The Fédération Française de Tennis has announced that the first round of qualifiers for the upcoming 2023 Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas will launch on February 23.
The world’s largest eTennis tournament, the tournament will once again be held on Wildlife Studios’ Tennis Clash, which was named the official game of Roland-Garros (The French Open) earlier this year.
“We are thrilled to announce the details of our 2023 competition alongside FFT. Continuing our last year’s successful partnership, we have created an even more exciting and engaging experience for our players,” said Tennis Clash general manager Dotan Arad. “By being part of the Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas, we are committed to providing our players with the best content and experiences, offering them the chance to compete at Roland-Garros, a dream come true for any tennis fan worldwide.”
Making esports more accessible
The tournament will be held on May 26, with eight finalists. One slot is held for the 2023 Australian Open Tennis Clash winner William Foster, while four additional slots will be filled by the winners of two open qualifiers to be held on February 23-27, March 23-27, and the winner and runner-up of the third qualifier held on April 20-24.
The other three finalists will be selected through a series of closed qualifiers: The Twitch Community Clash and two closed qualifiers held in partnership with charities Women in Games and Handigames, which helps make gaming accessible to those with limited mobility. The winners of both the Women in Games and Handigames qualifiers will take part in a month-long remote training program facilitated by French esport organisation Team MCES ahead of the grand final, where all finalists will compete for a share of the five thousand euro prize pool at the Roland-Garros.
“We are absolutely delighted to be hosting another edition of Roland-Garros eSeries by BNP Paribas for the sixth successive year and can’t wait to see how the competition unfolds over the next few months” said Roland-Garros head of international development Aymeric Labaste. “Last year, we saw exponential growth as a result of our switch to a mobile esport tournament using Tennis Clash by Wildlife Studios, and the introduction of our new tournament format. Through our continued expansion, we’re hoping to further build on the success of previous years and cement our status as the biggest eTennis event in the world.”
We listed Wildlife Studios as one of the top 50 mobile game makers of 2022.
