Signups begin today for the "March Madness" of the EVE Online Universe

About once a year, EVE Online hosts a 64 team tournament to decide who the greatest pilots in the universe are. It's called The Alliance Tournament, and it's a chance for alliances to etch their names in EVE's 7 year long history. Signups for alliance spots in the tournament went live today and go to April 23rd.

The Alliance Tournament isn't for every group of players, however, especially not those who are thrifty with their in-game currency. Every alliance wishing to enter must pay a 2 Billion ISK sign up fee just for the chance to snag one of the coveted tourney spots. If an Alliance isn't accepted for a regular tourney spot, they will be refunded their sign-up fee and have a chance to buy one of 16 tourney spots that will be auctioned for a starting bid of 1 billion ISK. Sixteen Tournament spots will be reserved for competitors from last year's Alliance Tournament, including two-time winner Pandemic Legion.

The Alliance Tournament entrants will be announced on April 26th and the first round will begin on June 5th. The tournment will be covered by EVE TV and various in-game radio stations. Check out the Alliance Tournament page for more details.