Nearly 10 months after Blizzard unveiled World of Warcraft Classic, the game-maker will host its first esports event using the old-school feature.
The World of Warcraft Classic Summer Bowl, with 10-vs.-10 teams competing on Warsong Gulch, will feature separate $4,000 prize pools for North America and Europe.
The European qualifier is scheduled for June 20-21, with the six-team main event July 4. The North American qualifier will run June 27-28, with the six-team main event July 5.
Signups of players with a level-60 character are open through June 18 for Europe and through June 25 for North America.
In the qualifiers, 10-person teams will battle on live servers incorporating the War Game feature.
According to DotEsports.com, the only previous esports events on World of Warcraft Classic were the Classic Dueler's League run by Method streamer Tips Out, won in January by Cloud9's Kelvin "Snutz" Nguyen, and a Twitch Rivals tournament won in December by Team Payo.
This was announced after BlizzCon 2020 was forced to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic, Blizzard Entertainment announced.
The event was originally expected to be held in late October or early November at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, but the company acknowledged in early April that the event might not happen due to the pandemic.
"During this time, we've had many discussions about what holding a convention could look like in light of all the health and safety considerations we'd want to make," executive producer of BlizzCon Saralyn Smith said in a post on Blizzard's site. "We've also talked about different paths we could take, and how each one could be complicated by fluctuations in national and local health guidelines in the months ahead. Ultimately, after considering our options, we've come to the very difficult decision to not have BlizzCon this year.
"We're feeling deeply disappointed about this decision, and imagine many of you will feel the same. I truly love BlizzCon, and I know that's a sentiment shared by everyone at Blizzard. We will sorely miss connecting with so many of you at the convention and 'recharging our geek batteries' this fall.
"But we will meet again!"