A new major fighting game tournament circuit has been announced this morning. NetherRealm Studios, Warner Bros. Games, and RTS are teaming up to bring fans across the world the Mortal Kombat 1 Pro Kompetition — a new global eSports program featuring the latest Mortal Kombat title.
This large scale tour will be kicking off later this month, and it is set to feature a $255,000 total prize pool.
“Warner Bros. Games, NetherRealm Studios, and RTS today announced the Mortal Kombat 1 Pro Kompetition, a new global esports program operated by RTS featuring the latest installment of the iconic Mortal Kombat videogame franchise,” reads the Pro Kompetition’s official press release. “Featuring a $255,000 total prize pool, the new league aims to build an international ecosystem of players and will kick off on Oct. 20 at the East Coast Throwdown fighting game tournament. The Pro Kompetiton will conclude with 20 players competing at the Final Kombat World Championship event in June 2024.”
Qualification for the Final Kombat World Championship will be determined by the global Pro Kompetition leaderboard (players will earn leaderboard points based on their placements) or the Regional League Finals. The tournament standard for the events in the Pro Kompetition will be 1v1 double-elimination.
As previously mentioned, the first stop in the Pro Kompetition will be East Coast Throwdown (ECT), which is taking place on October 20, 2023. Including ECT, there will be four in-person Pro Kompetition partnered events that will allow all players to compete, and these will include Ultimate Fighting Arena in Paris, France (November 24 – 26, 2023), CCXP/Comic Con Experience in São Paulo, Brazil (November 30 – December 3, 2023), and Combo Breaker in Illinois, USA (Spring 2024).
“The Mortal Kombat 1 Pro Kompetition will also feature three regional programs comprised of segmented sub-regions, including three online qualifier events and a Regional Final,” the press release further explains. “The three regions include the North American League (North America East and North America West), Interkontinental Kombat (Europe East, Europe West, Oceanic, and Middle East), and Liga Latina (Brazil, Mexico, South America North, and South America South). The top 8 players within each region will punch their ticket to the online Regional Final for a chance to qualify for the Final Kombat World Championship.”
Those who aren’t able to qualify for the finals through the standard means will have the opportunity to try and do so at the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) event. The LCQ will be an open registration, first come first served basis and will cap at 256 players as they compete in a double-elimination bracket.
The Final Kombat World Championship will be doing things a bit differently, though, as once the 20th player is decided for the finals by way of the LCQ, all 20 players will be organized into four groups of five players each to compete in a round-robin tournament format. These groups will be chosen based on regional qualification and leaderboard ranking, and two players from each group will advance to the top 8 for the finals — which will also be a double-elimination bracket.
According to the NRSEsports Twitter account, the 20 player spots for the Final Kombat World Championship will consist of 10 Online Regional Finals winners, the 9 top players on the global leaderboard, and one winner of the Last Chance Qualifier.
More information on the Mortal Kombat 1 Pro Kompetition are expected to drop soon.