Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the details of the "eBASEBALL Pawafuru Puroyakyu 2020" tournament that will take place at TOKYO eSPORTS FESTA 2021, an online event that consists of esports competitions and an industry expo. The event runs from Friday, February 12 to Sunday, February 14.
In preparation for the finals on February 14, online qualifiers will begin on Monday, January 25, and will be played on the Nintendo Switch™ version of the game. The top two players in each of the divisions – High School and Under, and General - will advance to the finals. There, the players will compete in a special format created for TOKYO eSPORTS FESTA 2021: Red Team (offense) vs. Blue Team (defense). The winner of each division will be presented with the Governor of Tokyo's Cup. In addition, two popular virtual YouTubers affiliated with NIJISANJI are scheduled to appear to cheer on the competitors on the day of the finals.
Besides this tournament, TOKYO eSPORTS FESTA 2021 will play host to a variety of other ways to enjoy esports. For details, please visit the event's official website. Konami Digital Entertainment aims to use its participation in this event to introduce its content to an ever-wider range of consumers.
| Competition title: | "eBASEBALL Pawafuru Puroyakyu 2020" (Nintendo Switch™) |
|---|---|
| Online qualifying period: | Monday, January 25 at 15:00 to Sunday, January 31 at 23:59 |
| Finals date and time: | Sunday, February 14 from 12:15 to 13:45 |
| Guests for finals: | Keisuke Maimoto (Red Team (offense) cheer captain), Yashiro Kizuku (Blue Team (defense) cheer captain) |
About KONAMI's esports initiatives
For the Winning Eleven series, we have held a world championship since 2001, and from March to July 2019, in partnership with Japan Professional Football League (J.League), we held the eJ.League Winning Eleven 2019 Season, which utilized mobile game "Winning Eleven 2019" as its competition title. The console titles continue to gather attention as esports titles, including being featured in exhibition matches at the 18th Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang, and being included as part of the Culture Program at the 74th National Sports Festival of Japan, Iki-iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai.
For the Jikkyou Pawafuru Puroyakyu series, we have held a Japanese championship since 2016. In 2018, we teamed up with Nippon Professional Baseball to create a new form of pro baseball – the eBASEBALL Pro League. The series was also featured as part of the National Sports Festival of Japan's Culture Program for the first time at 2017's Egao Tsunagu Ehime Kokutai (72nd National Sports Festival). It has since appeared at both 2018's Fukui Shiawase Genki Kokutai (73rd National Sports Festival) and 2019's Iki-iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai (74th National Sports Festival).
For the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, we have held a world championship since 2003. Beginning in 2017, we added mobile game "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links" to the championship, which has become an ever-growing event in the esports calendar.
Nintendo Switch™ is a trademark of Nintendo. Details of event are subject to change.