Garena Unveils Exciting 2021 eSports Roadmap for Free Fire in India

Highlights:

• Fans and players alike can look forward to a steady pipeline of high-calibre esports events throughout next year
• Every tournament will have an open qualifiers stage to give all aspiring players and teams the platform to test their skills
• More than INR 2 crore in prize money will be allotted across 4 major tournaments
• More smaller-scale community-focused tournaments are in the pipeline – stay tuned

Garena has unveiled an exciting line-up of Free Fire tournaments for the Indian server in 2021. Building on a successful year of esports in 2020, Free Fire will host 4 blockbuster tournaments across two pro circuits next year with a total prize pool of more than INR 2 crore.

With a cadence of one major tournament per quarter, Garena will ensure that the Free Fire fans and players alike can look forward to a steady pipeline of esports events in India throughout the year. The tournaments will be open to all aspiring teams and players, regardless of level and background, and will give anyone the opportunity to compete against the best on the national stage. These will eventually ladder up to Free Fire’s international tournaments, which are some of the most-anticipated and most-watched mobile esports events globally.

In addition, Garena also announced that other smaller scale community-focused tournaments are also in the pipeline and will be revealed next year.

Free Fire India Pro Esports Circuit

Garena’s 2021 esports roadmap will comprise 2 Pro seasons, each of which will consist of 2 major tournaments – a Free Fire Pro League tournament followed by a Free Fire India Championship (FFIC) finale. Each Pro season will have a prize pool of more than INR 1 crore.

Garena’s 4 blockbuster Free Fire tournaments in India for 2021 will be (in chronological order):

1. Free Fire India Championship 2021 Spring
2. Free Fire Pro League 2021 Summer
3. Free Fire India Championship 2021 Fall
4. Free Fire Pro League 2021 Winter

The 2021 Pro Esports Circuit will only begin after the FFIC 2021 Spring as the tournament will not have a preceding Pro League tournament. As such, the FFIC 2021 Spring will be the last stand-alone tournament (more on the FFIC 2021 Spring later).

Free Fire Pro League

The Free Fire Pro League tournaments will signal the start of each competitive season and will be the first opportunity for teams to qualify for the FFIC.

Each Pro League tournament will consist of 18 teams – the 12 finalists from the previous season’s FFIC and the top 6 teams from the open qualifiers. Each Pro League tournament will see teams compete for a prize pool of INR 35 lakhs and entry into the next FFIC as one of the top seeds. The top 6 teams will book their spots directly in the next FFIC, while the teams who place 7th to 12th will earn the right to skip the open qualifiers stage of the next FFIC by advancing directly to the closed qualifiers.

Free Fire India Championship

Each FFIC will function as the national qualifiers for Free Fire’s international tournaments. It will bring together the best teams from across India to compete for a prize pool of INR 75 lakhs, the title of being the best team in India, and the coveted opportunity to represent their nation on the global stage.

Teams can qualify for the FFIC league stage in 2 ways:

• Achieve top 6 in the previous season’s Free Fire Pro League tournament
• Advance to and achieve top 12 in the closed qualifiers stage of the FFIC

All aspiring esports teams and players will be eligible to participate in the open qualifiers through the in-game mode, Free Fire Cup. The top teams from the Free Fire Cup will proceed to the closed qualifiers, where they will meet the 7th to 12th place teams in the Free Fire Pro League. These teams will compete for the remaining 12 slots in the FFIC league stage.

The 18 teams in the FFIC league stage will then compete in a series of matches over the course of the league. The top 6 teams will proceed directly to the grand finals, while the remaining 12 teams will compete in the play-ins for the remaining 6 slots.

Free Fire India Championship 2021 Spring

In the absence of a Pro League tournament before the FFIC 2021 Spring, the top 6 finalists from FFIC 2020 Fall will be directly seeded into the FFIC 2021 Spring league stage. The remaining 6 finalists from the FFIC 2020 Fall will proceed to the closed qualifiers, where they will compete for the remaining 12 slots of the league stage, with teams that make it through the open qualifiers. The top 12 teams from the league stage will make it to the grand finals of the FFIC 2021 Spring.