Pokken Is Getting Its Own Championship Series, Starting With EVO And US Pokemon Finals

The Pokemon Company has revealed they are launching the Pokken Tournament Championship Series.

Much like the Capcom Cup, thePokken Tournament Championship Series will be a series of events where gamers can compete in Pokken for prizes. Winning the tournaments can also net them invitations and travel awards to the thePokken Tournament World Championships, which will be held in August in San Francisco, California.

So far, there are two confirmed events in the series; EVO, and the Pokemon US National Championships. The Pokemon US National Championships will actually be held first, at July 1 to 3 in the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Pokken will be joining the Pokemon video game and Pokemon trading card game tournaments as highlights of the event.

EVO will be held at July 15 to 17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Pokken is part of this year’s lineup, but will not be featured at Sunday finals. You can learn more details here.

Nintendo itself expressed interest in dabbling in eSports last year, starting a Splatoon eSports tournament in Japan and having Disney XD host a Mario Kart 8 Clash of the Karts TV special.

For Pokken to be viable as an eSport, however, Bandai Namco, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company ned to make sure those prizes include cash prizes. Specifically, they need to promise pots as enticing as Capcom Cup’s prizes to make it worthwhile for competitive players to commit.

Are you looking forward to Pokken? Do you think the Pokken Tournament Championship Series has potential? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.