North American esports organization Evil Geniuses, together with content creator Anthony "Couriway" Salzarulo, has announced the launch of a competitive Minecraft series called Gridlock.
The event aims to bridge gaps in Minecraft’s competitive scene by bringing together speedrunners, multiplayer survival creators, and PvP-focused players.
As part of Gridlock, player duos will compete in a 30-minute match on a custom 1000×1000 block map. Instead of focusing purely on survival or eliminating opponents, teams interact with a shared bingo-style task board. When one team completes a task, it becomes permanently unavailable to the opponent. Victory goes to the team with the most points when the timer ends—or to the one that can mathematically lock the opponent out of winning.
The competition will take place across four stages, starting in summer and concluding in December:
- Open Qualifiers (June 13 – July 12): Duos must play exactly seven matches each weekend. Teams with a win rate below 50% by the end of the weekend are eliminated.
- Bracket Stage (July 25 – August 9): A double-elimination format narrows the field to the top eight teams in each region.
- The Circuit (August 22 – November 1): Teams are placed into round-robin groups to compete for spots in the regional Grand Finals.
- Grand Finals (December 5 – 13): The best teams from North America and Europe will compete to determine the overall season champion.
The first tournament will feature a total prize pool of $45,000, distributed across the Circuit stage and the Grand Finals.
Reminder: Disney+ has expanded its partnership with the Korean e-Sports Association.