The Battle of Polytopia’s First World Championship concludes with the first-ever global champion
Over 10,000 participants, and only one winner
- The 2025 Polytopia World Championship wrapped with more than 10,000 participants
- ArthurL248 took the title after progressing through a six-player grand final
- Midjiwan’s custom spectator mode and esports partnerships were good signs for the future
Polytopia’s first-ever World Championship has officially wrapped, and if Midjiwan wanted proof that its minimalist strategy game has a competitive scene worth investing in, they just got it.
More than 10,000 players signed up for the qualifiers – a record for anything the studio has run, and after months of tribe battles, eliminations, and map-by-map mind games, the finals crowned ArthurL248 as the inaugural Polytopia World Champion.
The road to that title was surprisingly intense for a game that looks deceptively peaceful at first glance. Things kicked off back in September with the Battle of the Tribes qualifiers, where players fought for dominance within each of Polytopia’s 12 tribes.
Six weeks later, the best of each tribe advanced, narrowing the field to six finalists: ArthurL248 (Imperius), slimmingboy (Bardur), Dreamlander3000 (Oumaji), Theetat (Hoodrick), LeLiberateur (Xin-Xi), and Meisterlampe (Luxidoor).
Those finalists went head-to-head in a studio setting on December 6th, complete with live commentary and a full spectator mode designed specifically for the tournament. Midjiwan built the mode so viewers could track cities, technologies, kills, score progression, and even shifting advantages in real time.
ArthurL248 walked away with the $4,000 grand prize, while the remaining finalists split the rest of the $10,000 pool: $2,000 for slimmingboy, $1,500 each for Threetat and Meisterlampe, and $500 for Dreamlander and LeLiberateur. It may not seem like a massive prize pool, but it’s pretty great for a studio that’s just dipped its toes into major competitions.
The whole thing was pulled together by Challengermode, alongside Black Molly Entertainment, the team behind events like the Geoguessr World Cup. Given how strong the response has been, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Polytopia lean even further into esports next year.
And if Polytopia’s tactical showdowns have you in the mood for more turn-based battles, our list of the best turn-based games on mobile has a bunch of great worlds to conquer next!
