Hi-Rez Studios announced today that they’ve teamed up with the World Esports Association. This partnership will impact the Paladins Premier League, as all future esports events will be broadcasted exclusively on Facebook Live. The league currently consists of 10 WESA teams.
“Hi-Rez Studios has a long history in esports, and we’re thrilled to work with Facebook on this next chapter of professional Paladins play,” said Todd Harris, COO and Co-Founder of Hi-Rez Studios. “We’ve seen a worldwide appetite to play Paladins competitively, and we’re excited to share our team shooter with millions of gamers on Facebook. With Facebook’s global reach and community building tools, we expect Paladins esports to continue its explosive growth on both a grassroots community level and at the highest tier of play in the Paladins Premier League.”
While the Premier League features the top tier of players, Hi-Rez Studios are also looking to help community members compete by using Facebook Groups:
In July, Hi-Rez announced the successful $350,000 Paladin’s Global Series (PGS), a community-focused, open- bracket tournament series held in seven regions around the world, where amateur players can recruit and form teams all within the official Paladins Facebook Group. In the first week alone, more than 300 teams consisting of more than 1,500 players signed up to play in the Global Series, with top matches streamed via Facebook Live. In under a month, more than 28,000 members of have joined the Paladins Global Series Group. Regional PGS champions earn a slot in the World Championships where they will compete against one another along with qualifying Premier League teams.
“Every day, through Paladins Global Series, fans around the world are connecting in meaningful ways through Facebook Groups,” said Leo Olebe, director of global games partnerships at Facebook. “The PGS is a great foundation for building the broader Paladins community, and we are excited to bring things full circle by making Facebook the home for professional Paladins Premier League esports content too. The passion and popularity surrounding Paladins is fueled from the ground up by its community of fans. Hi-Rez’s use of Facebook to discover new player talent and elevate players to a professional stage is a great fit for the community-driven platform we’re building for the gaming video ecosystem.”
The first Paladins Premier League livestream will happen later this year (fall 2017) on Facebook. On top of live competition, there’ll also be a weekly Paladins esports show on Watch, which is Facebook’s platform for shows. It’ll “bring news, insights and analysis of the competitive scene.”
