The inaugural season of the League of International VR Esports recently concluded with a $2,500 prize pool divided among top competitors in BigBox VR’s SmashBox Arena and Levity Play’s Skyfront VR.
The League of International VR Esports (LIVE) was started by Alex Rozenberg, founder of VRality, a VR arcade located in Israel. VR Fitness Insider announced the launch of the league in October 2019 and competitions began the next month.
One of the goals of LIVE was to ensure that players could participate from anywhere in the world, not restricting them to the common regions of Europe and North America.
“The season was very exciting as we have encountered great VR athletes who were both skilled and competitive,” said Rozenberg in a post-season follow-up interview. He had posted an encouraging message to participants in the league as well, stating that LIVE feels “lucky to meet this kind of a strong community.”
SmashBox Arena
Competition began in the League of International VR Esports on November 11 with BigBox VR’s SmashBox Arena, an action-packed multiplayer game built for virtual reality from the ground up.
In the first week alone, there were players from Israel, Russia, Ireland, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Various regions were well-represented and Rozenberg reports that there were fun games and a positive atmosphere throughout the season.
Teams of two competed for eight weeks for the glory of bragging rights as well as a portion of the $1,000 SmashBox Arena prize pool. In the end, the top four teams were all from the United States.
Playoffs Standings
- 1st place – Ship It – $350
- 2nd place – The Volcans – $250
- 3rd place – Supernovas – $150
- 4th place – Victorious Secret – $50
In addition to prizes for the top four teams, there were also awards given for MVP in total personal kills and a season’s favorite player that was voted on by league participants.
MVP total personal kills
- 1st place – PTM – $80
- 2nd place – Jason – $50
- 3rd place – Maria – $30
Favorite player
- Maria – $40
Skyfront
A couple of weeks after league activities began in SmashBox Arena, LIVE competitions commenced in Skyfront, a game set in zero-gravity where colossal structures abound in beautiful arenas and players vie for the title of ultimate champion in an adrenaline-filled shooter.
Skyfront LIVE Season 1 featured 4 x 4 competition and there were four teams registered at the beginning of the season. A team from the United States dropped out of the league early due to lack of participation at their local arcade, but Swingshot Marauders joined in the middle so there were still four teams throughout most of the season.
Although VRality won a Virtual Athletics League’s Skyfront tournament in December 2018, they were not as sharp during LIVE’s first season. Arcade owner Rozenberg states this was “due to a lack of practice.”
Unfortunately there were technical connection and availability issues during the Skyfront playoffs so ultimately the winners were determined through total scores and a decision by league management. Skynet, a team that had performed well throughout the season, was declared the LIVE Season 1 Skyfront VR champion.
Playoffs Standings
- 1st place – Skynet – $516
- 2nd place – VRality – $376
- 3rd place – Swingshot Marauders – $216
- 4th place – Team Spectrum – $116
MVP total personal kills
- 1st place – SoulSurvivor – $100
- 2nd place – Geneus1 – $60
- 3rd place – Sonix – $40
Crowd favorite player
- Aeon – $80
LIVE Season 2
The League of International VR Esports Season 2 will begin in May with an even bigger line-up of choices for competitors.
One of the challenges with season 1 was technical issues with Skyfront VR. Rozenberg said the technical challenges must be resolved before they can continue to feature the game in international tournaments so they are working with Levity Play developers to make this happen.
Meanwhile, BigBox VR’s SmashBox Arena will be joined by One Hamsa’s Racket:Nx and another game that will be announced at a later date. Competitors are sure to be excited with the options.
“We are looking forward to many more great competitive players to join the league,” stated Rozenberg, who added that registration for LIVE Season 2 should be posted by the end of March.
Join the LIVE Discord server here and stay tuned to VR Fitness Insider for more information about the League of International VR Esports and all VR esports news!
