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Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast announce huge esports investment for 2019

Just today, at the Games Awards, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast unveiled exciting futures for Magic: The Gathering fans and players. Millions of online viewers tuned in for the Awards and saw the big announcement — a huge investment into Magic esports.

The year 2019 brings a newly restructured Magic esports program. The competitive program is for Magic: The Gathering and Magic: The Gathering Arena. Not only are we seeing a complete restructure, but a huge investment of money backs these tournaments — $10 million to be exact.

Magic esports

Magic esports encompasses both Magic games — Magic: The Gathering Arena and tabletop Magic. The new program is designed to appeal to Magic‘s 20 million players around the globe. The pool of money will be divided among all Magic esports tournaments. A total of 10 tournaments are played each year. These are called Mythic Championships along with other partner-run events. The 10 million will be split equally between Magic Arena and tabletop Magic.

The esports program will kick off at PAX East in Boston next year. The tournament will be a hefty $1 million invitational. This Mythic Championship will be the first $1 million tournament held at PAX East for 2019.

Chris Cocks, the President of Wizards of the Coast, commented on the importance of Magic esports and its commitment to esports:

Today is an extremely important day for Magic: The Gathering as we announce our commitment to esports and our Magic players by introducing a new tournament structure with a $10 Million prize pool. We have worked diligently to create a program that will establish Magic as a major player in esports, particularly with Magic: The Gathering Arena in the collectable card game category.

Magic Pro League

The restructure of Magic esports also ushers in the launch of the Magic Pro League. This league will feature the 32 top ranked Magic players. These players are automatically qualified for each Mythic Championship. Each player will receive a competitive pro contract and a shot at the $10 million prize pool over the course of the year.

This program was designed to support players and push the game to new heights. The Vice President of Esports at Wizards of the Coast, Elaine Chase, is excited to bring the game to a broader audience:

The past 25 years of Magic competition has led us to design this comprehensive esports program that would support Magic: The Gathering Arena, while increasing our investment in tabletop Magic. Our investment in esports will catapult the game to new heights while providing support to the players by giving them the platform to build their brand and bring Magic to a broader audience.

Wizards of the Coast

The organization that brings people together through Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons is Wizards of the Coast. They strive to build a community of players for both tabletop and digital games. Wizards of the Coast is a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., the company behind Magic: The Gathering. Hasbro is also responsible for other such popular series including MonopolyMy Little Pony, and Transformers. Both companies have been working to bring Magic esports to more players and celebrate esports.

Magic: The Gathering can be downloaded from their website. More announcements are sure to follow. In the meantime, check out the latest Magic posts for multiplayer magic, and some insights from the pros.

Magic: The Gathering is the fun online card game you can play against others. (Image: Supplied)