The closed alpha for the six-vs-six hero shooter Marvel Rivals is slowly shaping up to be one of the most anticipated game tests in some time, and the developers are already giving one team of players a chance to be champions.
As part of the Marvel Rivals closed alpha test beginning on May 10, players will have the opportunity to sign up for the six-vs-six Dawn of Legends tournament, which will be streamed “in its entirety” on Twitch and feature a prize pool of $22,500. All players on teams that reach the top 32 will also earn an exclusive Dawn of Legends title.
Players will be able to register for the Dawn of Legends tournament from when the closed alpha opens until May 13, with open qualifiers taking place between May 14 and 16, and the knockout stage being held between May 17 and 19. The tournament will in all likelihood be played on the competitive mode that Marvel Rivals devs recently announced for the closed alpha, but the rules and modes included in competitive have not been revealed yet.
The Twitch livestreaming will take place primarily on the just recently launched official Marvel Rivals channel.
The willingness to host a competitive event as early as the closed alpha test could just be a way to draw in higher viewership on Twitch or provide added incentive for streamers to put extra hours into the game. But it could also signal that the Marvel Rivals competitive mode is going to be a huge point of focus for the devs during the game’s lifespan.
NetEase should be wary, though, about how much it lets competitive aspects affect the game as a whole as one of the mistakes that Marvel Rivals‘ rival Overwatch made was prioritizing competitive play too much to the point that casual fans felt alienated.
