestic league called Peace Elite League or PEL and a global invitational tournament called Peace Elite Championship or PEC.
Ever since the beginning, PEL has boasted prize pools rivaling and even surpassing that of the global tournaments despite only being held at the national level.
PEC held the record for having the largest prize pool of a world-level PUBG Mobile/GFP tournament until PMGC broke out into the scene. Thus if we really get to see an integrated prize pool, we will see the value go through the roof as the PEL franchise is without a doubt the most expensive in the scene.
Last year, the PEL had an annual prize pool of nearly $10,000,000 while PMGC had $6,000,000 and overall the global scene had somewhere around $8,000,000.
Tencent’s director of Esports, James Yang, had said in a press conference before the PMGC that the prize pool announcement for 2022 will come a bit later. However, unlike previous years, this year’s prize pool announcement will include China, India, and other regions too.
Wasif Ahmed, games journalist
Thus if the money involved does indeed gets merged it will most likely break the $20,000,000 mark taking into account that the money invested increases proportionally each year.
It will also include the BGMI ecosystem of India, which is the second-largest consumer of the game just after China, although the esports scene isn’t as developed and is nowhere near China in terms of money involved. Even then it will contribute to the increased prize pool when integrated.
This will make the already successful and flourishing PUBG Mobile esports even bigger and will leave a bigger mark. It will also attract more sponsors and we might get to see even grander events in well-known arenas worldwide.
It will definitely be the way to go, following the footsteps of long-standing and successful games such as DOTA 2, League of Legends, or CSGO. If that really happens then it’d be another huge step for mobile gaming.
OnePlus replaces Oppo as official PEL sponsor after 2 years
Earlier today, Peace Elite, the official hosts of PEL released the new posters for the upcoming seasons of PEL, and it has been observed that OnePlus has replaced Oppo as an official sponsor of the event.
In the past 2 years, that is, since the foundation of PEL, players have used Oppo devices and the tournament was used to promote new devices, and players usually got early access to them.
As OnePlus replaces Oppo, it will come as a big marketing move from them in China, where PEL and GFP is a hefty deal and is one of the most followed media events in the country.
Final Thoughts
The decision to integrate the prize pools is definitely a good choice moving forward unless the management takes it as an opportunity to cut the expenses by lowering the quality of the events by allotting a budget disproportionate to the money earned.
If that happens, it will be an adverse situation and the company might face losses owing to the audience and player dissatisfaction.
As for the OnePlus takeover, it is a genius marketing move as companies worldwide begin to realize the potential in China and how mobile gaming is popular enough to use it as leverage for marketing. Which is positive feedback for the industry.
What are your thoughts on the rumors of the PUBG Mobile esports integrated prize pool? Let us know in the comments below!
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