Hasbro & Wizards of the Coast invest in Magic: The Gathering esports with $10M prize pool

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have unveiled Magic Esports, a new 2019 competitive program (with a $10 million prize pool) which introduces a restructured tournament format for online games Magic: The Gathering and Magic: The Gathering Arena.

Announced earlier tonight during the Game Awards, the 2019 Magic Esports season is designed to appeal to fans of both the digital and tabletop versions of Magic, consisting of four digital and six tabletop tournaments called Mythic Championships.

The first invitational Mythic Championship will kick off at PAX East 2019 in Boston for Magic: The Gathering Arena, with a $1 million prize pool

In addition, Magic Esports also heralds the launch of the Magic Pro League, which encompasses the current top 32 ranked Magic players. Magic Pro League members are automatically qualified for every Mythic Championship, and in addition to competing for a piece of the prize pool, they will receive a yearly salary and additional benefits aimed at allowing them to play Magic as a career.

Players outside of the Magic Pro League will also have the ability to qualify for Mythic Championships, with more details on how to to be revealed in 2019.