There’s nothing like putting a little cash on the line to really raise the stakes of a game. Esports organizers know this, that’s why tournaments like EVO and the Overwatch League have millions of dollars up for grabs. Even just among friends, risking a couple of bucks on your next round of Mortal Kombat 11 can make the fight infinitely more exciting. There’s a new app called Elia designed for this exact purpose, and its already breathing new life into the way we play games.
Elia was created by a Montreal based start-up with a simple goal: to create a safe, reliable, and easy way to organize tournaments with friends. Elia is not a platform for tournament organizers or esports organizations, rather, it’s a way for friends to sweeten the pot in their own private games.
Here’s how it work: download the Elia app from the iOS app store and make an account. Elia will ask for a picture of an ID like a driver’s license or passport in order to verify identity and protect its users from any potential fraud. Once you sign up, choose one of Elia’s supported titles, enter the tournament fee (buy-in), and invite your friends. Elia keeps everyone’s buy-ins safe in a virtual wallet (protected by blockchain) until the tournament is complete. After the tournament is over, all players need to do is open the app and select the winner. Funds immediately deposit into the winners Elia account where they can be transferred to their bank or Paypal.
Sure, there are other ways to accomplish what Elia does. You and your friends could simply all agree to pay the winner through Venmo when the tournament ends, for example. But Elia offers a structured, formal way to organize friendly tournaments that doesn’t overcomplicate things. Everyone has to put their fee in upfront, even if it’s just $1 (the maximum is $100) and that money is off-limits to everyone until the tournament ends and the winner is declared. The voting system at the end determines who the winner is and requires a 60% majority to agree on one winner. This prevents any sour sports from trying to cancel out the winner by voting for themselves.
Elia has really covered all the bases. Low-stakes friend tournaments may seem like a pretty niche audience, but something clean and easy to use like Elia has a ton of potential to become a standard for the way people enjoy playing games together.
Right now, Elia is offering iPhone users $5 just for signing up. That way, everyone can try out the app and see how fun tournaments can be. Currently, Elia supports tournaments for NBA 2k20, Fornite, Diablo 3, CS:GO, Overwatch, R6: Seige, MK11, NBA Live 19, Modern Warfare, Madden 20, NHL 20, Fifa 20, and Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
Elia is available now on the Apple app store and is coming soon to Android.
