Illuvium launches $20,000 Immutable masters tournament to kick off esports push

Illuvium and Immutable have announced the Immutable Masters IPL 1000, the largest event outside of its World Event for the Illuvium Pro League (IPL).

The tournament will hold open qualifiers on October 3rd, culminating in the Main Event on October 4th, and it will feature a $20,000 (£15,000) prize pool.

This IPL 1000 tournament is created as the centrepiece of a broader seasonal commitment of $250,000 (£187,500) in total prizes and is supported by a significant $14m (~£10.5m) fund earmarked for future competitive gaming initiatives.

The contest (IPL 1000) is structured as one of three tiers in the new Illuvium Pro League, alongside the IPL 250 and IPL 500. It is designed to accommodate competitors at different skill levels. 

Players will compete within the Illuvium Arena, the company’s autobattler game, where players draft teams of creatures called “Illuvials”, with gameplay emphasising strategic positioning and counter-play. 

The game is explicitly designed for both spectators and competitors, aiming to set a new standard for competitive Web3 esports.

The partnership with Immutable extends beyond branding, as the studio would also provide the blockchain infrastructure and marketing reach to give Illuvium Arena visibility in a crowded gaming market.

For Illuvium CEO Kieran Warwick, the $20,000 (£15,000) prize is less a story and more of a show of its proof of concept. 

“This is the first step in showing that Web3 games can sit alongside the world’s biggest esports,” he stated in the press release.

The league’s structure and funding are designed to scale quickly, while its format is tuned to keep spectators engaged.

Rather than a one-off tournament, the IPL 1000 marks a long-term push to bring blockchain-powered games into the esports mainstream. This aligns with broader industry efforts, including Immutable’s expansion into mobile gaming, to reach audiences beyond the traditional Web3 core.