In an effort to boost the popularity of e-sports, the Russian developer invited the War Thunder community to compete in the world wide event, which will feature over 300 teams from over 30 countries around the world.
“The Gladiators.WT 4x4 iteration marks the first time that fans can watch the tournament live, making it a true e-sport experience. We’re looking forward to seeing which squad will be crowned a War Thunder champion.”
Kirill Yudintsev - Gailjin Entertainment’s creative director.
The structure for Gladiators.WT 4x4 is made up of three rounds, with all four team members simultaneously duking it out in first round in 1v1 duels, the second round pairing the pilots into 2v2 fights, and the third round seeing both teams facing off in a 4x4. Gaijin Entertainment will broadcast the tournament through the WarThunder forums and through the official international steam at http://www.twitch.tv/metagamingtv.
The tournament will be running everyday until the final at the end of March.
E-sports have yet to make it into the mainstream conscience, but it’s great to see the developer support a tournament where the main goal is to expand the audience and help promote e-sports. I’ve been to e-sport tournaments, but they always seemed like fringe events. Games like Valve’s DOTA 2 have done well to build a community from online tournaments. Gaijin Entertainment look to be aiming for something similar.