The online event featured 32 of the world’s best PUBG esports teams from the EU and NA regions battle it out for the coveted top spots, after fighting their way through a whopping 512 participating teams in earlier public tournaments.

Three lesser-known European esports teams – Airstation Mike, Avangar and Team Kinguin – beat out household names like Team Liquid in the EU Closed Qualifiers to earn their spot at IEM Katowice, while the North American Closed Qualifiers were headlined by popular pro gaming organizations Cloud9, OpTic Gaming, and Noble Esports.

A final challenger from the smaller South America Closed Qualifier, Kaos Latin Gamers, rounds out the pack, but the fight for top standings is far from over.

These seven regional teams will join the world’s best PUBG squads who received a direct invite to IEM Katowice, by-passing the Closed Qualifiers completely. Their invitations were based on their performance in past PUBG Invitationals.

FaZe Clan, Ghost Gaming, Method, TeamSolo Mid, Tempo Storm and Team Vitality are no push-overs in the last man standing department, with Vitality previously winning the PUBG Invitational under the Against All Authority brand.

All up, we now know 13 of the teams to play at the PUBG Invitational in Katowice, with the remaining three contenders to be announced at a later date.

The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Invitational at IEM Katowice starts February 24 and is the third of its kind, following the success of the Gamescom PUBG Invitational LAN Tournament and IEM Oakland PUBG Invitational late last year.

Both events hosted 80 popular professional players and live-streamers and featured much larger prize-pools – US $350,000 and $200,000, respectively – but suffered heavy criticism for netcode issues and sloppy camerawork.

While PUBG’s larger-than-average player count makes even spectating more complicated than the average esport, we hope Katowice’s production team can find a way to properly improve the viewer experience.

Katowice also marks the first PUBG Invitational of the year officially supported by Bluehole Interactive, the publisher of the game. Smaller tournament organizers, such as G:loot and OnGameNet, are hosting their own PUBG tournaments without official sanctioning, but have already shown off incredible production values. So long as Katowice can match their efforts, we’ll continue to support ESL’s slow and steady support for the burgeoning PUBG competitive scene.

How to watch the PUBG Invitational Katowice

Find the best live-streaming sites to watch PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds esports events like the PUBG Invitational at IEM Katowice in our guide. All options can stream PUBG esports in high-definition on computer and mobile, for free.

Reading us from South Korea? If you want to bet on other esports while we wait for PUBG betting markets to become more regular, your top recommended option is GG Bet – follow our links and you can claim exclusive bonuses to put towards your esports betting experience.

With the new partnership, GLL will fly the best PUBG teams from Europe and North America to PGL’s studios in Bucharest, Romania, where they will decide who takes home the biggest slice of the $50,000 prize-pool in-person.

The PUBG Global Loot League finals are currently scheduled for April 20 – 22 and will be played in a LAN setting, as PGL’s venue does not have sufficient space for a live audience.

However, competitors will be well taken care of, with fully-equipped game stations that can accommodate up to 100 players simultaneously in a soundproof environment.

PGL says top-notch production equipment will be used to broadcast the event to greatly improve the spectator experience for viewers tuning in via live-streaming sites.

“The growth rate and interest in PUBG is unrivalled. We are extremely enthusiastic to partake in this development, pushing the boundaries within the esports world. The collaboration with GLL aligns perfectly with our mission, bringing viewers cutting-edge productions of their favourite esports worldwide,” said PGL CEO Silviu Stroie in a statement.

The most common complaint of past PUBG esports tournaments organized by third-party groups like Electronic Sports League and Intel Extreme Masters is poor camera-work, but with over 80 players to watch in the average PUBG match, it is a problem unique to the game and PGL will have to get creative if they want to avoid the same criticism.

While GLL are very eager to lay the groundwork for their first attempt at a PUBG tournament, the competition hasn’t officially started yet – qualifiers for the full season kick off on February 2.

The PUBG GLL’s first season was first announced at the start of this month and will be split into two regional divisions, EU and NA. Matches are planned to take place and be live-streamed every Wednesday from GLL’s own studio in Sweden.

“We are thrilled to announce this partnership. PGL has an exceptional track record in esports, and the resources needed to make this a truly amazing event. With the already existing GLL production, and the additional LAN expertise from PGL, we can offer the PUBG community something unparalleled in the Western world,” said GLL VP Simon Sundén.

What about an official PUBG esports league?

With G:loot’s first foray into PUBG tournaments and South Korea’s OnGameNet experimenting with the PUBG Survival Series, it’s a promising start to the year for PUBG fans desperately waiting for an official esports league to be announced.

PUBG Corporation and the creator of the game, Brendan Greene, have expressed their desire for a full-scale esports launch, but with the game barely out of Early Access and plenty of teething issues evident in the camera-work and netcode of prototype events, it makes sense why they’re leaving it up to third-party organizers to lay the groundwork first.

Perhaps the closest competition to push the developers over the edge would be the PUBG Invitational at Intel Extreme Masters Katowice, which starts February 24 and has the highest PUBG tournament prize-pool to-date of $200,000.

If you are a dedicated PUBG player from Europe or North America who wants to enter the PUBG GLL event as a competitor, register your details over at the official GLL website.

The OnGameNet (OGN) PUBG Survival Series Beta kicked off this past weekend and streamed live on Twitch, to give fans around the world a glimpse at what a state-of-the-art ‘Battle Royale’ esports venue looks like.

The opening PSS squad match comfortably fit 20 teams of four (80 players) on-stage in front of a live audience of hundreds, all playing in the same game seamlessly.

The stage was complete with 80 PC stations and the stream featured plenty of flashing lights, epic music and some consistently good camera-work for a game that’s notoriously hard to follow.

The PUBG Survival Series Beta format includes both solo and squad modes, meaning there are two separate leagues to accommodate talented PUBG team players and solo superstars.

The PSS squad league features 20 teams from the top five from OGN’s qualifying groups, while 15 lower-qualifying teams will to compete in the PSSC, another OGN event running concurrently.

After four days of competition, the top 14 teams in the PSS will go to finals.

The PSS solo league features 140 players, divided into two groups of 70. Only 80 of these players will proceed through to the decider match, and only 56 will move on from there to the solo final.

Competitors in both leagues will need to gather the most points by gaining kills and getting the best finishing rank if they want a shot at the crown, the prize-money and the glory.

Consistent performance is crucial, too, as the five lowest-ranking teams after each PSS match will get relegated to PSSC, while the five top-ranking teams from the PSSC will cross over to PSS.

PUBG Survival Series is offering a share of 200 million South Korean Won, with 10,000 won extra for every individual kill.

Although there are around six foreign PUBG esports teams from Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia, the majority of participants are South Korean.

OGN is one of the most popular esports television channels in the region, and they originally announced their intent to build a venue for PUBG esports last year, doubling down on its seriousness to get top-tier PUBG talent live and on-stage.

Normally it would be a daunting task, given the unique nature of PUBG – the average match can field over 100 players and esports venues would need to accommodate not just spectators, but the massive number of players and the hundred-odd PC gaming stations they would need to properly participate.

But for the guys who brought us the recently cancelled Overwatch APEX League, high production values are a must, and the organizers have somehow pulled off the impossible and built a breath-taking venue truly fit for world-class PUBG pro gaming events.

You can watch the event streamed live for the next three days in the Twitch stream embedded below, and place bets on round winners and the top 3 finishers of the PSS and PSSC at one of our highest-reviewed esports betting sites, Pinnacle.com.