EA is doubling down on eSports, starting this weekend with Madden

EA announces today at E3

Today at their EA Play event, the publisher announced that they’re essentially going all out in the eSports arena, starting this very weekend with a Madden 16 tournament. They’ve announced three new events — of the “challenge, premiere, and EA Major” flavors.

Challenger events will have more grassroots feel, making it easier for folks to host tournaments. Premiere will deal with larger scale tournies, and EA Majors will be set on a global stage with big prizes involved. Next year, the Madden 17 tournament will provide up to one million dollars in prize money.

Uh, cool I guess? I mean, just about every publisher needs to have some sort of concession for the growing eSports monster, so starting here with a multi-pronged approach doesn’t seem like a bad idea.