In the 2023/24 season, the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) not only has trophies and prize money in store, but also places for the FC Pro World Championship and the eChampions League. How are these determined?
A strong performance in the German Individual Championship can pay off more than ever in 2023/24. The national leagues are gaining massive relevance in the eSports cosmos of EA SPORTS FC 24. 28 out of 32 places for the very first FC Pro World Championship in summer 2024 will be determined via VBL, ePremier League & Co.
The VBL will receive two of these 28 tickets to the individual World Championship in FC 24, which will be awarded at next year’s Grand Final. The two players who face each other there in the final pairing are guaranteed a place. “Anything other than awarding the places via the individual championship and making them available to the finalists would present us with major problems on many levels,” said Jörg Höflich, Head of Virtual Bundesliga, at the media briefing on Wednesday.
Höflich emphasized the quality of the domestic league: “In recent years, the VBL has always been one of the strongest leagues in the world, if not the strongest league in terms of sporting success.” This was also recently evident at the FC Pro Global Qualifier. Accordingly, the VBL “has always had a very high status, also in the context of our license partner EA”.
Höflich did not specify whether the DFL or other league associations had a say in the design and weighting of the new eSports cosmos in FC 24. “Basically, it is of course always our goal to give our clubs and players the best possible international presence,” said the Head of Virtual Bundesliga.
There is “always an interest – and this is also deposited with EA – as well as wishes that the VBL retains its high status of the past”. Höflich is happy “that this has worked out and will continue”. In addition to the two places for the individual World Championship, the four semi-finalists of the VBL Grand Final qualify directly for the eChampions League.
Six instead of four places – and this time directly
In the 2022/23 season, the VBL still held four tickets for international tournaments – but not directly for the finals. German singles champion Antonio ‘AntonioRadelja’ Radelja and Berkay ‘BerkayLion’ Demirci qualified for the FIFA Global Series (FGS) play-offs as finalists of the VBL Grand Final. The semi-finalists Jonas ‘Jonny’ Wirth and Niklas ‘NiklasRank’ Rank were allowed to take part in the previous play-ins
