Fremont, CA (April 24, 2017) -- ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) announced today that it is teaming up with ESL, Insomniac Games, Intel, Microsoft and Oculus to create the world’s first virtual reality (VR) tournament. Featuring Insomniac Games’ “The Unspoken,” an Oculus Touch-enabled VR action game, players will face head on in one-on-one battles and compete for prizes from participating sponsors. The tournament will take place over several weeks, starting May13th, in 80 Microsoft Stores across North America; culminating in the finals at the Microsoft Flagship Store in New York City.

Participants will be able to utilize gaming stations provided by sponsors ASUS ROG, Insomniac Games, and Oculus: the ASUS ROG G752 gaming laptop, “The Unspoken” from Insomniac Games, and Oculus Rift and Touch controllers. The ROG G752 gaming laptop features an unlocked Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK CPU, an NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 GPU, a wide-viewing angle G-SYNC display, and is powered by Windows 10 Pro. This gaming, VR, and workstation powerhouse is designed for intensive workloads and delivers smooth gaming graphics at the highest quality settings, like those found in “The Unspoken.”

“ASUS is excited to take part in the world’s first VR tournament with industry partners we’ve worked very closely with over the years, to help make more immersive and realistic gameplay a reality,” said Vivian Lien, Chief Marketing Officer at ASUS North America. “The ASUS ROG brand has always led with innovation and designed purpose-built solutions for gamers. This tournament is the culmination of these efforts, and will help bring VR gameplay mainstream by allowing the public to participate first-hand.”

Once geared up for gameplay, “The Unspoken,” an immersive player versus player (PVP) arena duel, will transport players to a hidden world of spellcasting and magicians’ duels. Players are able to manipulate the environment around them through fingertip movements and hand gestures, utilizing Oculus Rift and Touch controllers, to cast spells with their bare hands, as they rise up through the ranks of an urban magic fight club, and the world’s first VR tournament.

The first round of tournament gameplay will begin on May 13th. Local winners will then go head to head in a series of regional competitions on May 20th. All of this leads up to the main event – the finals at Microsoft’s flagship store in NYC on June 3rd.

All finalists will receive a free trip to New York City to compete in a studio designed for esports. In addition to bragging rights, all sponsors will be contributing prizes worth up to 12K, including the Oculus-ready ASUS VivoPC X. Players can sign up starting today at any participating Microsoft Store.