Ubisoft’s upcoming PC online multiplayer first-person shooter ShootMania Storm will hit the eSports circuit as part of the tournament line up of the IGN Pro League (IPL), the professional video games league presented by IGN Entertainment, the world’s leading video games media company.
Kicking of the partnership between the companies, Ubisoft and the IPL will host an exclusive ShootMania Storm tournament at PAX Prime, August 31-September 2, live from the Ubisoft booth each day of the show. The tournament will be streamed live online at http://www.ign.com/ipl/ShootMania.
Making a return to the roots of competitive gaming which originated with first-person shooters, ShootMania Storm will become the first-ever first-person shooter (FPS) game to be featured at IPL tournaments. Through this partnership, the IPL will work closely with Ubisoft and Nadeo to build a large fan base and eSports community following for the title in the United States.
“IPL is looking to build ShootMania as the FPS standard for eSports,” said David Ting, General Manager of eSports and Vice President of Research & Development at IGN Entertainment. “We believe competitive video gaming can become the next major spectator sport, and we will continue to add new titles and genres that attract new fans to the world of eSports.”
”We’re excited for ShootMania Storm to be part of IPL’s line-up,” said Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Ubisoft. “The team at Nadeo has done a tremendous job in creating a fun and competitive game and players in the upcoming IPL tournaments will validate ShootMania as the next big tournament-tested shooter.”
Developed by Ubisoft’s Nadeo studio, ShootMania Storm follows the footsteps of TrackMania, Nadeo’s successful arcade racing game, to present a new dimension in first-person shooter. As part of the ManiaPlanet system, ShootMania Storm puts players at the center of their gaming experience. To date, players have created more than 15 game modes and, already, more than 20,000 maps have been created by players using ManiaPlanet’s proprietary map editor.
The title has already received acclaim on the competitive gaming circuit, with appearances in many tournaments, most recently at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, DreamHack Summer and Gamescom. ShootMania is currently in beta phase and available for pre-order on http://www.ShootMania.com giving instant access to the beta.
Since its launch in April 2011, the IGN Pro League has become a major contender in the North American eSports market. Its last major tournament event drew in more than 10,000 spectators and logged a record-breaking 346,000 concurrent online viewers. With the IGN Pro League franchise, IGN's goal is to help legitimize video gaming as a profession that can produce the next generation of celebrities.