The Call of Duty Esports scene is starting to take off and teams from all over the world are starting to pay attention to the recent victor of Japan's first major Call of Duty: WWII tournament presented by Sony PlayStation®.
That's right, Rush Gaming claimed 1st place with a 5 million yen prize pool, and more importantly the ticket to CWL Anaheim, which will take place this year June 15-17.
Although a large majority might not be aware yet, esports in Japan has been taking baby steps throughout all these years, and finally during this year’s Tokaigi Game Party Japan (闘会議), gaming is now officially perceived as a form of competition with support from Japan Esports Union (JESU) through the distribution of professional licenses that allows skillful local gamers to make a living off what they excel at—gaming.
Rush Gaming, a professional Call of Duty team owned by Wekids Inc., is one of the teams that has been granted the license to compete for prize money, and was invited as one of the four teams to compete in Call of Duty: WWII 2018 プロ対抗戦 presented by PlayStation®.
They managed to come out on top, earning 1st place for a 5,000,000 yen prize money (~46,000 USD), as well as travel and accommodation to 2018 CWL Anaheim Open.
The team is honored to be able to participate on a world-class stage. And we are thankful to all who has supported the team.
To all the fans, all the staff who made it possible for this event to take place.
Comment from Wekids CEO / Rush Gaming Owner: I’ve always wanted to challenge the world stage, such desire has been clinging onto me for these past 2 years. After going through many ups and downs, through trial and error, and countless of persistent business mails, here we are now. Arguably, esports in Japan might still be in its infancy, and it might seem that there is no path towards international competition, but if there isn’t one, why not make one ourselves?
Rush Gaming - 公式Twitterページ https://twitter.com/RushGamingJP
Wekids Inc. - 公式サイト