How Do Esports Tournaments Work?

Esports tournaments are a growing phenomenon. But how do they work? We break down the basics of how these competitions work.

Introduction

Like any sport, esports tournaments come in all shapes and sizes. They can be organized by anyone from a game developer or publisher to a team owner, professional tournament organizer, or even just a group of fans. While there are some commonalities between traditional sports tournaments and esports competitions, there are also some important differences that set the two apart.

In this article, we’ll break down how esports tournaments work, from the different types of formats to the prize pools and everything in between. By the end, you should have a good understanding of how most esports tournaments are structured and what goes into making them happen.

## Types of Tournament Formats
Most esports tournaments follow one of three basic formats: single elimination, double elimination, or round-robin. Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages, so tournament organizers will usually choose the one that makes the most sense for their particular event.

Single Elimination:
As the name implies, single elimination tournaments are structured so that players are only allowed one loss before they’re out of the competition entirely. These types of tournaments usually have a larger number of participants (64 or more is common) and can be completed relatively quickly since there are fewer matches overall. However, because a single loss means you’re out of the tournament, there’s often not as much incentive for players to stick around until the end since they may not feel like their chances of winning are very good.

Double Elimination:
Double elimination tournaments address this issue by having two separate brackets—a winner’s bracket for players who haven’t lost yet and a loser’s bracket for players who have. This format typically takes longer to complete than single elimination since there are twice as many matches overall, but it does give players who have lost a chance to redeem themselves and come back to win the whole thing. These types of tournaments usually have fewer participants (32 or less is common) since they take more time to complete.

Round-Robin:
In a round-robin tournament, every player competes against every other player in their group and everyone gets points based on their performance. These points are used to determine seedings for later rounds (if there are any), with higher seeds typically facing off against lower seeds in later rounds. Round-robin tournament formats can vary quite a bit—groups can be small (two to four players) or large (eight or more), and they can either have all participants advance to later rounds or only the top performers in each group. Because every participant competes against every other participant, round-robin tournaments take quite awhile to complete—they’re typically only used for very large events with 32 or more qualifiers.

How Do Tournaments Work?

Esports tournaments are competitions that take place between players or teams of players of video games. These tournaments can take place in person or online, and can be played individually or in teams. There are a variety of different games that can be played in tournaments, and these tournaments can have different formats.

Seeding

In professional sports, “seeding” is the process of ranking athletes based on their past performance in order to determine their position in future tournaments. Seeding in esports functions similarly, with player rankings used to determine matchups and order of play in tournaments.

There are a few different ways that seeding can be done in esports. One common method is for organizers to use a points system, with players earning points for every tournament they compete in. The more points a player has, the higher their seed will be.

Another way that seeding can be done is through a process called skills-based seeding. In this system, players are ranked based on their individual skill level, rather than their tournament results. This system is often used in first-person shooter (FPS) games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO), as it ensures that the best players are matched up against each other from the start of the tournament.

Once seeds have been determined, they are typically placed into one of two groups: upper seeds and lower seeds. Upper seeds are typically the better-ranked teams or players, while lower seeds are typically those ranked lower. In some tournaments,upper and lower seeds may be placed into different brackets altogether, meaning they cannot play each other until later stages of the tournament.

The Format

The format of an esports tournament can vary drastically depending on the game, the number of teams, and the prize pool. common tournament formats in esports are single and double elimination, round robin, and Swiss.

In a single elimination tournament, also called a knockout or sudden death tournament, half of the teams are eliminated after each round. The losing team in each match is immediately out of the tournament, until only one team remains—the winner. A double elimination tournament is similar to a single elimination tournament, except that losing teams get a second chance. In a double elimination tournament, losing teams are put into a losers’ bracket where they play other losing teams. The losers’ bracket winners play the winners of the main (winners) bracket in the final match. The grand final match is usually played as best two out of three games or matches.

In contrast to sudden death formats, round robin tournaments do not eliminate any teams until the very end. In a round robin tournament, each team plays every other team once. The team with the most wins at the end is declared the winner. If two or more teams are tied for first place, they usually play each other again in a mini-tournament to decide who took first place overall. Round robins are often used in leagues as they allow everyone to play each other an equal number of times.

A Swiss system tournament attempts to pair players or teams with others who have similar records throughout the tournament so that everyone has challenging matches regardless of their record. This style of pairing is most commonly used in chess tournaments but has also been adopted by some fighting game tournaments such as Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Pokkén Tournament DX‘s official circuit events.

The Prize Pool

The prize pool is the pot of money that is up for grabs in a gaming tournament. The prize pool is generated through a combination of entry fees, ticket sales, and/or corporate sponsorships. The size of the prize pool depends on the game being played, the popularity of the tournament, and the number of entrants. The prize pool is typically split among the top finishing teams, with the first-place team receiving the largest share.

The contents of the prize pool may vary from tournament to tournament. In some cases, all of the money in the prize pool goes to the winning team, while in others, a portion of the money is used to cover expenses such as travel and lodging for all of the teams. Sometimes, special items such as gaming laptops or peripherals are also up for grabs. No matter what form it takes, though, the prize pool is one of the main attractions for gamers looking to compete in tournaments.

Conclusion

To conclude, esports tournaments are a fantastic way for players to showcase their talent and earn money from their passion. While there is still some room for improvement in terms of organisation and prize pools, the future of esports looks very bright. With more and more people getting involved in esports every day, it’s only a matter of time before tournaments become even bigger and better.