Ubisoft's upcoming FPS for the PC, ShootMania Storm, is set to hit the eSports circuit as part of the tournament line up of the IGN Pro League (IPL), IGN Entertainment's professional video games.
ShootMania Storm will be the first-ever FPS game to be featured at IPL tournaments. As such, "IPL is looking to build ShootMania as the FPS standard for eSports," said David Ting, General Manager of eSports and Vice President of Research & Development at IGN Entertainment. "We believe competitive video gaming can become the next major spectator sport, and we will continue to add new titles and genres that attract new fans to the world of eSports."
Representing Ubisoft, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Tony Key was, "excited for ShootMania Storm to be part of IPL's line-up. The team at Nadeo has done a tremendous job in creating a fun and competitive game and players in the upcoming IPL tournaments will validate ShootMania as the next big tournament-tested shooter."
The title has already received acclaim on the competitive gaming circuit, with appearances in many tournaments, most recently at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, DreamHack Summer and Gamescom. ShootMania is currently in beta phase and available for pre-order on https://www.ShootMania.com giving instant access to the beta.
The IGN Pro League has become a major contender in the North American eSports market since its launch in April 2011. Its last major tournament brought in over 10,000 spectators and logged a record-breaking 346,000 online viewers. With the IGN Pro League franchise, IGN's goal is to help legitimize video gaming as a profession that can produce the next generation of sports celebrities. They recently announced IPL 5 was to be held at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, where it will offer the contest's largest prize pools to date, totaling over $200,000.
To begin the partnership, Ubisoft and the IPL will host an exclusive ShootMania Storm tournament at PAX Prime, August 31-September 2, live from the Ubisoft booth each day of the show. The tournament will be streamed live online at https://www.ign.com/ipl/ShootMania.