Sports game Pro Evolution Soccer has been holding a competitive eSports tournament across Europe to determine who is the best player of PES 2017. The competition and its first season has been fierce, but is now down to the final 16 players. They are vying to win one of just 4 places in the Final Event to be held in Cardiff alongside the real life Champions League Final in June. Konami, the game’s developer has taken the final players to the Nou Camp stadium, the home of F.C. Barcelona, to take part in the event scheduled for February 11th. The top player from the day is set to pick up a $20,000 prize. This is the first wave of entrants to make it to the European Regional Finals from the Season 1 Ladder.
The 16 players have already had to make their mark on the online stage. Their results from a 21 day period were tabulated, with the best players then facing another online competition to determine who would make it through to this prestigious event. The successful players are named as: KIngOfPro1988 (Greece), Enigmaa03 (Turkey), dNationPT (Portugal), Aloosh20 (Denmark), E_C_Oneill (Netherlands), Lutti-1 (Austria), TheWezzatron (UK & Ireland), daretosidi (UK & Ireland) josesg93 (Spain), Ruben-94_ (Spain), hamsun00 (Italy), Ju20no (Italy), Mike_L_CL (Germany), Zidane_GoooL (Germany), and Kiliazuslokascri (Rest of Europe), the_sky_s_limit_ (Rest of Europe).
Season 2 of the European PES League Road to Cardiff Event is scheduled to begin February 23rd, and will run until March 23rd. Four players from the Americas, two from Asia and one from the Rest of the World, alongside a special entrant selected at a later date, will join the successful European players in the Grand Final in June. All 16 will then compete for an impressive jackpot prize of $200,000, as well as being able to count themselves as the best PES player in the World.
A statement from a Konami spokesman about the event reads, “The first Regional Final is certain to guarantee a tight battle for the first places at the Grand Final. We wish all those heading to Barcelona the very best of luck.”
Full details and schedules of the event can be found on the official website. Be sure to check back to Gamespresso to see who is crowned champion.