ArenaNet developer and publisher of Guild Wars 2 will be teaming up with ESL, the largest eSports company. The ESL Guild Wars 2 Pro League will be a new tournament series with $400,000 (£259,627) in cash prizes.

The money will be split over two seasons and will be the largest competitive play ever for the franchise and one of the biggest cash prizes offered by ESL. To allow for the widest group of players, the tournament will be lowering the age and region restrictions for entering.

With the recent record numbers in players participating in PvP in Guild Wars 2, the new ESL league is part of the growth and trend since Arena Net’s announcement of Heart of Thorns, the first expansion pack for the game which is coming October 23rd. Guild Wars 2’s core game also went free-to-play in August allowing more gamers to access the game, further building the number of players in the community.

Once teams are in the ESL league, the prize pool will be up for grabs over two seven week seasons. The first season kicks on in November and acts as the qualifier, seeing who will be the four teams remaining teams to compete for the money. All teams who make it to the finals will are guaranteed winnings from the $200,000(£129,722) prize pool for that season.