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Intel announces $500k esports event ahead of Tokyo Olympic Games

The eighth iteration of The Brawl is coming. Provided by Psyonix

The International Olympic Committee and Intel announced a $500,000 esports event featuring Rocket League and Street Fighter V as part of the worldwide sponsor's activities leading into the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Intel World Open will begin with online qualifiers in early 2020 for Psyonix's Rocket League and Capcom's Street Fighter V, with anyone eligible to compete to qualify for their national team. A live qualifier event will take place in Katowice, Poland in June to determine which teams will advance to the championship tournament in Tokyo from July 22-24, 2020.

The live finals in Tokyo will take place at the Zepp DiverCity venue, with a $250,000 prize pool for each tournament.

The Summer Olympics will begin July 24.

ESL will produce the World Open, which builds on the collaboration between Intel and the IOC on Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) PyeongChang esports event that took place ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. That event was built around Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II.

"We are excited Intel is bringing the Intel World Open esports tournament to Japan in the lead up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.," IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell said in a statement. "As we explore the engagement between esports and the Olympic Movement we are looking forward to learning from this event and continuing to engage with the passionate esports community from around the world."

--Field Level Media