PUBG Corp. has announced the PUBG Global Invitational 2018 (PGI 2018), a major international esports tournament for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds taking place in Berlin, Germany from July 25 to July 29 this year.  The event will offer a combined prize pool of $2 million USD, spread across 20 competing professional PUBG teams from all around the world.

The teams chosen to compete in this years PUBG Global Invitaional tournament will be selected via a series of regional qualifying competitions set in North America, Europe and Asia in early July.  A set number of seeds will be awarded to teams from each of the distinctive global regions involved, according to the following list:

• Europe – 3 seeds
• North America – 3 seeds
• Asia – 3 seeds
• CIS – 2 seeds
• Republic of Korea – 2 seeds
• PR of China – 2 seeds
• Japan – 2 seeds
• South America / Latin America – 1 seed
• Oceania – 1 seed
• Middle East / North Africa – 1 seed

The qualifiers, as well as the official tournament itself, will be split into Third-Person Perspective and First-Person Perspective competition, with a distinct winner crowned for each style of play.  At the tournament, Third-Person matches will be played July 25-26, while First-Person matches will be played July 28-29.

PGI 2018 will be the first official esports event put on by PUBG Corp since the Gamescom Invitational tournament back in August 2017.  The 2017 Gamescom tournament put up some very impressive viewership numbers despite only offering a $350,000 USD prize pool, but also left a bad taste in many fans’ mouths, as it came alongside a somewhat-bungled launch of in-game cosmetics that had many fans crying out in anger over what felt like an unfair monetization system.

PUBG Corp. CEO Changhan Kim made the following statement regarding this year’s PGI 2018 tournament:

The PUBG Global Invitational 2018, is a landmark moment for PUBG Corp. as a showcase of the potential of PUBG esports. The team at PUBG Corp. is working tirelessly to ensure that the PGI 2018 exemplifies the pinnacle of PUBG competition and brings to life all of the excitement, tension and exhilaration of the highest level of PUBG play, not only to the fans attending the PGI 2018, but also those watching at home.

Yesterday’s Steam announcement of the event promises more information on the event to come soon, including information on how fans can get tickets, how the regional qualifiers will be conducted, and what specific Berlin venue the tournament will occupy, so stay tuned for that.