IGN's competitive video game league, IPL, is heading back to Sin City for IPL 5. The fifth major event hosted by the IGN Pro League, IPL 5 follows the success of IPL 4, which brought over 10,000 spectators to The Cosmopolitan last April, selling out the venue, and logging a record-breaking 346,000 concurrent online viewers, illustrating the rising power of eSports.
IPL 5 will feature the top League of Legends and StarCraft II players from around the globe battling for world domination and prize pools totaling more than $200,000. Highlights will include:
IPL 5's League of Legends competitions will feature the best international teams from Asia competing against the best Western players from North America and Europe. The main event will have the top five Korean players square off against the top five players from the rest of the world in the real-time strategy game StarCraft II.
"IPL 5 will truly be a battle of the champions," said David Ting, GM of eSports and VP of Research & Development for IGN Entertainment. "We're breaking down the geographical boundaries to find the best pro gamers in the world. We're thrilled to bring IPL and the eSports community back to the energy and excitement of Las Vegas."
Attempting to legitimize video gaming as a profession, IGN's growing eSports league has also hosted competitive gaming showcases featuring top players at other major events, including SXSW, this year's E3, Comic-Con and more. IPL 5 will mark the latest in a series of live eSports events that IGN has hosted over the last year. IPL 5 offers IGN's largest prize pool to date. IPL 3: Origins, held last year at Caesars in Atlantic City, offered a prize pool of $120,000, and IPL 4, offered a prize pool of $140,000.
IPL 5 will take place November 29 to December 2, 2012. Tickets start at $40 per person for general admission and $250 for VIP and are available at https://cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/IPL5. For more information and to see upcoming announcements about the final player line-ups and specific tournament locations at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, visit https://www.ign.com/ipl/all/ipl-5.