This is the full text of Next Generation Esports's 3/29/2017 press release.

On March 29, 2017, NGE (Next Generation Esports) and Cygames announced the first season of the NGE Shadowverse Open. Players can now register to compete in Season 1 of the NGE Shadowverse Open, a three-month series of qualifier tournaments leading up to an online invitational finals round where players will compete for a $10,000 prize pool.


With over 8 million downloads since its initial launch last summer, Shadowverse has experienced massive success. Now, in partnership with Cygames, NGE will direct and produce the first official Shadowverse league for North America. The NGE Shadowverse Open will be broadcast live to Twitch.tv from the NGE Studios in Burbank, California, with videos on-demand being made available on Youtube.


Yuito Kimura, Shadowverse Producer and Executive Director at Cygames said, “Following the wild success of Shadowverse’s esports activities in Japan, we felt it was time to bring the excitement to North America. With NGE’s rich esports pedigree we believe they will be the ideal partner to champion our North America rollout.”


Andy Vander Woude, co-founder and CEO of NGE said, “Shadowverse is a fresh take on digital CCG that is accessible to nearly any gamer, whether they play on PC or mobile. We’re very excited to introduce Shadowverse to the west and give it the esports treatment it deserves.”


The NGE Shadowverse Open will begin on April 4th, and will be broadcast on Twitch. For additional broadcast and signup information visit the NGE Shadowverse Open website.