Britain braced for big esports events throughout 2017

Britain is set to host a spate of esports tournaments and events this year, from global finals to grassroots tournaments and everything in-between.

Many publishers and developers are turning to London in particular to hold their events throughout 2017. Here’s a selection of tournaments.

This month, the Vainglory Spring Championship gets underway at London’s O2 Arena from May 19th to 21st. Six teams from North America and six from Europe will play against one another, and UK-based organisation Fnatic will ‘host’ the event as the home nation.

One week later at MCM Comic Con, the ESL UK & Ireland Hearthstone Premiership finals will play out. This will take place at Excel London from May 26th to 28th, with four top players going head-to-head.

In terms of Counter-Strike, London’s Wembley SSE Arena will host the ECS Esports Championship Series (ECS) finals on June 23rd to 25th.

The world’s top CSGO teams will compete for a share of $1.5m at the finals, which are being branded as the largest esports event in the UK, in terms of prizing and team stature.

EASPORTS is also getting in on the action with the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2017. 32 grand finalists will head to London in August to compete for a share of $200,000 (venue TBC). The winner will also receive two tickets to FIFA’s annual football award ceremony.

Towards the end of the year, the $1m Clash Royale Crown Championship finals are set to play out in London in November. The mobile game recently won the AMD Esports Audience Award at the BAFTA Games Awards earlier this year.

Other notable events taking place later this year include the Gfinity Elite Series, Multiplay Insomnias, ESL UK & Ireland Premiership finals, EGX 2017 in September and more (dates and details TBC). And don’t forget the National University Esports League competitions running across UK universities.

For more information on grassroots and amateur UK esports tournaments in particular, click here

To see more 2017 esports events, check out the British Esports Association’s event calendar here