eSports WRC Championship launched using WRC 5 video gameTournament breaks new ground by running parallel to WRC ralliesBest gamers invited to glittering season finale at Wales Rally GB
The drama and excitement of world class rally action will be replicated by global gamers following today’s (Wednesday) launch of the 2016 eSports WRC Championship.
The competition will use WRC 5, the official video game of the FIA World Rally Championship. It will be the first game to feature its own global eSports championship, allowing gamers to compete in multi-player tournaments, running simultaneously with rounds of the WRC season.
The 2016 eSports WRC Championship will bring the best WRC 5 drivers together for a tournament that begins at the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo (21 - 24 January) and continues until the eSports world champions are crowned at Wales Rally GB (27 - 30 October).
The season is divided into two halves, with separate categories for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC players. Each half has five tension-filled qualifying rounds and a semi-final, with the three top drivers from each platform invited to the high-profile shootout final in Britain.
The qualifiers and semi-finals will be contested on special stages new to WRC 5 from the rally concerned, which are accessed via download. Once downloaded, practice is unrestricted ahead of the rally weekend.
Each eSports rally weekend will comprise four days of action-packed competition from Thursday to Sunday. Players will have one opportunity each day to record their best time and claim a semi-final place.
The tournament is organised by WRC Promoter, WRC 5 publisher Bigben Interactive and developer Kylotonn Games, in conjunction with ESL, the world’s largest eSports company.
WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla said the tournament marked the next step in the WRC’s growth strategy.
“We’re committed to making WRC available to fans whenever, wherever and however they want. The success of the WRC 5 game will be furthered by the anticipation and excitement of each round of the eSports WRC Championship.
“Gamers will feel the same adrenalin and pressure experienced by their counterparts on the WRC’s special stages, fighting for tenths of a second in challenging conditions and a pressure-cooker atmosphere with a world title at stake,” he said.
A comprehensive pack of assets with full details of the 2016 eSports WRC Championship can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/1TPrYse.
WRC 5 was launched in October and allows players to drive 78 different special stages, six each from all 13 2015 rounds of motorsport’s toughest championship for production-based cars.
They include classics such as El Condor from Rally Argentina, Ouninpohja from Neste Oil Rally Finland and Hafren from Wales Rally GB, with more than 350km of stages available on which to compete.
Gamers can select from 20 World Rally Car drivers, including star names such as world champion Sébastien Ogier, Kris Meeke, Thierry Neuville, Elfyn Evans and Robert Kubica.
Volkswagen Motorsport, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, Hyundai Motorsport and M-Sport World Rally Team are all represented with their World Rally Cars displayed in 2015 liveries.
There are also 21 WRC 2 drivers available to choose from, including champion Nasser Al-Attiyah and 10 from the FIA Junior WRC, headed by title winner Quentin Gilbert.
Features allow gamers to set-up major components such as suspension, brakes and ride height, and experience the heartache of nursing their car to the end of a stage with mechanical problems or damage after crashing off the road.
