Nova Esports won the Clash of Clans World Championship, which was held as part of ESL One Hamburg. The existence of the tournament with a total prize of US $ 1 million was first announced in February 2019. At that time, many people were surprised because even though Clash of Clans was released in 2012, Supercell seemed not interested in developing esports from the game they made.
According to Marika Appel, Clash of Clans Community Manager, Supercell, the reason they held the Clash of Clans world tournament was because they wanted to develop the competitive scene that the community of players had built at the grassroots level. “We discuss and share information a lot,” Appel told The Esports Observer. “What we are doing is actually just developing what has been created by the community. We feel this is the right strategy, experimenting and developing what the community has created and taking it to the next level. “
In 2016, Clash of Clans got the “Friendly War” feature, allowing clans to compete with each other. This prompted fans to create their own league, which was joined by hundreds of teams. Last year, Supercell added the “Clan War Leagues” mode. With these features, all clans from all over the world can compete with each other. This feature also makes Clash of Clans players increasingly interested in becoming professional players. To hold the Clash of Clans World Championship, Supercell collaborates with ESL. In this regard, Appel said, Supercell’s collaboration with ESL was “coincidence”. Before working together to create a Clash of Clans World Championship, Supercell had a relationship with ESL in making a live stream video for the Clash of Clans update in June 2018. At that time, a chat between Supercell and ESL producers showed that both companies had an interest in raising esports mobile.
“We start discussing what will happen if we have an official Clash of Clans tournament and competition. And we feel compatible with each other, “said Appel. “We have the same dream and vision, which is to provide the best esports tournament experience for the players. Another reason that makes us fit is ESL’s interest in experimenting in developing the mobile esports industry in the future. Can we be part of it? “
The Clash of Clans World Championship was announced in February 2019. The pre-qualification round, which was held online, began on March 1, 2019. From this, four teams using Android and four teams played on iOS. The eight teams will then enter the offline qualifying round in Katowice, Poland. Six teams will qualify to compete in the World Championship Final. In addition to the six teams, two other teams will be directly selected by Supercell and the Clash of Clans community.
Appel admitted, the opening ceremony of the World Championship left a deep impression on him. He almost cried when he stood in the arena and saw Clash of Clans fans gathered to watch the World Championship. “I have been developing Clash of Clans almost since it was launched. I have been developing the community from day one – from the first fans to the number of fans reaching millions like now, “he said. Looking ahead, it looks like Supercell will develop the Clash of Clans esports by holding another tournament. Appel said his team had plans for the future of Clash of Clans esports, although he could not yet provide details of the plans he was making.
“We are still in the stage of developing a plan going forward, so I can’t say a concrete plan yet. But, we clearly want to defend the Clash of Clans World Championship, “Appel said. “Next year, we will organize this tournament better and focus more on local and regional tournaments – the path to the professional world. I think, this is something that can be our focus next year, but we are thinking about that. “Clash of Clans World Championship is not the only esports tournament held by Supercell. They will also hold the Brawl Stars World Championship to be held next month in South Korea and the Clash Royale League World Finals. In Indonesia, Supercell teamed up with LINE to hold Supercell Gamers’ Day and develop a community of gamers.
