Singapore will play host in December to a mobile-game world championship with the largest prize pool to date for such tournaments, as the global mobile-gaming scene becomes increasingly competitive.

The world' top 12 teams will compete for a prize pool of US$140,000 (S$191,000) in the second world championship finals for Vainglory, a team-based game played on smartphones or tablets.The teams will compete in front of a live audience at the Kallang Theatre from Dec 14 to 17, said Vainglory developer Super Evil Megacorp yesterday.

The finals will also be streamed globally through online services such as Twitch, YouTube and Facebook.

Vainglory is a multiplayer online battle arena game in which two teams of three players engage in battle with a variety of characters.

The game's first world championship was held last year in Hollywood, California, with a smaller prize pool of US$120,000.

Representing Singapore this year are players from Team Impunity, comprising Amos "Quatervois" Ker, 17; Tan "deftQ" Jing Yu, 17, and Ng "Bluexidy" Jun Xian, 18, along with reserves Nicholas "QuiCi" Wong, 19, and Mr Nigel "INKED" Wong, 21.

Team captain Amos said: "If we continue to train hard, we definitely have a solid shot at securing the championship - which is important to us as we want to do our country proud."

The 12 teams competing in the finals are picked from more than 5,000 teams which have competed in the game's leaderboard over the past year. They come from six regions: North America, South America, Europe, South-east Asia, East Asia and China.

Lester Hio

Correction note: This story has been edited to provide updated information on the team representing Singapore.