Last night, Valve president Gabe Newell shared more details about their upcoming online collectible card game, Artifact. The game is currently in closed beta, with industry insiders and pro gamers getting a chance to try it out.
Valve also announced that they will be hosting a tournament next year for Artifact, with a prize pool of $1 million. This news was revealed by Valve’s social media and community manager, Wykrhm Reddy, on Twitter.
This tournament announcement shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Valve did a similar thing with Dota 2 during its closed beta period. They announced the first iteration of the International tournament, which had a larger prize pool of $1.6 million.
Unfortunately, there are no other details available about the Artifact tournament yet. We don’t know where it will be held, how many players will be invited or have the chance to qualify, and how the prize pool will be distributed. It is also unclear whether Valve will allow third-party tournament organizers to hold their own Artifact events throughout the year.
However, this tournament announcement might tempt Hearthstone, Gwent, and Magic: the Gathering Online players to try their hand at Artifact. Even professional players from other games like Counter-Strike and League of Legends could be enticed by the generous payout, especially if they haven’t found much success in their current titles.
While a million dollars might not be a big deal for team-based games, it is a substantial prize pool for individual players.
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Artifact, Valve, online collectible card game, tournament, prize pool, closed beta, pro gamers, Dota 2, Hearthstone, Gwent, Magic: the Gathering Online, Counter-Strike, League of Legends, esports.