Minority Media, the creator of the Chaos Jump multiplayer, location-based VR platform and Gaming Partners, the company’s Latin American distributor, have collaborated with Arena, a gaming centre in Mexico, to launch a nationwide gaming tournament.
Arena Open is touted as the first esports event of its kind in Latin America to feature virtual reality competition.
Initially, the VR component of the Arena Open tournament was intended to last for just one month of qualifying play in August, followed by additional competition on other video game systems. In the first four weeks of initial play there were already over 2,000 registered players, exceeding organiser expectations. Reports suggest that 10,000 players are now expected before the conclusion of the tournament.
“We thought it would take longer to get players involved because VR is still relatively new to the Mexican market,'' said Irving Velazquez, director of esports Latam at Gaming Partners Group. “We are well over the numbers we expected for participating players.”
“We are proud to be selected by Gaming Partners and Arena for this incredibly successful initiative,” said Michael Zaidan, VP of business development and global sales for Minority Media. This is a perfect opportunity for us to showcase the power of our Chaos Jump system. Players are entering and learning to play with Chaos Jump and will then battle it out in our Reclaim! game, which is more competitive and involves the kind of strategy needed for esports.”
Arena family entertainment and esports centres are located within Cinemex theatre locations, typically in shopping centres. Chaos Jump arenas are present in VR Zone areas in nine Arena locations in six Mexican cities: Mexico City, Puebla, Guadalajara, Cuernavaca, Metepec and Queretaro.
There are 13 Arenas in Mexico, with plans to open 20 more by 2020.
While qualifying is currently ongoing, the final game will be played on November 9 in Mexico City using Media’s Reclaim!.
