Sony has announced that they are teaming up with the ESL gaming network to introduce a new PS4 feature called PlayStation Tournaments. This new feature will let players join in on various competitions in select games.
The first game to have a Major Tournament will be NBA 2K17. It will run for an entire month, from October 27 to November 26. Special mid-tournament events called Major Cup rounds will take place each Saturday, and the top three players in the tournament will get a prize pack of PlayStation gear.
You’ll need a copy of the game to participate, as well as a PlayStation Plus subscription and an ESL account. As long as you have registered for the tournament ahead of time at ESL, you will be automatically notified when it is time to compete via your PS4. There will be a new Events page in the PS4 system menu which will contain all of the details on any tournaments you are registered for.
Currently, matches will be 1-on-1 only, but Sony is looking to offer a wider variety of tournament types in the future. There is no information yet on the total number of players that will be allowed to compete in PlayStation Tournaments, or if there is a limit at all.
This isn’t the first time that ESL has partnered with a console maker. In March, Microsoft revealed the Xbox Live Tournaments Platform in partnership with ESL. It works a little differently than Sony’s new feature, in that it allows developers to create their own tournaments for their games using Xbox Live. And at Gamescom this year Nintendo announced their partnership with ESL for online Splatoon tournaments in Europe.