There’s a new Halo 4 tourney underway, and if you are the best in the world, you could win $200,000. But that’s not the only prize involved. In this overview, I’ll cover how the Halo 4 Global Championship works, plus: why you should play, even if you don’t think you’ll win the grand prize.
The Halo 4 Global Championship
Once again, Microsoft, 343 Industries, and Virgin Gaming are teaming up to bring you an international Halo 4 tournament with prizes galore. The Halo 4 Global Championship started its online leg this week (7/15/13 to be exact), and players worldwide are competing for a spot in the finals where they will battle it out for the grand prize.
How it Works
The champion’s path to victory in this tournament takes place in 3 stages: Registration, Qualifying, and Finals.
Registration:
Before you can start competing, you have to register. Just like the previous Halo 4 tournament, Virgin Gaming is handling registration. When you’re ready to get started, click here to register.
Qualifying:
There are three ways to qualify in this tournament.
RTX
The tournament officially started on July 5 at the Rooster Teeth Expo (RTX) in Austin, Texas. Competitors fought each other in 8-player free-for-all matches. The top 4 players in each match were named semi-finalists. The semi-finalists then played another round of 8-player free-for-all matches until only 8 players were left. These 8 are some of the finalists who will play for the grand prize.
Gamescom — Cologne, Germany
If you missed the RTX, they are hosting another qualifying round at Gamesom in Cologne, Germany. The details aren’t finalized for this portion of the tournament yet, but Gamescom isn’t until August 21, so they have some time to figure it out I suppose.
Qualify Online
If you missed the RTX and you can’t make the Gamescom in Cologne either, don’t fret. Players can still qualify online. For each of five weeks (starting this week) there will be a special game mode in the Infinity War Games. Play at least 20 matches each week to qualify. Your score will be averaged and the players with the top 4 scores at the end of each will qualify to go to the finals.
The Finals:
After the grueling work of getting through the qualifying rounds, finalists will have to compete against each other in some more 8-player free-for-all matches. The best two competitors from those matches will then face off in a one-on-one fight to the death.
The Prizes
There are two kinds of prizes in this tournament. The first kind are the ones you’d expect, and these go to the finalists in the tournament based on how they place.
- 1st – $200,000
- 2nd – $75,000
- 3rd – $10,000
- 4th – $5,000
- 5th – $4,000
- 6th – $3,000
- 7th – $2,000
- 8th – $1,000
Not too shabby.
But perhaps you’re a realist. You consider your own Halo skills and think that you probably have no shot at making it to the finals, so why even compete at all? Right?
Well, here’s a reason: there is a second set of prizes that are awarded to players in the online qualifying round. Each week in the five-week online leg of the tourney, there will be a different set of prizes. Each week, the Halo folks will draw a set of names at random.
To be eligible to win these prizes (and have your name thrown in the proverbial Spartan helmet), all you have to do is be registered for the tournament and play 20 matches in that week. (One caveat: if you are one of the top 4 players who are being sent to the finals, you aren’t in the drawing for the weekly prize.)
For a list of the weekly prizes, check out the tournament schedule on Halo Waypoint.
They Got It Right This Time
In the last Halo 4 tournament, there wasn’t really much skill involved. To win, all you had to do was play as much Halo 4 as possible in the allotted time. Whoever played the much, regardless of how good (or terrible), was a shoe-in to win. Players with more skill but less time to play were just out of luck.
This time around, the winner will actually be determined by skill. And to make things fun for everyone, the random weekly prizes are a nice touch.
This is the way a tournament should be.
What do you think? Leave a comment below.
Leave a Reply