Hello Lumia Island survivors!

Season 2: Battle Maids has drawn to a close, and without skipping a beat, Season 3: Change has arrived. Esports has wrapped up all the matches from the Season 2 Finals and is gearing up for the exciting tournaments of Season 3.

The Season 2 tournaments saw remarkable success, thanks to the overwhelming interest from many, culminating in the largest audience ever witnessed at the Season 2 Finals. It heated up the scene so much that one could easily forget about the cold winter!

However, as with any season, there are always areas that could be improved. We've received invaluable feedback on how to enhance the tournament experience, and we've taken considerable steps to make Season 3 even more immersive.

Let's take a look at how Season 3 will play out.

‘WD SUPER CUP’ - A Short-term Tournament Replacing Exhibition Matches

Prior to the announcement of Season 3 esports schedule, there was one tournament that was announced ahead,  the 'WD SUPER CUP'. Sponsored by Western Digital with a total prize pool of 10 million won, this tournament will be replacing the exhibition matches that were typically held at the beginning of the season. 

There will be no qualifiers and players will be able to go straight to the main event after the rating cut, but depending on where they finish in the group stage, they could either go straight to the finals or have to play 24 rounds over an additional three days.

The WD SUPER CUP features a format that encourages diverse team participation compared to Masters, making it challenging to predict the finalists. Looking ahead, we aim to introduce various tournament structures in events outside of Masters, offering players different ways to enjoy Eternal Return.

Season 3 Esports Circuit Schedule

As announced at the Season 2 Finals, the Season 3 Finals will take place at the PLAYX4 venue, the largest gaming show in the Seoul metropolitan area, held at KINTEX in Ilsan. This marks the first time the Eternal Return Season Finals will be held in the metropolitan area, and we anticipate a vibrant on-site audience. Thus, meticulous preparation is essential. 

Below is the schedule for the Eternal Return Masters and Season 3 Finals.

Due to being part of a larger event, the finals will be held on Friday and Saturday instead of the usual Saturday and Sunday. This adjustment stems from feedback received, noting the advantages of holding the finals on Saturday, as it allows participants to witness the crowning of the winner directly and return home without constraints of the next day's schedule, fostering a more relaxed viewing experience.

Season 3 Seeding Team List

Teams that advance to the Season 2 Finals will be seeded into the Season 3 competitions based on their ranking. Seeding allows teams to enter the Masters Phases 1, 2, and 3 directly without qualifying. If a team has at least two players who have participated in at least one match in Season 2 tournaments, they will be eligible for seeding, and seeding will be awarded sequentially based on final rankings. 

Below are the teams that have secured seeding for Season 3.

The top 8 teams will advance directly to the main event of Eternal Return Masters Season 3 without qualifiers. The final roster submission date for seeded teams will be confirmed after the ongoing Western Digital SUPER CUP concludes.

Prize Distribution Method in Checkpoint Rules Changes

There has been a lot of feedback regarding areas where motivation for scoring decreases after surpassing checkpoint scores in the checkpoint rules. There have been thoughts that it is better to give more significance to the scores themselves. Therefore, we aim to adjust the prize distribution method to ensure that both winning and scoring become equally important. From now on, in competitions conducted under checkpoint rules, prizes will be provided separately based on the final ranking and the championship. As an example, in the finals of this WD SUPER CUP conducted under checkpoint rules, prizes will be distributed as follows:

If a team secures victory after surpassing the checkpoint score and ranks 4th in total score at the end of that round, the actual prize received by the winning team would be 2,100,000 KRW (1,500,000 KRW plus 600,000 KRW). The team ranking 2nd, despite achieving the highest score, will receive the 1st place prize for scoring, which is 1,500,000 KRW.

Through the revised prize distribution method, we anticipate that teams with high score rankings that secure victory will receive definite rewards. Additionally, we expect that the gap in prize money between the winning team and those with high score rankings who didn't secure victory will decrease compared to before. We look forward to seeing how these changes impact the competition.

MVP to Spotlight Individual Players

MVP awards have always been a popular way to highlight players who have done well. However, the selection process often leads to differing opinions and controversy. Nevertheless, I think we can all agree that an MVP is the best way to highlight the individual players in a tournament, and in fact, the ERL has a history of having a round-by-round MVP in the past when it was a league.

Long-term, we are looking to establish a statistical model to calculate player ratings. Player ratings quantify how active a player has been within a game using various factors, aiming to assess their contributions to the game by utilizing a variety of variables. However, this task is expected to take a considerable amount of time, and given that it's not a genre where games are played team versus team, the results could vary significantly depending on how the criteria are defined. So we plan to take a considerable amount of time to conduct this work.

We expect to have more details on how MVP will work in Phase 1 of the Masters, and because of the very different nature of the competition, the MVP for the Masters may be different than the MVP for the Season Finals.

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What's next for Eternal Returns Esports?

Through the Season 1 Finals and Season 2 Finals held in Daejeon, we once again felt the tremendous interest in Eternal Return esports. Thanks to the support of fans after Official Launch, we received numerous suggestions for hosting Season Finals. So we've confirmed venues not only for the Season 3 Finals in Gyeonggi Province but also for the Season 4 Finals and Season 5 Finals, alongside Daejeon City. We'll promptly announce the dates and locations of these Season Finals at the preceding events.

The Season 4 Finals will coincide with the 'Zero O'clock Festival' in Daejeon City from August 9th (Friday) to 10th (Saturday) for two days. Also, stay tuned for the Season 5 Finals from December 6th to 8th, to close out 2024 in a festive way!

Sustainability has always been at the forefront of our minds at Eternal Return esports. We believe that it is our duty to ensure that our fans continue to watch and support us, and that our players continue to pursue their dreams. With many efforts underway to sustain Eternal Return esports, we hope you'll continue to support us as we work to make the game you love even better. 

We'll strive to deliver exciting matches for you in Season 3.

As always, thanks for sticking with us!

Eternal Return