W3E to host Web3 eSports tournament with $15K prize pool In Istanbul

W3E will host its first-ever live tournament for Web3 eSports at Istanbul Blockchain Week on November 17 at the ESA eSports Arena in Istanbul. The event, W3E Championships, will include game showcases, exclusive announcements from game developers and demo testing.

W3E will also host the world’s first Web3 gaming expo as a secondary event, where guests can see and test upcoming Web3 games and network with the game development team. W3E is managed and supervised by team lead Damian Bartlett and marketing strategist Thang Phan. Both are veterans and former professionals in gaming and eSports, with Phan being a former member of FaZe Clan.

With a $15,000 prize pool, the tournament will be attended by top-ranked European and Turkish teams. W3E is inviting traditional Web2 FPS players to participate in expanding the decentralized gaming ecosystem.

“It is our firm belief that the future of the internet – and therefore gaming – is decentralized. Our mission is to create a space where Web3 communities can experience gaming, not only on the blockchain, but in the real world too,” W3E writes on its website. “The world of Esports is only just waking up to this new paradigm. We’re determined to make them breakfast when they do.”

Istanbul Blockchain Week was founded in 2020 by EAK Digital founder and CEO Erhan Korhaliller with the aim to present the best Web3 event in Turkey. W3E is the latest brand to be included in the EAK ecosystem, following the success of Blockdown Festival: Croatia in May this year. Korhaliller said Web3 would serve as the next leap forward in gaming technology.

“I am incredibly excited to be leading the team putting on the first ever live Web3 Esports tournament, alongside the first Web3 games expo,” Korhaliller said.

EV.io — W3E Championships’ main game

Online game platform Addicting Games has announced that EV.io, one of the most popular games on the Solana blockchain, will be part of the Istanbul Blockchain Week as the event’s league partner and the main game for the tournament. Addicting Games was co-founded by Chriss Scott, who is also EV.io’s game director.

“We’re excited to be part of Istanbul Blockchain Week, and contribute to a growing web3 esports scene,” Scott says, “We’re huge fans of W3E and support their initiatives in moving the needle forward.”

EV.io is a play-to-earn, first-person shooter game that takes place in futuristic arenas, boasting 23 playable maps and six game modes. It has a fast-paced combat style with a large selection of weapons featuring various abilities, including teleportation and impulse grenades. Players can convert EV.io’s in-game token, E, to Solana (SOL) and fiat currency. Players may earn 1-5 E tokens per kill, with 10,000 E tokens being worth around $5.

At Istanbul Blockchain Week, players can obtain exclusive W3E skins and weapons to use during the tournament. They will keep these skins and weapons after the event, regardless of their ranking in the game.

“It is a privilege to have our contestants play EV.io, and I couldn’t be more proud to welcome the world to what will be a history-making event in this space,” Korhaliller said.