Game developer Netmarble has concluded the first edition of the Solo Leveling: ARISE Championship, an esports tournament series for the popular action game.

During the LAN Grand Final on April 12th, competitor ‘OhReung’ emerged as the game’s first Global Champion, winning the lion’s share of its 20m KRW (~£11,010) prize pool.

Solo Leveling: ARISE is an action RPG game released by Korean game studio Netmarble in 2024. The title recreates the journey of the main character from the popular anime and Manwha Solo Leveling. Playable on both PC and mobile phones, the game surpassed 50m global downloads by October 2024.

Following the game’s successful launch, Netmarble announced the Solo Leveling: ARISE Championship 2025 in February this year. The title’s first-ever international tournament was divided into preliminaries from February 21st until March 9th and the Finals on April 12th.

All players who could obtain at least 1,000 trophies in the ‘Battlefield of Time’ game mode during Season 7 were eligible to apply for the championship. For the preliminaries, contestants were placed in the International or Asian League based on their region. Throughout two weeks, contestants had to record their Time Attack in Battlefield of Time.

The top eight players from each league qualified for to the Finals held at IVEX STUDIO in Gwangmyeong, South Korea. The Solo Leveling: ARISE Championship also featured various fan activities, including live giveaways and exclusive redemption codes. According to Netmarble, tickets for the offline event sold out in under a minute.

OhReung was among the four top finals contestants who advanced to the final match. The player secured the championship title by clearing four battlefields in just 2 minutes and 57 seconds.

In a post-match interview, OhReung expressed his excitement: “I’m deeply honoured to share this shining moment of becoming a world champion with everyone. As a gesture of support, I will be donating half of my prize money to aid those affected by the recent wildfires in Korea.”