Overwatch, Street Fighter V, Hearthstone, StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm are part of the championship’s lineup.
ESPN Events has announced its first-ever ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship, which will be held in Houston, Texas this May.
Hundreds of schools across North America will soon compete in qualifiers hosted by Tespa and the Collegiate Star League, which will give winners the chance to compete in the live LAN semi-finals and championship that will take place May 10-12 at the George R Brown Convention Center Comicpalooza weekend, held by ESPN Events.
Games announced for the event include Overwatch, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Hearthstone, StarCraft II and Heroes of the Storm. Finalists will compete for scholarships, and portions of the qualifying rounds and the LAN championship will be streamed globally on various platforms.
“As universities continue to grow their esports programs at the varsity, non-varsity and club levels, we’re proud to be providing a platform for national exposure and recognition of some of the most talented players in the collegiate space,” said John Lasker, ESPN’s VP of digital media programming. “Through our collaboration with top publishers in the industry, players will be able to showcase their talent in high-level competition on some of the most prominent esports titles.”
“ESPN has been a terrific collaborator with Blizzard Esports over the years, having created monumental esports moments together, and we couldn’t be more excited to team up again to provide our collegiate players the opportunity to finish out the spring Tespa season on the big stage,” said Todd Pawlowski, Blizzard’s SVP of live experiences. “It’ll be a first for Blizzard to have four collegiate championship events under one roof, which should make for an awesome show for the fans.”
For more esports news, check out how college exports is growing (whether you like it or not), how Nike signed its first esports star, and how the U.S. Army is turning to esports after failing to meet recruitment targets.
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Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
