The highly anticipated game, Sparkball, often compared as a blend of League of Legends and Rocket League, is gearing up for an early access weekend to give enthusiasts a taste of the competitive experience. The game’s developer, Worldspark Studios, has enlisted several prominent esports teams to help showcase the game globally.
Worldspark plans to host the Ascension Invitational, an online competition with a $32,000 prize pool, on Saturday, featuring top-notch esports organizations such as G2 Esports, Cloud9, Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, NRG, Spacestation Gaming, Fnatic, Heretics, Method, and Ninjas in Pyjamas. The competition, which will be livestreamed on Twitch, aims to generate enthusiasm for the upcoming game.
Chandler Thomlison, founder and CEO of Worldspark, said that the competition’s main goal is to demonstrate the game’s “legitimacy” to potential players before the early access weekend, which will take place from June 30 to July 3. The unique blend of gameplay offered by Sparkball can initially be challenging to comprehend, therefore watching professional players compete may encourage fans to check out the game and potentially maintain their interest.
Thomlison believes that if fans observed their favorite creators or esports organizations engaging with the game competitively, it could whet their appetite for Sparkball. Getting these high-caliber esports teams on board was an uphill battle for the small game studio. However, after Worldspark reached out to numerous organizations, they eventually gained traction when one team played the game, leading to others following suit.
Although well-known esports names are part of the competition, Thomlison is more focused on deep reach rather than wide reach. He would be content if the online stream attracts a smaller audience with a high rate of conversion of viewers into players. He states that marketing reach can be easily achieved by investing money, but conversion cannot.
Esports and crypto startups have formed strong alliances in recent years, yet many gamers remain skeptical of NFTs and token-driven game economies. Thomlison acknowledges this and clarifies that the current version of Sparkball does not include any blockchain elements and will not for some time. Worldspark’s position is that the game should first establish itself and attract players for its entertainment value before introducing Web3 features.
Once the game enters its beta launch, projected in eight to 12 months, Worldspark plans to incorporate “light touch cosmetics” in the form of crypto features that won’t impact gameplay. If the early access weekend is successful, the studio aims to raise additional funding and expand the game with more characters, maps, items, and progression elements to entice and retain players.
Source: Decrypt
