Evolve Labs (#evolvelabs), makers of Evolve – the social collaboration platform for PC gamers (#pcgamers) – today launched a new eSports (#esports) arena called BlackFlag (#blackflag). Focusing on Riot Games’ League of Legends (#leagueoflegends) initially, teams of five will pay a $5 entry fee to compete with other teams of similar skills for cash prizes.
BlackFlag will use the League of Legends Tournament API to facilitate fair matches and honest outcomes. BlackFlag is offering a $5 bonus incentive to all new users signing up for the service. This and other incentives can be used to fund matches or redeemed for BlackFlag- and game-related merchandise, collectibles, and apparel.
“BlackFlag is a passion project for the Evolve team and something we have wanted to do for a while,” said Adam Sellke, founder and CEO of Evolve. “Recently, we participated in a series of AMAs where the idea was embraced by an audience of gamers expressing an overwhelming interest in a competitive gaming service. So, we fast-tracked the idea and turned it into reality.”
BlackFlag is designed to take advantage of the growing interest in competitive gaming products and services. More than 67 million unique users play over 30 million League of Legends matches every month. And with more than 250,000 League of Legends players already playing 750,000 League of Legends matches each month on Evolve, adding ad hoc competitions was a natural extension point.
For now, this new service is a standalone product, but still affiliated with the Evolve collaboration platform. League of Legends players from Evolve’s 2 million users have been part of early testing and BlackFlag arenas will eventually be natively supported within Evolve.
Compared to other tournament sites, BlackFlag offers a very simple arena for competitive gaming because there is no bracket system. Matches happen in real time, and the risk is small – simply play one match and the winner takes the prize. The service will first be available to players 18+ in 45 out of the 50 States in the US and all of Canada, with plans to roll out globally wherever permitted by law.