Hello Lumia Island survivors,

We want to express our sincere gratitude for the overwhelming interest and support shown during the Esports events held throughout Season 7—especially the Masters Season 7 Finals!
We're so grateful to those of you who traveled from afar to attend in person, as well as everyone who watched and cheered us on from home.

Big congratulations once again to Team FN SEJONG for yet another incredible finish and taking home their third trophy!

With Season 7 officially wrapped, Eternal Return Esports now heads into Season 8: Splash!. Let’s dive into what’s new and what’s changed for this season’s competitive scene.

§ Eternal Return Season 8 Masters Schedule

Masters will continue using the Knockout Stage format since it allows more teams to compete on stage. However, due to the extended Season 7 schedule, the Phase 1 matches have been moved much earlier in the season. As a result, the qualifiers will take place just a week after the season opens. 

As we’ll add later, the Masters Season 8 Finals will take place alongside the KEL’s final tournament, the Korean National Championship. The three-day event will have Masters matches at the beginning and end. Because of this structure, there is one day without matches in the middle. We hope you’ll look forward to seeing how the teams that make it through the semifinals adapt and change during that break.

§ Masters Cup: A regional tournament for Asian players outside Korea

As Eternal Return Esports continues to grow with each season, we’re truly grateful for the passionate support we’ve received from around the world and we remain committed to expanding into more regions, creating more opportunities for players and fans everywhere to participate.

At the moment, Masters is only held in Asia 1 so we understand that it hasn’t been easy for players to compete on a server they don’t usually play on. That said, not every region currently has enough teams to directly compete in the Masters. 

As a first step towards building a bridge between regions and to help develop each region’s Esports ecosystem, we are introducing a lower-tier tournament that feeds into the Masters.

The Masters Cup is a small-scale Esports event held in Asian regions outside of Korea. Since it carries the Masters name, a limited number of Circuit Points will be awarded to top teams. While these points are much lower than those awarded in the main Masters tournament, they are intended to provide motivation for teams aiming to qualify for Phase 2.

If the Masters Cup goes well, we hope it can become the foundation for selecting representative teams from each region for international tournaments and a closer step to building a more globalized Eternal Return Esports scene. We hope to see you there! 

§ Changes to Circuit Points and Checkpoint scoring

We’re adjusting Circuit Point distribution to make it easier for more teams to aim for first place. In the Checkpoint system, the more teams go for the win rather than just farming points, the more exciting the matches become. To encourage this, we are increasing the gap between first and second place Circuit Points to build up the incentive to win.

Additionally, we’re lowering the Checkpoint threshold from 70 points to 65 points. Due to the changes to kill points that were applied mid-season, the total kill score per match has shifted significantly. As a result, we are adjusting the Checkpoint threshold so that teams can reach it slightly earlier.

As always, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the fans who continue to support Eternal Return Esports. 

We’ll see you soon in our upcoming events!

Sincerely, 

Eternal Return Esports Team