Despite the fact that it remains in Early Access on Steam, the first official team-based H1Z1: King of the Kill tournament, featuring 15 teams vying for a share of a $300,000 prize pool, will be broadcast this spring on the CW Network and the CW Seed digital platform. Leading up to the tournament finale, CW will also broadcast a five-part "esports docuseries" called H1Z1: Fight for the Crown, a profile of the Echo Fox esports franchise headed by Rick Fox and Jace Hall.
Each team in the tournament will be made up of five players, all of whom will enter the arena at the same time, making early-game communication and strategy vital to any meaningful run at victory. And there will be no respawns: You die, and you're out—and you leave your team down a person. The winning team will take home $180,000, second place will earn $60,000, $30,000 will go to the third-place finisher, $18,000 for fourth, and $12,000 for fifth.
To be considered for entry, you'll need to be ranked on the Twin Galaxy H1Z1 leaderboard. Four teams—Echo Fox, Rogue Gaming, Panda Global, and Denial Esports—are already confirmed participants, but slots remain open at http://www.h1z1fightforthecrown.com. The H1Z1: Fight for the Crown tournament will take place in March, and is set to air on April 20.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the tournament would take place April 20, but it's actually being taped earlier.