Game maker to give Madden 17 players $1M in prizes

folarin okunola

June 15, 2016 3:12 PM

The company announced on Sunday that it has plans to substantially expand competitions for its own titles, starting with Madden.

Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts (EA), the popular American developer and distributor of video games has announced plans to give winners of its latest "Madden NFL" title an award of about $1 million over the next year.

The company announced on Sunday that it has plans to substantially expand competitions for its own titles, starting with Madden. That will include four "majors" - EA-owned and operated tournaments, complete with corporate sponsors, broadcast partners and $1 million in prizes over the period of the series.

This is the game maker's first foray into the world of e-sports. It has set up a three-year plan to build up amateur, mid-level and professional tournaments. Part of EA's plan is to provide resources such as scheduling software to college students, as well as other gaming enthusiasts that would make it easier for them to organize tournaments.

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“Whether you’re an elite player competing for cash and prizes in global e-sports events, or you’re taking your first steps to play online, we want everyone to feel the thrill of competition,” said Peter Moore, EA's Chief Competition Officer.

The company is also banking on existing relationships with NFL sponsors such as PepsiCo Inc. and Visa Inc. could lead to support for their e-sports events.

Some extra offerings like camera angles, the ability to stream games online for others to watch and dueling are amongst those which EA is looking to incorporated.

Since 1988, when EA first introduced Madden, the game has sold over 100 million copies. Madden 17, which will be played over the next four majors, will be released later in August this year.

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