China Wants a Top 3 Race to World First Finish – And They’re Willing to Pay For It

With WoW's return to China at the start of The War Within last year, NetEase offered an unprecedented ¥1,000,000 cash prize to any Chinese guild that claimed first place in the Race to World First. Clearly a lofty goal, the prize continues to increase by an additional ¥200,000 each tier until it's claimed, but is now being incentivized even further with a new challenge to defeat the "Big Three" frontrunning guilds that routinely dominate the race.

The ongoing prize pool for any Chinese group that takes first place in the Race to World First has now grown to ¥1,400,000, or roughly $195,000 USD.

The grand prize having gone unclaimed, NetEase is now offering an extra bonus prize of ¥500,000 (~$70k USD) to any Chinese team that finishes in the top three of the World First leaderboard. Still a tall order, this seems very attainable, as multiple Chinese guilds have consistently claimed high ranking spots on the leaderboards of the past several expansions. Top contender Huoguo Hero claimed 4th place in both Nerub-ar and Liberation for Undermine, while JiTianHong placed 5th and 7th respectively. The newly formed Identity could also be a strong contender, formed from the veterans of Skyline, which placed top 10 in nearly every tier since Legion.

The extra ¥500,000 bonus is around $70,000 USD.

Not only is this the first (and second) ever officially endorsed Race to World First cash prize, but it's also fun to see a renewed spirit of competition, as the release quite literally challenges Chinese teams to challenge "the big three" guilds which have dominated much of the Race to World First over the last eight years. Clearly referring to Liquid, Echo, and Method, China does have its own prestigious raid history, but varying levels of support, cultural differences, and starting the race a day later than even EU has frequently left them at a disadvantage. It will be very interesting to see if this incentive finally helps Chinese guilds break that stranglehold, to give us a new Race to World First contender.

Challenge the Big Three and Receive 500,000 RMB!
The new Manaforge: Omega raid in World of Warcraft Patch 11.2: Ghosts of K’aresh is about to open!

Unlike previous events, we have decided to significantly increase the rewards for the World First race. In addition to the grand prize pool for the World First clear of the raid, we will award a bonus of 500,000 RMB to each Chinese team that finishes top three in the World First leaderboard.

Meanwhile, the bounty pool for any Chinese team that achieves World First has grown to 1.4 million RMB! Should no Chinese team claim World First after Mana Forge: Omega, the bounty pool will roll over and increase to 1.6 million RMB next tier!

Grab your weapons and write a new legend! For Azeroth!