World of Tanks North American league launched, NASL future unknown

Wargaming.net, the developers behind multiplayer titles World of Tanks, World of Warships, and World of Warplanes, has launched a North American eSports league for World of Tanks.

The World of Tanks North American League will hold three seasons throughout 2013, with a final tournament culminating in $100,000 in prizes. League play will consist of standard 7-on-7 matches, with registration opening later today.

"As with all of our servers across the globe, we want to increase the quality of our competitive environment around World of Tanks," Wargaming said. "Creating a single space, with great prizing and a high production level allows us to simultaneously encourage competition and create unique content for our community."

Hero Level Productions, the production company behind the North American StarLeague, has been tapped to produce the World of Tanks league.

"I am excited about the opportunity for Hero Level Productions to bring the level of production quality to World of Tanks that we've always brought to the NASL," Hero Level Productions and NASL President Russell Pfister told GameSpot. "I am doubly excited to be a part of elevating a premier MMO such as World of Tanks to the forefront of competitive gaming in North America."

Wargaming on also commented on why it chose Hero Level Productions for the event.

"That's a question we've spent a lot of time trying to answer. There are a lot of options in North America when it comes to eSports, and running it ourselves was definitely one we considered. In the end, it came down to the high production quality of Hero Level Productions over our other options and their experience in the industry," the company said. "Trying to launch something of this magnitude involves a lot of moving pieces and we wanted to do it quickly and do it well; whereas creating a new team takes a significant amount of time, especially to ensure the same level of quality and that was time we just didn't have."

Speculation regarding the future of the StarCraft II-focused NASL has been in question since Blizzard announced its new structure for the 2013 World Championship Series, which saw Major League Gaming named as the official North American partner, and restrictions put in place in broadcasting at the same time as official WCS competition.

When asked about continuing a NASL StarCraft II season or starting something with Dota 2, Pfister told GameSpot "no comment."