KUALA LUMPUR: Garena, a global game developer and publisher, unveiled its 2021 international e-sports roadmap for Free Fire, its very own battle royale title.
Free Fire fans across the world this year can look forward to three major international events - two editions of the Free Fire World Series (FFWS), Free Fire's flagship international tournaments in April and November, and Free Fire All Stars in July.
Garena's international esports roadmap reflects its continued efforts to excite and delight the global Free Fire community with competitive and premium esports content and the lineup will showcase the best Free Fire talent from around the world, at the same time offer teams a chance to test their skills.
For Malaysian fans, the Free Fire Malaysia Championships (FFMC) will fill the gaps between these international events.
THE WORLD GATHERS AT THE FFWS
FFWS is Free Fire's largest and most iconic tournament where during its inaugural 2019 edition, the tournament recorded more than two million concurrent viewers online, which according to Esports Charts, was a world record high for mobile esports tournament.
In 2020, due to the pandemic the FFWS was substituted with Free Fire Continental Series instead but this year, the FFWS will make its return with two editions. One in April and the second edition will be in November.
Leading up to each edition, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Philippines or the MCP Majors, will be competing in a local recurring tournament happening this month, where qualifiers win the rights to represent their countries at the FFWS.
The April edition of the FFWS will kick-off with the Play-ins on April 24 and will conclude with the Finals on May 1.
The FFWS will be bigger in scale this year. From the initial nine, this year the FFWS will be hosting 22 teams from 13 regions to compete for an expanded prize pool of US$2,000,000.
To mark the grand return of the FFWS in April, Garena has introduced a brand new logo for the FFWS. Featuring an interlocking "W" and "S" – the initials of "World Series", the tournament trophy will also be designed to reflect the new FFWS logo.
The Free Fire All Stars will bring together the top influencers and professional players from around the world this July. Expect plenty of exciting interactions and memorable moments as the Free Fire community's most recognisable personalities battle alongside – and go up against – the pros.