Of the many card games out there, chances are you didn’t expect Uno to have an esports tournament of all things. And yet, here we are, as Mattel has just announced such a thing. The “e” part of it is especially pertinent, since the championship will be done using the Uno mobile app.
This is part of the card game’s 50th anniversary celebration. There’s even the Uno Championship Series Invitational, which will be held in-person in Las Vegas on 11 November. The winner of that event will take home the grand prize of US$50000 (~RM208000).
Do you have what it takes to become the ultimate UNO champion? #BeTheOne –– Visit @UNOMobileGame or https://t.co/XB67SRq935 for more information on the #UNOChampionshipSeries and how you may be invited to the UNO Vegas Invitational Tournament. pic.twitter.com/JkaopkYXFV
— UNO (@realUNOgame) June 30, 2021
Leading up to the invitational are mobile tournaments, as well as a number of in-person ones. These start as soon as tomorrow, and will be ongoing until 29 August. Prizes for those are not known for now. In addition to placing well in those, Mattel will also randomly select 10 Uno players to attend the invitational event. This will be done via its 50th anniversary sweepstakes, the entry of which opens on 1 August.
This is definitely a strange one. On one hand, card games are not that unusual for the world of esports. After all, Hearthstone has been around in the scene for awhile. But on the other, there’s still something different about a 50-year old physical card game that gets brought into the esports industry.
(Source: Mattel [1], [2])
