A new competitive event for the strategy video game Age of Empires IV, named The Crownfall, is set to begin in Switzerland. The tournament will kick off this weekend with an Open Qualifier on October 3 and 4, followed by a second qualifier on October 10 and 11. Each qualifier allows up to 64 players to compete, with six of them advancing to the group stage. In the group stage, the six qualifiers will join two invited players, forming a total of eight participants. These eight players will be divided into two groups, with matches scheduled for the weekends of October 17-18 and 24-25. The top four players from each group will move on to a final in-person event in Geneva on January 9 and 10. To support the tournament, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched on Matcherino. All funds collected through this campaign will be used to provide rewards directly to the players, helping to cover travel and other expenses related to their participation. Before the qualifiers begin, an exhibition match between two prominent players, MarineLorD and Puppypaw, is scheduled for Friday, October 2. This showmatch will have a prize pool of $500 and is expected to showcase high-level gameplay, drawing attention from the competitive Age of Empires IV community. Such exhibitions are common in esports, where top players demonstrate their skills for fans and to raise the profile of the game. The Crownfall tournament highlights the growing popularity of Age of Empires IV in the esports scene, with players from around the world competing in a structured format. The event also reflects the increasing role of crowdfunding in supporting competitive gaming events, allowing fans to directly contribute to the success of the tournament and the players involved.