MLG Goes Pay Per View

In a sign that times are changing MLG have announced that their next event, the Winter Arena, will be exclusively Pay Per View.

Paying for things is a concept lost on most of the world of eSports. Whether it’s the spectators watching online for free or certain tournaments just not paying prizes, we like to keep wallets shut. It’s into this hive of misers and Scrooges that MLG have thrown their latest offering, and it looks like meat is back off the menu boys, because this one is Pay Per View. Exclusively.

The MLG Winter Arena being held in NYC in just over a week’s time will only be viewable for the price of $20. Further, gold members gain no special privileges and will also have to pay the full sum if they want to watch the Arena. For the $20 price you’ll be getting around 20 hours of viewing live from the event with 5 individual streams; 3 dedicated to matches and 2 for interviews. Whether you can actually benefit from 5 different streams is another question as many astute readers of other gaming sites have pointed out that you can only realistically watch 1 at a time, despite MLG’s new streaming player that allows you to have all 5 on your screen at once. Also included in the price is instant access to the VODs. The general public will have to wait an additional week for these.

Sadly MLG have picked an unfortunate weekend to trial this new PPV system as the Assembly Winter event has also been scheduled for that time. With a very strong group of players attending, many fans have already made it clear that Assembly is now their event of choice. For those willing to cough up MLG will probably be a very good watch. Most fans however will be waiting until the (free) Winter Championships to see how the new circuit of MLG events perform.