WePlay Esports have announced that Season 1 of the WePlay Ultimate Fighting League will take place from March 25 to April 11, 2021. The event will feature a prize pool of $150,000 and will feature competitions in Mortal Kombat 11, SOULCALIBUR VI, and Tekken 7.
The new event
The league is organized by esports media holding company WePlay Esports and undisputed world cruiserweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk. The first season will be held at the WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv, this venue is already a mainstay of the company having been used for their WePlay Dragon Temple MK 11 tournament in December of last year.
The $150,000 prize pool will be split evenly across the three games offered by the tournament organisers. $50,000 to each game. All three games will have an individual, four-day tournament split up over three weeks. Below is the current schedule for the events.
- Mortal Kombat 11: March 25 to 28
- Soulcalibur VI: April 1 to 4
- Tekken 7: April 8 to 11
Further details about the event, including participants, commentators, and details about the tournament format are not yet available but will be announced in the weeks leading up to the 25th of March.
Fighting games at WePlay Esports
Since this is only the second fighting game tournament organised by WePlay Esports, they have hired James Banks. He is a British esports host, commentator, and general manager of the Swedish esports organization Team Alliance. He has been hired by the tournament organisers as a project consultant for fighting game events.
Comments from the company
Maksym Bilonogov, general producer and chief visionary officer at WePlay Esports wrote:
“WUFL Season 1 viewers will see how different WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv can be when they compare it with the setting of WePlay Dragon Temple. Expect new creative ideas and out-of-the-box solutions from our studio.”
Eugene “Hitras” Shepelev, lead esports manager at WePlay Esports also added:
“For the first time, our team will hold competitions for several games as part of a single event. We are ready to take on a new challenge that we are incredibly passionate about! We will organize the safest and most comfortable competition environment for everyone, one that not only helps the fighting game community grow but shows everything this incredible genre has to offer.”
The last comment of their press release was given to project consultant at WePlay Esports, James Banks:
“This has been a goal of mine for a number of years, to be able to elevate the fighting game community and take their events to the next level. With the innovation and larger than life ideas that WePlay Esports brought to the table we are now able to run our first season covering Tekken 7, Mortal Kombat 11, and SOULCALIBUR VI. This is a statement event for us, off the back of a successful WePlay Dragon Temple event at the end of 2020. Our commitment to the FGC is for now and the future and I can’t wait to show you everything we have planned. Your eyes will be opened, and your minds will be blown…stay tuned!”
This is shaping up to be a fantastic event for the team at WePlay Esports as well as the audience. By widening their scope to include a variety of different fight games, they can grow their audience beyond fans of Mortal Kombat.
