Halo Championship Series
 | |
| Sport | Halo |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 |
| Owner(s) | 343 Industries |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country | United States, Europe |
| Most recent champion(s) | Counter Logic Gaming |
Halo Championship Series (HCS) is a professional Halo league sponsored by Microsoft and 343 Industries.[1] It is governed by Electronic Sports League, more commonly referred to as ESL. Seasons 1 and 2 ran on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, specifically its remake of Halo 2.[2] In August 2015 Microsoft announced it would be increasing the total prize pool of the HCS to $1 million USD, for the newly announced Halo World Championship, which will be the debut event for Halo 5: Guardians.[3] This prize pool was later announced to be crowd-funded, which later resulted in Major League Gaming announcing that the prize pool had climbed to $2 million USD. Later that week, 343 announced that the prize pool was locked at $2.5 million USD. This was confirmed to give the winners, later announced to be Counter Logic Gaming, the largest single monetary prize in console eSports history.
HCS Season 1
HCS Season 1 took place from December 12, 2014 to March 8, 2015. There were a total of 12 official tournaments, five LANs and seven online. It featured a $100,000 USD prize pool. The European Gaming League organized a LAN event in London on February 22, 2015, with the winning team getting a wild card spot to the Season 1 Grand Finals.[4]
LANs
| Tournament | Date | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Games Columbus 2014 | Dec. 12-14 | Counter Logic Gaming | Evil Geniuses | OpTic Gaming |
| UGC St. Louis 2015 | Jan. 2-4 | Denial eSports | Counter Logic Gaming | Evil Geniuses |
| Gamers For Giving 2015 | Feb. 21-22 | Evil Geniuses | Counter Logic Gaming | OpTic Gaming |
| EGL Battle of Europe 2015 | Feb. 22 | Team Vibe | TCM Gaming | Epsilon eSports |
| PAX East 2015 | Mar. 6-8 | Evil Geniuses | Counter Logic Gaming | Noble Black |
Final standings
| Rank | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evil Geniuses | $50,000 |
| 2 | Counter Logic Gaming | $20,000 |
| 3 | Denial eSports | $10,000 |
| 4 | OpTic Gaming | $8,000 |
| 5 | Cloud9 | $4,000 |
| 6 | Str8 Rippin | $4,000 |
| 7 | eLevate | $2,000 |
| 8 | Noble Black | $2,000 |
HCS Season 2
Season 2 of the HCS features a $250,000 prize pool spread out over three offline events, seven online cups and one open online cup.
| Tournament | Date | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Games Atlanta 2015 | April 17–19 | Evil Geniuses | Denial eSports | Cloud9 |
| PGL Indianapolis | June 26–28 | Evil Geniuses | Counter Logic Gaming | Denial eSports |
Prize Pool
| Place | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|
| 1st | $75,000 |
| 2nd | $30,000 |
| 3rd | $15,000 |
| 4th | $12,000 |
| 5th-6th | $6,000 |
| 7th-8th | $3,000 |
Game Types and Maps
Included maps and modes:
- Team Slayer: Shrine, Lockdown, Warlord
- Oddball: Warlord, Lockdown
- Capture the Flag: Shrine (3 Flag), Warlord (5 Flag)
- King of the Hill: Lockdown, Warlord
- Neutral Bomb Assault: Shrine (3 Bomb), Warlord (5 Bomb)
| Rank | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Evil Geniuses | $75,000 |
| 2nd | Counter Logic Gaming | $30,000 |
| 3rd | Denial eSports | $15,000 |
| 4th | Cloud9 | $12,000 |
| 5th | Winterfox | $6,000 |
| 6th | OpTic Gaming | $6,000 |
| 7th | Team Liquid | $3,000 |
| 8th | eXcellence Gaming | $3,000 |
HCS 2016 Halo World Championships
Halo World Championship 2016 was the culminating event of the Halo World Championship 2016 season, taking place at Raleigh Studios Hollywood in Hollywood, California from March 18–20, 2016. Halo 5 was played in 4v4 competition. It featured the largest prize pool in console esports history, with a total of $2,500,000 USD on the line.
Overview
The Halo World Championship was announced on August 4, 2015 with a trailer shown during Microsoft's Gamescom showcase. With a prize pool of over $2,500,000 USD, there has never been a Halo tournament with higher stakes. It is also the first major tournament featuring invited teams from all regions of the world.
Format
- 16 teams invited as specified, based on performance in regional qualifiers:
- 8 North American (NA) teams
- 4 European/Middle Eastern/African (EMEA) teams
- 2 Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) teams
- 1 Asian (Asia) team
- 1 Latin American (LATAM) team
- Group play, four teams per group
- Top two teams from each group advance to Championship Bracket, bottom two finish 9th-16th.
- Best-of-5 series
- Championship bracket
- Single-elimination bracket, best-of-5 series (quarterfinals), best-of-7 series (semifinals, finals)
- Group winners drawn into bracket against group runner-ups with a restriction on teams from same group being on same half of bracket
Prize Pool
The prize pool was initially announced to be starting at $1,000,000, with possible increases from the purchase of REQ packs in Halo 5. On November 4, 2015, 343 announced that the prize pool had reached $1,500,000 through REQ pack crowdfunding, with the possibility of growing all the way until March.On November 19, the prize pool was confirmed to have hit $1,700,000. On December 3, MLG confirmed that it had reached $2,000,000. On February 19, during the pre-show for the MLG North American Regional Finals, Goldenboy and Benson confirmed that the prize pool had reached $2,500,000.
The prize money is distributed as follows:
| Place | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1st | 40% |
| 2nd | 20% |
| 3rd-4th | 10% |
| 5th-8th | 3% |
| 9th-16th | 1% |
Game Types and Maps
- Capture the Flag - Coliseum, Fathom, Truth
- Strongholds - Eden, Empire, Plaza, The Rig
- Slayer - Coliseum, Eden, Plaza, Regret, The Rig, Truth
Results
A total of $2,500,000 USD is awarded.
| Place | Prize (USD) | Team | Roster |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | $1,000,000 | Counter Logic Gaming | SnakeBite • Royal2 • Frosty • Lethul • Clutch |
| 2nd | $500,000 | Team Allegiance | Naded • eL TowN • Suspector • Cratos |
| 3rd-4th | $250,000 | Team eLevate | Rayne • Penguin • Swift Kill • Calm • Chig |
| 3rd-4th | $250,000 | Denial eSports | ContrA • PreDevoNatoR • Huke • bubu dubu • Elumnite |
| 5th-8th | $75,000 | Epsilon eSports | BUK 20 • BUK 57 • Jimbo • Snipedrone • Flamez |
| 5th-8th | $75,000 | Renegades | Spartan • Ninja • StelluR • Victory X • Symbolic |
| 5th-8th | $75,000 | Evil Geniuses | Snipedown • Commonly • Lunchbox • Roy • Towey |
| 5th-8th | $75,000 | Team Liquid | Ace • APG • Lepar Messiah • UnLegit • Elamite |
References
- ↑ Gies, Arthur (November 5, 2014). "Halo gets serious about eSports with the Halo Championship Series". Polygon. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- ↑ Puga, Lauren (November 4, 2015). "HALO GETS OFFICIAL ESPORTS LEAGUE: HALO CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES". IGN.
- ↑ Mueller, Saira (August 4, 2015). "Microsoft's 'Halo' eSports Tournament, Halo Championship Series, Offers $1 Million Prize Money". International Business Times. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
- ↑ http://www.thescoreesports.com/news/312