With the Grand Finals just over the horizon, lets take a deeper look at the biggest season of competitive FIFA yet
The FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 (previously known as the FIFA Interactive World Cup) is the culmination of the FIFA eSPORTS season, bringing together the top players from around the globe who’ve battled their way through various stages of qualification. The first of these stages takes the form of six separate events and the final event is due to take place in August, with specific ticketing and venue info TBA.
Two initial FUT Champions Cups – each filled with 128 players split between both platforms, who’ve qualified towards the top of the Global Weekend League Leaderboards - decide the first batch of qualifiers for the next stage. The first of these cups took place back in January with young British talent DhTekKz taking the top prize of $22,000; the second is coming up over horizon on April 13 to 15 and is set to take place in Manchester, UK at the Victoria Warehouse.
The other qualifying rounds include an eCLUB World Cup - where members of the biggest eSPORTS teams compete – as well as two other events, organised in partnership with external sponsors to decide the overall 128 players moving into the next round of Global Series Playoffs and then the Grand Finals.
With the overall structure established, keep reading to find out everything else you need about what makes the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 so exciting:
1. Anyone can participate
The field is wide open this year for all competitors. Photo source: Lenovo
To be one of those 256 able to enter one of those FUT Champions Cup all you need is skill and dedication. Placements are earned based on your relative position within the Weekend League – a gruelling tournament format which requires you to play 40 games in a single two day period in order to gauge your skill level – and so, if you’ve been practicing hard on Ultimate difficulty and think you’re ready to take a big step into the FUT competitive space, the only thing stopping you is you.
2. You get to watch some of the best players doing what they do best
Being the biggest FIFA tournament on the planet means you can attract the biggest players by default. If you’re struggling to beat the five stars team in Squad Battle or are too terrified to even approach Ultimate difficulty, have a look at these guys. Players like Huge Gorilla (a formidable attacking talent and last year’s world champion) as well as the likes of RocKy, xShellzz (a man who actually managed to win 160 games of Weekend League in a row) and others, all promise some fantastic moments as the season comes to a climax.
3. Last year's final was fascinating
Thank god it didn’t go to penalties…
The FIWC 2017 culminated with the Grand Finals in London last year, with some fantastic matches being played out over the course of the tournament. Things came to a head toward the end of the climax with the winners of the Playstation (Deto) and Xbox (Huge Gorilla) divisions meeting for a final showdown.
The match was an age-old football rivalry, with representatives of both Germany and England, leaving the fans anything but disappointed. The first match was a nail biting affair (ending in 3-3), teeing up Huge Gorilla on his familiar Xbox console to clinch the title on home soil 0-4.
The talented player took home a huge prize pool of $200,000, far exceeding the previous year’s total of $20,000, and even Deto – placing second – took a conciliation of $40,000, doubling FIWC 2016’s first place prize.
4. Legends are now available on both PS4 and Xbox
Not sure if Maradona has a “hand of god” special move. Photo source: FIFA.
In previous incarnations of the game, FUT Legends were only available on the Xbox platform, dramatically altering the state of competitive play when players switched platforms over two leg matches. These trump cards – including the likes of Maradona, Pele, Ronaldo – could be placed within squads during Xbox games, often making the play much more dynamic, fast paced and entertaining to watch. Now, both platforms can accommodate these footballing greats, setting the stage for some brilliant encounters by the time the FIWC 2018 Grand Finals roll around.
5. FUT Champions leaves the field wide open
Could glory be just around the corner for you?
First introduced in FIFA 2017, the mode substantially reinvigorated the FIFA esports scene because it allowed for a clear, well-structured progression (daily, weekly and monthly cups) allowing anybody – not just those plucked out with lucrative sponsorship deals – to have a shot at the Grand Finals. This year’s competition is sure to see some brand-new faces, looking to upset established professionals and draw an ever-growing crowd into the FIFA competitive scene. Game on!
