With a portfolio of over 20 titles and over 450 million registered players, Gameforge is one of the leading providers of Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) in the western hemisphere. The game breaks genre-boundaries and ensures extensive and tactical entertainment. In addition, HEX: Shards of Fate offers the unique elements of an MMO, such as PvE campaigns, guilds and customisable Champions. Thanks to the fully digital nature of HEX: Shards of Fate, entirely new game dynamics are made available to TCG fans, making the experience even more varied and strategic. HEX: Shards of Fate combines the challenging and strategic planning of a trading card game (TCG) with the rich depth of a multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO), creating a whole new genre: the MMOTCG. In combination with the different game modes used during the tournament schedule, the two chosen systems serve to underline the level playing field this competition provides all participating players. The winners of this stage will qualify for the grand finals in the USA. Once the playing field has been reduced, the tournament will move onto a knock-out phase using a single elimination format, whereby only the victors of each duel will progress in the tournament. Participants will compete against one another over a fixed number of rounds, where defeat does not entail being eliminated from the tournament. Given the number of players and the large number of individual matches, the qualifying tournaments will make use of the Swiss system.
Players surviving this knock-out phase will then travel to the USA for the grand offline final to determine the ultimate winner of the tournament. Requirements for participation include a qualifying deck, which includes the starter decks, and 10 Qualifying Tickets. The best players from the first round will subsequently play off against one another in fixed qualification tournaments for the HEX Invitational. The number of tickets earned is determined by the players’ rankings in their respective rounds. In this way, all players participating in the planned daily Constructed and Sealed tournaments will have an opportunity to qualify for the next round. In the opening phase, the regular rewards in the form of booster packs will be complemented by so-called Qualifying Tickets. To ensure that all players enjoy the same conditions, irrespective of their local time zones, the tournament is split into a variety of phases.
The full tournament will take place over the course of a number of months. Gameforge and Hex Entertainment have announced details surrounding their upcoming international tournament for HEX: Shards of Fate, which starts on October 6 and features a prize package of $100,000!