Microsoft Offers $1 Million Prize Pool at Halo World Championship

Microsoft is offering big bucks to attract professional gamers to its Halo game franchise. At the ongoing Gamescom conference, the Xbox-maker on Monday announced an e-sports competition with $1 million in prizes.

The $1 million prize pool is a huge bump over the company's offering of $150,000 at ESL America studios in Burbank, California last month, though significantly less than Valve's $18 million commitment to Dota 2 title at The International. To be clear however, out of the $18 million, $16.4 million were contributed by in-game cosmetic upgrade purchases by players.

"The Halo series has always been synonymous with console e-sports and online competition," wrote Microsoft. "With Halo 5: Guardians we are fully embracing that legacy with the announcement of the inaugural Halo World Championship, which launches later this year, featuring over $1 million dollars in prizing. The Halo World Championship will focus on Halo 5: Guardians' hypercompetitive Arena multiplayer experience."

The company also showcased its new multiplayer map Coliseum which is "a symmetrical, two-base map that includes a unique mix of elevation and sight lines, and it's purposely built for a wide variety of fast-paced multiplayer modes."

Over the years, e-sports have shaped up to become a large and important industry. Gamers from around the world are participating and playing against each other. These competitions are also a big motivator for professional gamers who earn their living playing games.

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The upcoming installment to the Halo series, called Halo 5: Guardians, is Microsoft's biggest bet to stand against the likes of hugely successful franchises like Call of Duty. Halo is already one of the biggest franchises with e-sports championships. Microsoft will be hoping to attract hundreds of thousands more people to the franchise with the new competition. The title releases on October 27. The championship will begin later this year.