Event Culminates in The Road to COMBO BREAKER Grand Finals Tournament to be Held at GameWorks Chicago-Schaumburg

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#GWandCOMBOBREAKERGameWorks, Inc., an Esports and entertainment company for millennials, teens and families with seven locations nationwide, announced today it will align with COMBO BREAKER, the largest competitive fighting game convention in Illinois and one of the largest in its peer category worldwide, to host the Road to COMBO BREAKER (R2CB) Esports tournament.

The R2CB, which is expected to attract hundreds of players throughout the country from all seven GameWorks venues nationwide, is a GameWorks-hosted national Esports tournament taking place from March-May 2020. The R2CB aligns its Grand Final event in May with COMBO BREAKER’s massive three-day event, expected to draw thousands of players to the Renaissance Schaumburg’s convention center. The R2CB’s Grand Finals will be held one day prior on May 21, 2020 at GameWorks’ Chicago-Schaumburg location.

The R2CB is a 1 vs. 1 event where players compete in the game TEKKEN 7 on Sony PlayStation 4. In addition to an R2CB cash and prize pool valued at $10,000, the seven regional winners from each GameWorks venue will not only have won a spot in the GameWorks R2CB Grand Finals, but they also will earn travel and lodging reimbursement for the main COMBO BREAKER event of up to $1,000.00 each. The Grand Finals winner also earns a complimentary ticket into the main COMBO BREAKER event.

The process for the tournament begins with GameWorks holding five local qualifier points rounds, weekly at each of its seven locations nationwide, with the first on Thursday, March 12, 2020, followed by those on the next four consecutive Thursdays, March 19, March 26, April 2 and April 9, all at 5:00 PM local time. On Wednesday, April 15, a last chance regional qualifier round open to any player will also be held at each location, with a start time of approximately 5:00 P.M. local time.

The top fourteen players with the highest total cumulative points from all five rounds overall from each GameWorks location will advance to that specific location’s regional finals. Each regional finals tournament will be held at the respective GameWorks location on Thursday, April 16 at 5:00 PM local time.

R2CB Grand Finals will take place at GameWorks Chicago-Schaumburg on Thursday, May 21 at 11:00 A.M. local time.

Registration is already open and can be completed here. Admission fees are as follows:

  • Entry fees for regional points rounds:
    • $15 venue fee due during preregistration per week
    • $25 venue fee due for late registration
    • $10 tournament fee due at the time of registration and added to the weekly prize pool
  • Entry fees for the regional and the global LCQ rounds:
    • $25 entry fee per LCQ event due during preregistration
    • $35 venue fee due for late registration
    • $10 tournament fee due at the time of registration and added to the event prize pool
  • No fees for the regional finals or Grand Finals as you must qualify to participate

GameWorks will also be partnering with COMBO BREAKER for the official COMBO BREAKER Pre-Party (to be held on May 21) after the R2CB Grand Finals as well as a GameWorks – COMBO BREAKER Brunch and Brawl event, on Monday, May 25. Details for the GameWorks – COMBO BREAKER Brunch and Brawl will be released in April. Both events will take place at GameWorks Chicago-Schaumburg.

“Since rolling out Esports across all our venues – which feature the latest titles and state-of-the-art, high-tech gaming features – and hosting large national tournaments attracting players from throughout the country, GameWorks continues to pave the way in Esports with our expertise and national presence. We look forward to working in concert with tournament leader COMBO BREAKER on these events and help to successfully drive them together. The excitement is already building across our company and venues in anticipation of this large tournament. We expect to attract many new gamers as well as those who frequent their local GameWorks often and already participate in many of our events. Working with COMBO BREAKER will afford players and spectators the ultimate Esports experience coupled with the benefit of a substantial prize pool,” said Philip N. Kaplan, chairman and chief executive officer at GameWorks.

“GameWorks is not only creating an opportunity for competitors from around the country to level up their game leading into COMBO BREAKER 2020, but is also providing the means for players to come test their prowess at our annual Memorial Day Weekend convention. We are excited that GameWorks is committing to this opportunity for regional TEKKEN 7 competitors, and believe it will prove beneficial in bringing together and expanding each location’s Esports Community,” said Rick Thiher, event director for COMBO BREAKER. “We think continuing this community spirit beyond COMBO BREAKER with the first — and hopefully annual — GameWorks Brunch and Brawl the Monday following CB2020 is a particularly nice way to close out the entire experience.”

The grand finals of COMBO BREAKER will be streamed live on Twitch. To follow and share status updates about GameWorks R2CB, use @GWeSports, @GameWorks and #GameWorks and follow us on Twitter @GWeSports.

About COMBO BREAKER

COMBO BREAKER is a three-day competitive gaming convention devoted to showcasing and celebrating the fighting game genre of arcade and console video games. Hosted annually on Memorial Day Weekend, the convention attracts international competition and marquee fighting game players to the Chicagoland area. For its celebration of fighting games and the generations of fans who love them, COMBO BREAKER has become one of the most attended events of its kind worldwide. To learn more about COMBO BREAKER visit www.combobreaker.org or follow @combobreaker on Twitter to stay up-to-date with the event’s development.

About GameWorks, Inc.

GameWorks, Inc. is an Esports and entertainment company for millennials, teens and families with seven locations nationwide, including those in Virginia – Chesapeake, Denver – Northfield/Stapleton, Las Vegas – Town Square, Minneapolis – Mall of America, Cincinnati – Newport on the Levee (Ky.), Chicago – Schaumburg and Seattle – Downtown. Each action-packed location ranges, on average, from between 20-30,000 square feet and features approximately 140 of the most popular arcade and video games.

GameWorks is recognized nationally for its Esports emphasis. All venues feature modern, high-tech and high-touch Esports lounges. GameWorks created an atmosphere designed to meet the comfort and optimum performance of gamers. Each full-service, premium GameWorks Esports lounge is equipped with, on average, 20-40 PCs and consoles and an extensive library of approximately 100 of the most popular, up-to-date video games. Venues host hundreds of tournaments and events, attracting tens of thousands of guests annually, who participate, play socially or are spectators. Other interactive activities, ranging from laser tag, billiards and other special attractions, are offered at various locations. Every location features The Works Kitchen at GameWorks, a new, eclectic, chef-driven restaurant concept that takes a Modern American spin on bar classics.

GameWorks also operates TableTop Tap House, a top-rated restaurant, sports bar and social game hall serving modern American tavern-style food and drinks in San Francisco.

For more information, please visit www.gameworks.com, or connect with the Company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Contacts

Susan Turkell, 303-766-4343
sturkell@gameworks.com

Fonte BUSINESS WIRE