The "National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI" and "Puyo Puyo eSports" main tournament will be streamed live on the Internet!

The main competition of the National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI and Puyo Puyo eSports section, a cultural program of the Iki Ibaraki Yume National Sports Festival 2019 74th National Sports Festival, to be held this weekend, October 5 (Sat.) and 6 (Sun.), 2019, will be streamed live on the Internet.

Sega Games' competitive action puzzle game "Puyo Puyo eSports" is a Japan eSports Pro License certified title. This will be the first time that e-sports will be featured as a national sporting event, and this game is one of the titles to be used for the event.

The "Puyo Puyo eSports" competition will be held at the Tsukuba International Congress Center (Ibaraki Prefecture) on October 5 (Sat) and 6 (Sun), and the "Preliminary League" (5th) and "Final" (6th) will be broadcast live on the Internet. The live broadcast will take place on YouTube Live, Periscope, and Twitch. Details are as follows.

Saturday, October 5
National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI
Puyopuyo eSports" Preliminary Round
YouTube Live: ##
Periscope: "Official Twitter of Puyopuyo" that will be broadcasted at the time of the event.
( #) during the broadcast time.
Twitch: #

October 6 (Sun.)
National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI
Puyopuyo eSports" Division Final
∙ YouTube Live: #
Periscope: "Puyopuyo Official Twitter" at the broadcast time.
( #) during the broadcast time.
Twitch : #

Event Summary
Event Name: Iki Ibaraki Yume National Sports Festival 2019 The 74th National Sports Festival Cultural Program
National Prefectural eSports Championship 2019 IBARAKI" and "Puyopuyo eSports" division
Organizer: Iki Iki Ibaraki Yume Kokutai, Iki Iki Ibaraki Yume Event Committee, Japan eSports Association
Cooperation: SEGA Games Inc.
Date and Time: October 5 (Sat.) and 6 (Sun.), 2019
Venue: Tsukuba International Congress Center Multipurpose Hall, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Software and rules: "Puyo Puyo eSports" for PlayStation4 and Puyo Puyo Dori

Contestants
(Elementary School Division)
Kappi-kun (Hokkaido Bloc) / Liu (Tohoku Bloc) / Shiki (Kinki Bloc) / Tomotsugu (Tokai Bloc) / Kanta (Hokushinetsu Bloc) / Triangle (Chugoku & Shikoku Bloc) / Koishi♪ (Kyushu & Okinawa Bloc) / Tomohiro (Kanto Bloc)
(Honorifics omitted, in the order of decision)

Contestants
(General Division)
Zairo (Ibaraki Special Advance) / Sera (Okayama) / Zettori (Hokkaido) / moolet (Ehime) / Mackie (Osaka) / Toripan (Gifu) / Luka (Kagawa) / Kagu (Miyagi) / Oronan (Tochigi) / Jun (Shiga) / Taichi (Okinawa) / Umi (Niigata) / Dedennemania (Kochi) / Fujimon (Ibaraki) / Hiyori (Iwate) / Nagare (Kagoshima) / Rain (Chiba) / Yanase (Nara) / Sidewinder (Miyazaki) / HIRO (Tokyo) / Tatsunoko (Fukushima) / Uda (Shimane) / Neimio (Yamanashi) / Ameneko (Nagasaki) / Uni (Shizuoka) / Shiero (Saga) / Exam S (Mie) / Sora (Yamagata) / Uma (Tottori) akusy（Aichi）／eagle（Akita）／Shiroma（Ishikawa）／Ichijo（Kyoto）／Titan（Fukui）／Oyoya（Hyogo）／Matsu（Kumamoto）／Muta（Aomori）／Yonnoji（Wakayama）／Mamoru（Gunma）／Hotaru（Toyama）／Kurupo（Tokushima）／Batashi（Oita）／Kingu（Yamaguchi）／Yanmaru（Nagano）／DIO (Hiroshima) / Oimo (Fukuoka) / live (Saitama) / Piponia (Kanagawa)
In order of precedence

Competition format
＜Elementary School Division
Preliminary Round
The 8 blocks will be divided into 2 blocks (East and West) by region, and league matches will be held for each block.
The player with the highest number of match wins within a block will be ranked first and will advance to the finals. In case of a tie, the player with the highest number of sets won will be ranked higher.
If the number of sets won is the same, the first-place match will be played to determine the winner of the first-place match within the block.
If there is no opponent, the match will be declared uncontested and the number of sets won will be set at 2.

Blocks will be divided as follows
East Bloc: Hokkaido Bloc/Tohoku Bloc/Hokushinetsu Bloc/Kanto Bloc
West Bloc: Tokai Bloc / Kinki Bloc / Chugoku & Shikoku Bloc / Kyushu & Okinawa Bloc

■Finals
The first-place finisher from each block in the preliminary league will advance to the finals. The winner of the final match will be the tournament champion.

＜General Division (12 years old and up)
Preliminary Round
The 48 representative players will be divided into 8 blocks of 6 players each, and league matches will be held for each block.
The top two players will advance to the final tournament. In case of a tie, the player with the most sets won will be ranked higher.
In the event of a tie for second place and the number of sets won is the same, a match to determine second place within the block will be played with two wins in one match and two sets to be won.
If there is no opponent, the match will be declared uncontested and the number of sets won will be set at 2.

■Final Tournament
The second place finisher from each block in the preliminary league will be eligible to participate in the final tournament. The tournament will be played in a single elimination format. The first-placed player in the final tournament will be the winner of this tournament.
*In case there is no opponent, the tournament will be uncontested.

About the overall winner
In the "National eSports Championships for All Prefectures," the scores of each prefecture in the three events "eFootball Winning Eleven 2020," "Gran Turismo SPORT," and "Puyopuyo eSports" will be added together and the prefecture with the highest total score will be crowned the overall winner. The prefecture with the highest total score will be declared the overall winner. The prefecture with the highest total points will be crowned the overall winner. The overall winner will be awarded the championship flag.

Competition Schedule
October 5 (Saturday)
9:00 Doors open and registration begins
11:30～12:00 Opening Ceremony (3 adopted titles together: Main Hall)
12:00 Doors open for "Puyopuyo eSports" section (Multipurpose Hall)
12:30-12:45 Opening of the tournament
12:45-13:15 ＜General Section＞ Block Qualifying Round 1 (2 games)
13:15-14:15 ＜Elementary School Children's Division＞ Block Qualifying (6 matches)
14:15-17:00 ＜General Division＞ Block Qualifying Round 2 (13 matches)

October 6 (Sun.)
8:00 Doors open and registration begins
9:00 Doors open for "Puyopuyo eSports" section (Multipurpose Hall)
9:15～9:30 Opening of the tournament
9:30～11:00 ＜General Section＞Final Tournament (First round～Quarterfinals)
11:15～12:15 ＜General Section＞Final Tournament (Semifinals~Finals)
12:15～12:45 ＜Elementary School Division＞Finals
15:00-15:30 Closing Ceremony (3 adopted titles together: Main Hall)

What is the Puyopuyo series?
The "Puyopuyo" series is a national falling object action puzzle game that has been loved for over a quarter of a century. 1991 saw the release of the first "Puyopuyo" for the MSX2 and Famicom Disk System, followed by the arcade and Mega Drive versions from Sega in 1992. Puyo Puyo was an explosive hit thanks to its simple and easy-to-understand game system, adorable characters, and the game's gameplay, which introduced a battle format for the first time in a falling object action puzzle game. In March 2018, the game became an official title of JeSU (Japan eSports Union), and professional gamers were born. The e-sports scene is also growing, with numerous competitions currently being held.

Product Information
Product name: Puyopuyo eSports
Compatibility: PlayStation 4 / Nintendo Switch
Release date: Package version: Now on sale (Thursday, June 27, 2019)
Download version : Available now (October 25, 2018)
Price ： Package version: 1,990 yen (excluding tax)
Download version: 1,851 yen (excluding tax)
Genre ： Action Puzzle
Player : 1 to 4 players
Publisher/Distributor : SEGA Games Inc.
CERO ： Category A (for all ages)

(C)SEGA