World of Warcraft esports is divided into two types: the PvP Arena Championship series and the "MDI" or Mythic Dungeon International. Blizzard has posted an overview of 2019's upcoming seasonal championship tournaments along with the news that it's taken a page from other successful esports tournaments. Starting this spring, World of Warcraft players will be able to purchase in-game toys to help crowdfund the prize pools for both tournament seasons.
As both Arena and MDI grow, we want to give fans a chance to further support the programs—and have some fun along the way! Soon we will introduce two new in-game toys to our shop (details to follow). A portion of the sale of these toys will contribute to the prize pools for both WoW esports programs.
These toys will go on sale in the spring. As the proceeds will contribute to the year’s final LAN event prize pools for AWC and MDI, those prize pools will be announced later this year.
The idea of crowdfunding esports prize pool is not a new one in gaming overall, with both DOTA 2 and SMITE doing very well selling in-game items to raise money for esports financial rewards.
You can read the full details on the World of Warcraft site.
