AI-powered gaming ecosystem Dante Games has officially launched Tournament I: Open Arena with a $10k prize pool, kicking off their Hellmaster Tournament Series which in total has up to $100k in rewards to play and earn.

What Is Dante Games Tournament I: Open Arena?

Tournament I: Open Arena is the first in a series of competitions by Dante Games through which anyone can play to earn various rewards by competing for top leaderboard spots from August 5 to August 9, 6 PM UTC.

There is no entry fee for this event, as the team’s goal is to onboard as many new players as they can during the TGE window, in celebration of the recent launch of the $DANTE token. In this tournament, players attempt to collect leaderboard points by playing two different game modes, with the top 1500 players set to win a share of the $10k prize pool. This skill-based competition is said to use fair, on-chain verified scoring, with the winner set to earn $1000, while 2nd place snags $700 and 3rd place is awarded $500. Depending on the League you finish the event in, you will also receive varying amounts of Shards, an in-game currency that can be redeemed for card packs, meaning you can earn NFT cards by spending Shards on opening packs. Full leaderboard distribution is included in the image embedded in the official X announcement down below.

Winners are set to be contacted via emails linked to their registered wallets, while rewards are planned to be distributed after the full tournament series is over in order to ensure “fair verification and alignment with the TGE ecosystem.”

Here’s how you can get started for free.

How to Play and Earn in Tournament I: Open Arena

To join the start of the ecosystem’s TGE Tournament Series, simply download Hellmaster: The Legend of Dante from the official website on PC or mobile and start playing matches to automatically enter the competition. There is no dedicated registration process for this event. The web3 game can be downloaded on PC from the Epic Games Store, Ultra, and the Elixir Games launcher, while the mobile version is only available on Android devices through the Google Play Store. The tournament is now live from August 5, 6 PM UTC, and will end on August 9 at 6 PM UTC.

Hellmaster is a free to play turn-based card game powered by Immutable zkEVM. It’s inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy and has you engage in strategic 1v1 battles across PvE and PvP modes with opportunities to play to earn NFTs by redeeming card packs using Shards earned through gameplay. There are 15 different heroes across 5 different classes you can play as, each of which has their own special ability and is suited to a different playstyle. Your choice of hero also influences how you build your deck, as there are spells and runes that can only be used by certain classes.

To play to earn leaderboard points and rank your way up to the top 1500, you need to play and win matches in 2 game modes: Adventure Mode and Battle Arena.

Adventure Mode is a free PvE mode in which you progress your way through the nine circles of hell while unlocking upgrades for your hero, making this mode the best place to start playing. You get various rewards (such as Shards) after completing each level to help you strengthen your hero, but in the context of the competitive event, you also earn 1000 leaderboard points per victory. If you lose though, you are then deducted 500 points.

Battle Arena is a PvP mode which comes with an entry fee in the game’s most valuable currency: souls. Players can earn souls through this mode, but newcomers can only get souls by buying them using the $DANTE token. If you have enough souls, you can sign up and play quick card battles in open public matches, as well as set up private games if you want to play with your friends. Only the public matches count towards your leaderboard score, with 2000 points awarded per win, while losing means a deduction of 500 points, just like in Adventure Mode. This mode also awards more Shards than Adventure Mode does.

It’s important to note that only the first 15 matches of the day count towards your leaderboard score. Once you’ve played 15 matches, you can either keep on going to try and improve your hero and deck, or wait for the daily reset to take place at 6 PM UTC every day so you can again play matches that impact your leaderboard score.

What Is the Hellmaster Tournament Series?

The Hellmaster Tournamnet Series is a set of 4 competitions that in total feature up to $100k in prizes to play and earn in Dante Games’ flagship title Hellmaster, in celebration of the July 2025 launch of the $DANTE token.

After the first tournament, Open Arena, concludes on August 9, 6 PM UTC, the next competition, Holder’s Trials, is set to begin on August 13 for $DANTE holders and stakers only. The second event should run until August 17, after which the League of the Eternals tournament begins on August 21 and ends on August 25, also for $DANTE holders and stakers only. The 4th tournament, Final Ascension, is a bonus competition that will only go live if there are 9000+ eligible holders. If that happens, you can expect this final event to start on August 29 and end on September 2.

This TGE Tournament Series was supposed to start on July 29, but was delayed to August 5 in order to ensure a coordinated launch across platforms and have the Epic Games Store release included from the start of this event while launching an update with improvements specific to this series.

About Dante Games

Dante Games is an AI-powered gaming ecosystem that aims to combine AI agents with blockchain technology and esports to deliver immersive web3 gaming experiences. Their first game, Hellmaster, is now live as a free to play fantasy TCG on PC and Android devices with win-to-earn elements.

In the future, players can look forward to 2 more games: Eternal Fighters and Infernal Bastions. According to the roadmap on the official website, pre-production for both titles is set to begin in Q1 2026, with demos for each game set to be released in Q2 2026. Before then, players can look forward to more esports features, new $DANTE token and souls utility, and more.

Last month, Dante Games secured a $20m investment ahead of $DANTE TGE.