WePlay Ultimate Fighting League (WUFL) is a fighting game esports league. Supported titles include (but are not limited to) Tekken 7 and Soulcalibur VI.
 | |
| Sport | Fighting game, Esports |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 13, 2020 |
| Founder | WePlay Esports, Oleksandr Usyk, Vasyl Lomachenko |
| First season | WePlay Ultimate Fighting League Season 1 |
| Motto | Welcome to the future of fighting game competitions |
| No. of teams | 48 |
| Country | United States |
| TV partner(s) | DAZN |
| Official website | wufl.gg |
History edit
On December 13, 2020, the last day of the WePlay Dragon Temple tournament in Mortal Kombat 11, the creation of the WePlay Ultimate Fighting League (WUFL) was announced. The partnership for fighting games was announced by the league co-founders: WePlay Esports (also known as WePlay AniMajor founder) Managing Partners Oleg Krot and Yura Lazebnikov, and the world cruiserweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk.[1][2][3]
The league's scope of activity is holding fighting game tournaments. Oleg Krot and Yura Lazebnikov, league co-founders, have extensive experience in conducting esports events to date.
League co-founders’ joint investment in the project amounts to $25 million. It is reported that the invested funds will be used for the development of infrastructure, tech solutions to enhance production quality, game data collection and analysis. There are also plans to build specialized WUFL venues, provide prize funds, and promote content on the market.[4]
WUFL Season 1 (2021) edit
The first season of the WePlay Ultimate Fighting League will run from March 25 to April 11, 2021.
The WePlay Esports media holding company and the undisputed world cruiserweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk are the organizers of the league.[5] DashFight was announced as the official media partner of the event.[6]
The first season of the league will feature competitions in Mortal Kombat 11, Soulcalibur VI, and Tekken 7.[7]
Dates of individual competitions:
- Mortal Kombat 11 — March 25–28, 2021
- SOULCALIBUR VI — April 1–4, 2021
- Tekken 7 — April 8–11, 2021
The total prize pool for Ultimate Fighting League (WUFL) Season 1 will be $150,000.[8] This amount will be distributed between all three competitions for the individual games. WePlay Ultimate Fighting League Season 1 will be streamed from WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv at the VDNG.
| Dates | Title | Venue | City, country |
| March 25–28 | Mortal Kombat 11 | WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| April 1–4 | SOULCALIBUR VI | WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv | Kyiv, Ukraine |
| April 8–11 | Tekken 7 | WePlay Esports Arena Kyiv | Kyiv, Ukraine |
Pakistani player Arslan Ash won the Tekken 7 tournament, defeating his compatriot.[9]
WUFL Season 1 (2021) Results edit
| Mortal Kombat 11 | |||||||||||
| Place | Prise | Player | |||||||||
| 1 | $15,000 | SonicFox | |||||||||
| 2 | $10,000 | Tekken Master | |||||||||
| 3 | $8,000 | Rewind | |||||||||
| 4 | $6,000 | MK_Azerbaijan | |||||||||
| 5-6 | $3,500 | Konqueror249, Dragon | |||||||||
| 7-8 | $2,000 | ArnKratos, A Foxy Grampa | |||||||||
| SOULCALIBUR VI | |||||||||||
| Place | Prise | Player | |||||||||
| 1 | $15,000 | Woahhzz | |||||||||
| 2 | $10,000 | Skyll | |||||||||
| 3 | $8,000 | linkorz | |||||||||
| 4 | $6,000 | Yuttoto | |||||||||
| 5-6 | $3,500 | Party Wolf, Akeopo | |||||||||
| 7-8 | $2,000 | Bluegod, TheKura | |||||||||
| Tekken 7 | |||||||||||
| Place | Prise | Player | |||||||||
| 1 | $15,000 | Arslan Ash | |||||||||
| 2 | $10,000 | Awais Honey | |||||||||
| 3 | $8,000 | JDCR | |||||||||
| 4 | $6,000 | SAINT | |||||||||
| 5-6 | $3,500 | Caiper, Fergus | |||||||||
| 7-8 | $2,000 | KiraKira, Danielmado | |||||||||
| Talent crew | ||||
| Mortal Kombat 11 | SOULCALIBUR VI | Tekken 7 | ||
| Host | ||||
| BanKs (James Banks) | (United Kingdom) | BanKs (James Banks) | (United Kingdom) | BanKs (James Banks) |
| Commentators | ||||
| Ketchup (Ryan Neal) | (USA) | Joubin | (USA) | Tasty Steve (Steven Scott) |
| Romanova | (United Kingdom) | Danurai | (USA) | MarkMan (Mark Julio) |
| Falkunn | (Canada) | Zubaz | (United Kingdom) | K-Wiss (Kobi Scarlett) |
| HBTheWarrior | (United Kingdom) | Eternal Dragon | (United Kingdom) | Spag (Hassan Farooq) |
| Analysts | ||||
| Big D (Ryan Dedomenico) | (France) | Kayane (Marie-Laure Norindr) | (USA) | MYK (Michael Kwon) |
| Mr Aquaman | (United Kingdom) | HBTheWarrior | (USA) | Rip (Reepal Parbhoo) |
Streaming partner edit
Sports OTT streaming service DAZN is the official broadcaster of the WePlay Ultimate Fighting League. It became known on March XX, 2021, when esports media holding company WePlay Esports and DAZN announced a partnership.[10][11]
The league broadcast will be available for viewing on all types of devices supported by the DAZN service:
- Samsung, LG, Android TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV streaming devices and TVs
- Computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge, and Safari browsers
- iOS and Android smartphones and tablets
- PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox One и Xbox Series X game consoles.
Industry Analytics edit
The largest number of concurrent viewers of Tekken 7 competitions in 2020 was 55,200 people. The peak viewer count of Mortal Kombat 11 in 2020 was 60,300 people.[12][better source needed] The events of the main players in the esports market, including WePlay (Dragon Temple and Ultimate Fighting League), are detailed in the analytical article "Fighting Community Against COVID-19: A New Underdog Story" in the leading profile publication Dbltap. Games of the Ultimate Fighting League were rated as a success.[13]
References edit
- ^ WePlay Esports launches WUFL with boxing champ Oleksandr Usyk
- ^ АБСОЛЮТНЫЙ ЧЕМПИОН МИРА ПО БОКСУ АЛЕКСАНДР УСИК ВЫХОДИТ НА ФАЙТИНГ-СЦЕНУ ВМЕСТЕ С WEPLAY ESPORTS
- ^ Боксер Александр Усик — новый файтинг-партнер WePlay Esports
- ^ WePlay Esports: Total Investment in WePlay Ultimate Fighting League is $25M
- ^ WePlay Esports unveils details for inaugural Ultimate Fighting League
- ^ "WePlay Esports launches Mortal Kombat tournament, announces DashFight as media partner".
- ^ WePlay Ultimate Fighting League Tournament Announced
- ^ WePlay Esports and Olexander Usyk announced the dates for the first season of the WUFL esports fighting
- ^ by-storm-with-a-big-win Arslan Ash: Tekken Ukraine by storm with a big win
- ^ Спортивный стриминговый сервис DAZN стал официальным бродкастером WePlay Ultimate Fighting League
- ^ partners with DAZN to stream Ultimate Fighting League on its platform
- ^ Most popular esports fighting games in 2020
- ^ The Fighting Gaming Community Against COVID-19: A New underdog Story