It might even be more than that if the official prizes are in US dollars, but even if they’re not this still represents the biggest figure given out at an Australian event by some considerable margin.
Like everyone else, Activision didn’t miss out on the opportunity to use Paris Games Week as a platform to promote their gargantuan FPS franchise. But while the Call of Duty train is steadily gaining speed ahead of its release next week, the mega-publisher also took time to remind people about their global league for 2016.
It’s particularly relevant for Australia as we have our own region within that league, with the only other regions being North America and Europe. (New Zealand is included with the Aussies, in case you’re feeling left out.)
Activision typically throws up a million or so for their world championships each year, but what we now know, however, is how much money they’re prepared to throw at Australia. According to the English arm of Dexerto, which broke down the information that was revealed in an all-stars match hosted at the Paris Games Week, that amount is $150,000 for each Australian “stage”.
I’ve reached out to local organisers and they’ve told me that Australia will have two stages next year, meaning the total amount on offer just for Call of Duty teams competing in the ANZ professional divisions will be $300,000. That figure could rise if the end prize pool is in US dollars, although I’ve not received an official confirmation on whether that’s the case.
Keep in mind the best teams from ANZ will qualify for a global event, and Australia has performed rather capably at Call of Duty internationals in the last few years. Our teams were even the highest placed foreigners at this year’s world championships, with Mindfreak taking home US$50,000 for their troubles. Trident eSports finished fifth in 2014 as well, so it’s probably fair to say that Call of Duty is Australia’s best eSport right now.
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