Fortress Heidelberg in Germany hosted the Wololo 2022 legacy event that celebrated 25 years of legendary title Age of Empires, and the Crimson Bull occasion was a well timed reminder that the Age of Empires video video games retain a loyalty that’s distinctive amongst online game fandoms.
Some Matches Had been Straight Out Of A Dream
The 25-year legacy occasion noticed a peak viewership round 80,000, and even supplied some nice matchups. The quarterfinals particularly garnered a variety of curiosity, with Ørjan “TheViper” Larsen and Kai “Liereyy” Kallinger battling it out. The 2 gamers are a few of the best servants of the sport, and broadly thought of the very best to have ever performed it.
Liereyy got here out on prime within the match, however didn’t win the grand finals, shedding out to TaToH in the long run. Different stars of the sport additionally turned up. MarineLorD bought the higher of TheMista in one of many different stand out matches within the event.
Picture Credit score | Crimson Bull
There was a complete prize pool of $550,000, divided among the many 40 professional gamers collaborating within the occasion. Out of that, $200,000 and $300,000 have been break up between Age of Empires II and Age of Empires IV, which is the most recent title within the franchise. The unique title had a $50,000 prize pool.
Gamers Couldn’t Disguise Their Feelings
Other than all of the rewards on supply, there was one other priceless high quality to the occasions. “It feels unbelievable. I’ve gained some on-line occasions, however [this] feels totally different. I’m so completely happy,” expressed French Starcraft II star Alexis “MarineLorD” Eusebio. This sentiment was echoed by Ørjan “TheViper” Larsen on his Twitter account. “This neighborhood is particular, and these LAN occasions reinforce my view each time,” the Viper tweeted. This simply goes to indicate that particular person achievements appear insignificant when occasions like this take heart stage.
“I’ve performed in AOE tournaments for nearly 13 years, and that is essentially the most particular one I’ve ever taken half in. The occasion is de facto actually cool and I’m so completely happy that I’ve been capable of be part of it,” Age of Empires I champion Chim Sẻ Đi Nắng revealed.
There was an actual heat to the occasion, which was crystallized by YouTuber Tristan “T90” Berry’s proposal to his accomplice, who stated sure. There have been different causes for celebration throughout the 10-day occasion moreover the dewy-eyed nostalgia that permeated the event. The Age of Empires II occasion clocked in 1,350,352 hours watched; Age of Empires IV clocked in 698,027 hours watched; and the unique title clocked in 496,757 hours watched.
Different Video games May A Study A Factor Or Two
To place that into perspective; Rainbow Six, FIFA 23, PUBG, Avenue Fighter V, and Rocket League occasions that have been being held on the similar time didn’t clock as many hours watched – these are fashionable titles with a lot of youthful esports fanatics. League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike nonetheless managed to have extra views. Nevertheless, this occasion was clear proof of how lengthy the enchantment of the Age of Empires franchise has endured.
There’ll come a time when a few of the video games which were talked about right here will get to 25 years, and if they’re in search of an instance to observe, they solely want to have a look at the scenes from Fortress Heidelberg within the final week or so.
This occasion was not anticipated to garner so many views, nor ought to it have, however it’s not onerous to see why it was successful. Age of Empires hearkens again to a time when video video games have been tailor-made in the direction of just one factor: ensuring the participant had fun. With that easy motif, the franchise has constructed a neighborhood that also comes again and – particularly within the case of gamers like T90 – holds the house in particular regard.
One other Age of Empires II event known as Warlords is ready to happen on November 10. MembTV shall be internet hosting it, and it’s a $30,000 S-Tier occasion. The empire has no plans of slowing down – it’s only getting greater.
