How many tournaments are there during the year?
The High School Esports League offers four tournaments per year: Fall Major, Spring Major, HSEL Nationals Invitational, and Summer Open.
What is the tournament structure?
The Fall and Spring Major tournaments are formatted so that each student has one match per week per game through the duration of the regular season. HSEL Nationals are a culmination of both Fall and Spring Majors where the top 4 teams from the biggest games (or 1st from each region) are invited to compete against each other in a double-elimination bracket. The Summer Open tournament is formatted in a leaderboard style where students can play each game up to once per day for every day their game is offered. Both tournaments include playoffs and finals.
Can I play for free?
Yes, we offer free titles every season. For an up-to-date list of currently free titles, please see the HSEL tournament overview article on the help site or the game summaries page here.
What is the pricing?
You can find our current pricing structure for HSEL on our pricing page here.
Do you provide the game licenses?
No, we do not provide game licenses.
Can students play multiple games?
Yes, students may participate in as many games as they would like --or the admin allows for-- during a tournament.
What are the prizes?
HSEL offers scholarships to the teams who place accordingly in the National Invitational. For the Fall & Spring Major, trophies and medals are awarded to 1st - 3rd place.
Can students play from home?
Yes, students may participate remotely, from school, or in a hybrid mix of both.
What is a battle pass?
A battle pass is a tournament pass that allows you to access a specific tournament. A single tournament pass grants a student access to all HSEL tournaments for one season. An unlimited annual pass will grant unlimited students access to all HSEL tournaments within a calendar year.
What is a game connection?
Adding your game connection is the process of listing your gamer tag on your Generation Esports profile. A game connection is required to be eligible for placement on a roster. Additionally, having your “in-game name” not only makes it easier to contact and invite opponents to game lobbies but also ensures that the players in-game match the players on the team roster.
How do we contact our opponent?
Once you receive an opponent through the queue system and have access to your match page, you will communicate with your opponent through the Match Chat function on the dashboard.
How long do the tournaments last?
Majors (Fall & Spring) consist of a 2-week preseason, 8 weeks of regular-season matches, and 2.5 weeks of playoffs/finals. The Summer Open contains 2 splits for June & July. 2 weeks of regular-season play and 1 week of playoffs/finals. HSEL Nationals take place over a 4-day weekend event.
I missed a match. Is there anything I can do to make up the match?
Yes, we provide makeup queue windows during the last 2 weeks of our Major regular seasons.
What games can I play?
You can find the current list of games we are offering for HSEL here.
Can I sign up for both PlayStation, Xbox, and PC tournaments for the same game?
Yes, you can sign up for a tournament for a specific game on every platform as long as you are only on one roster per game per platform. This is only if the game has separate tournaments for each platform and does not apply to any crossplay titles.
Can I have an additional advisor join my school account?
Yes, you can invite the additional advisor to join your team through the members' page on your dashboard. Once they show on your members' list, you can mark them as team captain. This will give the additional advisor the same administrative abilities as the existing team advisor. The only limitation is that they will not be able to purchase passes for the entire team.
How many teams will make the playoffs?
The number of rosters that make the playoffs is dependent on the total registration numbers for that particular tournament. This number is released midway through the regular season.
Do I need an online subscription in order to participate?
Online subscriptions are only required for premium (paid) console games. Games on console that are free to play such as Rocket League, Halo Infinite, etc., do not require an online subscription to play. There is no online subscription required for any title played on PC.
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