Just yesterday we wrote up a story about how The Sims was entering the realm of competitive video gaming in a less than conventional way. While plenty of games have developed a thriving esports scene with tournaments, sponsorships and even arenas dedicated to broadcasting and raising the hype for fans, The Sims went the way of a reality TV show by the name of The Sims Spark’d.
It looks ridiculous and will probably be more than a little awful but it’s catering to a market that wants to see their game become more mainstream and accessible in a competitive environment. Yet it’s not only The Sims that’s seen a market in prime time television as Tetris has now decided to jump into the ring with its own game show.
Tetris Primetime, as it’s rather unoriginally named, is some strange hybrid of an esports competition and a trivia game show. The show will see folks compete daily to win their share of $5000. It’ll air every day of the week and will be available in 16 countries, including South Africa. The video component will be hosted by New Zealand actor Millen Baird and features a prize pool of $1 million in prizes. It’ll also feature previews of the night’s competition and highlight reels of the day’s best plays. “It isn’t just a game and a competition, but also the TV channel that covers the competition,” says Ethan Levy, executive producer of Tetris Primetime when describing the Tetris app and it’s linked to the show.
The Tetris app will also receive a content update that will bring a battle royale mode to the game which, much like the Nintendo Switch exclusive Tetris 99, will feature 100 players competing to be the last person standing…in Tetris.
If anything it’s actually really nice that Tetris Primetime will be available for South African players. It’s so often that big initiatives in the gaming and media industry overlook our country that actually being included is a refreshing change of pace.
(Source: The Verge)