Earlier today, GamerLegion claimed victory on the stage at DreamHack Hannover, picking up the first major win in Tarkov Arena’s new esports ecosystem. From today, Tarkov Arena will go live for players who have pre-ordered the game or who own the ‘Edge of Darkness’ edition of Escape From Tarkov. It’s an exciting time for Tarkov fans the world over, but for GamerLegion, history has been made, with the team going home clutching a €50,000 prize.
Over three days, the ‘Head Eyes Showdown’ played out, with many getting their first look at Tarkov Arena. It’s a far cry from the nail-biting extraction shooter experience that’s offered up by Escape From Tarkov, which has existed since 2016. In Tarkov Arena, players are charged with fighting through session-based, traditional multiplayer rounds complete with classes, pre-determined loadouts, and much smaller maps.
GamerLegion On Top
GamerLegion was victorious at the first Tarkov Arena tournament
It was a hugely entertaining tournament from start to finish. At the peak, around 60,000 users were watching the gameplay unfold on Twitch, which is a huge number considering Tarkov Arena hadn’t been at all released when the tournament went live. It’s a testament to the work that Battlestate Games has put into standing up this fledgling esports ecosystem for Tarkov, which has long been seen as an unwelcoming, hyper-challenging game that casual gamers avoid with a passion.
Throughout this entire event, Virtus.pro looked like a sure shot at winning the grand prize. The five-man squad was the favourite going into the event, and it seemed that destiny was playing out on-screen as the team produced a perfect record through the group stage. It was almost impossible for anyone to slow them down, and they were cool, calm, and collected at all times.
However, the other shining star in the tournament was GamerLegion. As the Playoff round began, Acend fell at the first post, and GamerLegion was sent crashing down into the lower bracket by Virtus. However, a win over HEPTA brought GamerLegion back into the Grand Final, where the squad faced off against Virtus.pro and secured revenge, snatching the win and the €50,000 prize in the first-ever Tarkov Arena tournament.
There simply must be a special mention to GamerLegion’s Cocao, who secured Tarkov Arena’s first ace!
Tarkov’s Esports Scene
There’s a lot of potential wrapped up in Tarkov’s esports scene. It’s a traditional first-person shooter when it comes to most of the mechanics, but there are a few unique elements that make it stand apart from the competition. For instance, in Tarkov Arena, you can heal, use buffs, equip armour, and make use of a diverse array of weapons. As the tournament unfolded, players were seen switching rampantly between DMRs, SMGs, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns.
It’s much more dynamic, and that means you’ll never know what’s going to happen next. It’s also quite a hardcore game, and that means that players don’t see indicators above the heads of the characters around them, which means strong communications are absolutely pivotal to success. It’s an innovative enough game with some interesting game modes, and the development of this esports ecosystem has been beautifully managed by Battlestate Games so far.
I’m very excited to see what comes next – expect more coverage here at Esports.net.
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