2017 has witnessed MotoGP™ make an exciting move into the world of eSports – a new venture that allows fans of the world’s fastest motorcycle racing Championship the experience the thrill of high speed competition for themselves. Exclusive to SONY PlayStation® 4 and running from July through to the Grand Final in November, the first ever MotoGP™ eSport Championship has consisted of six online qualifying periods, each of 10 days in duration, leading up to the exciting final showdown at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana.
The Grand Final will see the 16 best gamers invited to a Live event held at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Friday 10th November at 17.00 CET, with two hours of coverage broadcast worldwide to over 190 countries -both through key MotoGP™ broadcasters as well as on motogp.com and through YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Twitter. Founding sponsorship partners, many of whom already support the FIM MotoGP™ Championship, have contributed top prizes for the title hopefuls including a BMW M240i Coupé as the winner’s trophy, a KTM390, a Samsung Smart TV and the money-can’t-buy Red Bull Hangar 7 experience. It will be a five-day trip of a lifetime for the finalists, and an unforgettable experience as they compete against each other and enjoy the pivotal 2017 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship season.
The MotoGP™ eSport Championship has already captured the imagination of millions of motorcycle fans worldwide, with more than 17 million video views and a global reach of over 58 million. The Grand Final is global too, with players from Spain (6 players), Italy (5 players), the United Kingdom (2 players),the Netherlands, South Africa and Germany all qualifying for the showdown at Valencia. During the six online challenges put to would-be contenders for the 2017 eSport Championship title, more than 2.5 million kilometers of ‘track distance’ has been raced by players pushing for a 'fastest lap', and they recorded more than 15,000 hours of game time.
Produced by the long-standing licensee of the official MotoGP™17 console video game, Milestone, the challenges included some of the best rider/manufacturer duos in the world of MotoGP™ today. During the season, superstar World Champions like Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were also involved in the eSport Championship media coverage, giving tips and tricks to potential eSport qualifiers - with the riders themselves playing MotoGP™17 on some of the tracks available in the competition.
Pau Serracanta, Dorna Sports' Commercial Area Managing Director: “We are delighted and somewhat surprised by the incredible reception from fans during the first official championship of eSports in MotoGP, I am also thrilled that the level of the participants during the season has been so high, and this will make the final very competitive. Even now, it is difficult to predict who will be the MotoGP eSport World Champion. No doubt we will continue working so that the future of the MotoGP eSport World Championship can continue to grow as it has done this year.”
For more information, you can access all media and news items through esport.motogp.com, or via YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Twitter.
