PUBG Corp. has announced that the first official esports tournament for PUBG has been scheduled for July 25-29. The tournament, PUBG Global Invitational 2018, will take place in Berlin, Germany and invite teams from all across the globe. Teams will first have to register and compete in groups of four in the regional tournaments to be held in North America, Europe, and Asia to qualify for the $2 million prize that is awaiting the winning team.

PUBG Corp. is clearly making a strong push to try and put PUBG back in the spotlight. With qualifiers from 10 major regions, $2 million on the line, and tournaments for third-person squads and first-person squads, PUBG Corp. is dishing out a lot of cash in the hopes this gamble pays off. At the very least, the prize pool – which is large for a first tournament – will attract plenty of fans hoping to earn a piece of the pie. However, plenty of gamers are questioning the move considering PUBG’s less than stellar track record.

Currently, Fortnite is the king of Battle Royales. Aesthetics aside, there are good reasons for this. Cheaters currently run rampant across PUBG, and the game now boasts a higher ban rate than Steam does across their entire platform. While this won’t much affect the professional scene, it will hurt the audience. It will be similarly devastating if any of the myriad of glitches the game has experienced are showcased live during an international esports event.

More than that, PUBG has experienced a decline in users since Fortnite hit the scene. When H1Z1 tried to review a flagging fanbase last year with their 2017 Invitational at TwitchCon, it didn’t exactly go well. That isn’t to say fans didn’t watch or players didn’t compete in to participate – even DrDisRespect put in an appearance – but it didn’t work. H1Z1 has seen its numbers plummet to the tune of 91 percent of what they once were. Clearly, a last ditch esports event didn’t make the difference in the face of crushing competition from PUBG and Fortnite. At last check, PUBG’s numbers had slipped by more than 10% in the past few months. PUBG Corp. might be trying to fix the bleeding earlier than H1Z1 did, but unless they make drastic changes to the game, it’s unlikely this will save them from the towering height of Fortnite’s popularity.