Hi-Rez Studios aims to make Tribes: Ascend a competitive e-sports game and they’re getting a good push in that direction this summer with a series of new tournaments with over $30,000 in prizes. Starting this month and continuing through August, a series of Tribes: Ascend tournaments will take place and be broadcasted live over the Internet, some will even being streamed over the Tribes: Ascend game client.

The finals for the first of these events will take place on CSN (Cyber Sports Network) this Saturday with over $2,500 in prizes up for grabs. The top prize for the summer will consist of a $10,000 prize pool for NASL (North American Star League) Season 3, of which the Tribes: Ascend semi-finals will be broadcasted from E3 2012 followed by the finals via a live LAN from Toronto, Canada.

Do you think you can take down the competition? Check out the official trailer and press release after the break for all the event details.

Hi-Rez Studios Announces Summer of Tribes Tournament Series and Broadcasting

Cash Tournaments Begin For Tribes: Ascend. Integrated Live Streams Coming Soon

ATLANTA – May 10, 2012 — Hi-Rez Studios, independent developer of AAA free-to-play online games, today announced the Summer of Tribes tournament series.  Between May and August 2012, Tribes: Ascend tournaments will award over $30,000 in cash and prizing, with each event being broadcast live over the internet with supporting game commentary.

Tribes: Ascend, billed as the World’s Fastest Shooter, will be featured by leagues and tournament providers including North American Star League (NASL), Electronic Sports League (ESL), Cyber Sports Network (CSN), European Game Series (EGS), Curse Networks and FPS General.

The finals for the first event are this Saturday, May 12th with CSN and over $2,500 in prizing.

The top prize for the summer will be $10,000 prize pool for NASL Season 3.  The NASL Tribes: Ascend semi-finals will be broadcast from E3 and the grand-finals will be a live LAN event in Toronto, Canada.

“Given that we just released Tribes: Ascend mid April, we’re pleased with how quickly the e-Sports community is growing,” says Todd Harris, Hi-Rez Studios COO. “Our team believes that Tribes can be a premier spectator event and we’re thrilled to have partners who share this vision and support the community with great broadcast content as well as prizing.”

Hi-Rez announced intent to stream selected tournament games within the Tribes: Ascend game client itself.  The next digital update to Tribes: Ascend will integrate live viewing of featured games powered by TwitchTV.

Todd Harris continues, “The community is already using TwitchTV to stream Tribes: Ascend game activity.  With the next update we’ll feature certain streams as viewable within the game itself so those become broadcast events.”

“We enjoy working with developers like Hi-Rez Studios who harness live video to support their game community,” says Kevin Lin, TwitchTV Chief Operating Officer.  ”At Twitch we’ve seen a phenomenal rise in eSports, and it is exciting to see the growing popularity of a fast-action FPS like Tribes: Ascend.”

About Hi-Rez Studios

Hi-Rez Studios was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment. In 2010 the company released their first title, the squad-based shooter MMO Global Agenda.  In April 2012 the company  released the critically acclaimed Tribes: Ascend, billed as the World’s Fastest Shooter.  Hi-Rez Studios is  is now developing the upcoming action MOBA game SMITE.  For more info visit www.hirezstudios.com or contact [email protected].

About TwitchTV

TwitchTV is the world’s leading video game broadcasting network where more than 16 million gamers gather every month to watch and interact around the games they love. TwitchTV’s proprietary video delivery platform and infrastructure form the backbone of a distribution network for leading video game broadcasters including pro players, tournaments, leagues, developers and gaming media organizations. TwitchTV is leading a revolution in gaming culture, turning gameplay into an immersive social video experience. Learn more at http://twitch.tv.