Ubisoft has made the decision to merge the UK Ireland Nationals (UKIN) and the Nordic Championship esports leagues into one combined tournament known as the Northern Premier League.
According to the announcement blog post, the Northern Premier League will see ten teams competing across nine weeks of competition (April 19-end of August), where each week will see two days of broadcasted play. This season of play will also see the top two teams qualifying for the European Challenger League, which will see teams from all across Europe competing for a chance to be promoted to the premier European League.
As for what will happen to the the eight teams in the Northern Premier League, we're told that the middle four teams will retain their spots in the league, whereas the seventh and eight teams will be competing in relegation playoffs to stay in the league, with the loser and the ninth and tenth teams being relegated back to their respective local leagues.
"We're excited to bring this new Rainbow Six Siege esports competition for our UK, Ireland and Nordic players" says Mark Slaughter, UK marketing director, Ubisoft. "This new tier will help further develop both local scenes from grassroots through to the Northern Premier League and ultimately to the European Challenger League, giving our players and teams more opportunities to participate and to win."
We're told that more details regarding the Northern Premier League are expected to be shared "over the coming weeks".
