Genshin Impact gets card game tournament with $270,000 USD prize pool

by Josh Tolentino on 30 May, 2023

HoYoVerse has ambitions for Genius Invokation TCG, the in-game card battler playable within Genshin Impact. The company has kicked off the game's first official, international Genius Invokation TCG tournament, to be held between June and September 2023 across various regions. The tourney will carry a prize pool of over $270,000 USD.

Called the "Astra Carnival: The Prince Cup", the tournament takes advantage of the additions to Genius Invokation TCG that debuted alongside update 3.7 last week. That update added dozens of new cards, new modes, and even a limited-time event centered around a Genius Invokation TCG tournament happening within the game world.

Each tournament is open to players based on region: North America, Japan, Latin America, and the combined Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan region will get their own tournaments. Online qualifier invitations were sent to contenders from the "Cat's Tail Gathering Season 1" competitions, with Wild Card qualifiers open to fill out the bracket. The best eight will be invited to take part in offline championship matches, with travel expenses covered by HoYoVerse. Prizes range from 500 Primogems to up to $16,000 USD for first place in the North America tournament. Top 8 candidates also receive an exclusive card back following the end of the season. The first Astra Carnival tournament will be held in North America, with other regions to follow through September 2023. The Wild Card registration period for the North America tournament is ongoing.

Here's the schedule for the different Genshin Impact Genius Invokation TCG regional tournaments:

North America

Wild Card Qualifier Registration: May 29-31, 2023
Wild Card Selection: June 6-7, 2023
Astra Carnival: The Prince Cup Online Qualifiers: June 10-11, 2023
Astra Carnival: The Prince Cup Offline Championships: June 17, 2023 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
More details at this link.

Other regional tournaments are further out and don't have all the details set, but more info can be found at the official site, along with registration links.

Japan: July 1-16, 2023
Latin America: August 12, 2023 - September 3, 2023
Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan: August 26, 2023 - September 24, 2023

HoYoVerse also set down rules for holding informal and unofficial Genius Invokation TCG tournaments, detailed on this page.

Genshin Impact and Genius Invokation TCG are available on Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.