ESPN announced that the first-ever EXP Invitational - Apex Legends is going to be played at the X Games in Minneapolis. The tournament is set for August 2 to August 3 at the U.S. Bank Stadium. A total of 15 teams have been given a direct invite with five teams needing to hurdle qualifiers. The teams are going to fight it out for a chance to get a large share of the $150,000 prize pool.
The teams that received direct invites include:
- Alliance
- Counter Logic Gaming
- Cloud9
- Complexity Gaming
- Fnatic NA
- Gen.G esports
- Luminosity Gaming
- Misfits
- NRG Esports
- Rogue
- T1
- Team Liquid
- Team Reciprocity
- Team SoloMid
- Tempo Storm
The other five teams are:
- NAGANO1998 (European Qualifier)
- Lazarus EU (European Qualifier)
- Sentinels (North American Qualifier)
- Spacestation Gaming (North American Qualifier)
- Athletico (Oceanian Qualifier)
For the tournament format, each team has three players. A total of 12 matches is to be played with six matches played each day. Points are distributed as follows:
- Eliminations provides 1 Point.
- Placement points are distributed as the following per round:
- 1st place - 12 Points
- 2nd place - 9 Points
- 3rd place - 7 Points
- 4th place - 5 Points
- 5th place - 4 Points
- 6th - 10th place - 2 Points
- 11th - 15th place - 1 Points
- 16th - 20th place - 0 Points
Serving as Broadcast talent for the tournament are:
- Hosts
- Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico
- Bil "Jump" Carter
- Commentators
- Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez
- Daniel "ddk" Kapadia
- Analyst
- Wade "Dreadnaught" Penfold
ESPN is not new to esports, as the channel partnered with MLG during the 2014 X Games to make Call of Duty: Ghosts as part of the sporting event. Other games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Halo 5 soon followed. This recent tournament marks the return of esports to the X Games after a three-year hiatus.
Developed by Respawn Entertainment, Apex Legends is a squad-based battle royale experience where players select from one of ten Legends – each with their own unique abilities and playstyles – and the last team standing wins. Combatants can choose from unique characters like Bloodhound, the tracker who can see recent enemy activity on the map, or Lifeline, a battlefield medic who can shield teammates and bring them back from the brink of death. Balanced squads and teamwork are critical, as each Legend is easy to pick up and learn, but challenging to master.
