Your Red Bull Wololo Tournament Guide 2025

In order to understand Red Bull Wololo, it’s important to first understand the Age of Empires games.

What is the Age of Empires games series?

This RTS (real-time strategy) game was first released in 1997. To date, 9 games and numerous expansion packs have been released, the most recent version being Age of Empires IV, released in October 2021.

Created by Ensemble Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios, Age of Empires is a historical RTS game that takes players through events in Africa, Europe and Asia, moving through time periods from the Stone Age to the Iron Age to the Roman Empire. With each new edition improving on its graphics and game play, the game has developed a strong following, and is known for its fair play and focus on historical events.

The Red Bull Wololo series

As Age of Empires series fans will know, ‘Wololo’ is the battle cry uttered by the Priest unit in the original version of the game – and since 2020 it’s been the call for gamers to unite and battle each other in the Red Bull Wololo series, hosted by Red Bull Gaming.

First launched in 2020, the series initially focused on Age of Empires II, with various online tournaments being held and a total prize pool of €20,000 given away. Following the success of the first tournament, Red Bull Wololo continued with more competitions, each with a different storyline for players to follow, from fighting for control of a castle in the second series, to Asian civilization in the third, and Viking warriors in the fourth.

In 2021, Red Bull Wololo V became the first notable LAN event of the series, attracting 70,000 viewers for the finals in a hotly-contested battle for the $100,000 prize pool.

In 2022, the event returned for its sixth tournament as Red Bull Wololo Legacy – a Red Bull Gaming celebration of 25 years of the Age of Empires series featuring not one, but three titles played simultaneously. With professionals and amateurs competing in Age of Empires I: The Rise of Rome, Age of Empires II, and Age of Empires IV tournaments simultaneously, the series concluded with the finals in Heidelberg Castle in Germany.

Offering a collective prize pool of $550,000 across all three events, 2022 was Red Bull Wololo’s biggest event to date, and the series looks set to continue just as strongly going forward.

While the story arc of Red Bull Wololo may change from event to event, depending on the version of Age of Empires being played, each tournament has always followed a similar basic structure:

• The competition begins with a group round of anywhere from 8 to 16 players.
• The group round consists of either professionals who have been invited, or amateurs competing for their spot through an open qualifier, such as the Road To Wololo preliminary qualifier for Legacy 2022.
• The event follows a 1v1 format, with a single elimination bracket.
• The group stage takes place over a number of ‘Best of’ rounds, such as ‘Best of 3’ or ‘Best of 5’.
• Following the group stage, the winners progress to the playoffs.
• The playoffs are held over a series of ‘Best of 5’ quarterfinals and then semifinals.
• The last two players standing after the semifinals compete in the finals of the tournament, this time with a ‘Best of 7’ format.

In order to skip the preliminary stages of the game and head straight to the action, the tournaments follow a slightly altered version of Age of Empires. For example, in Red Bull Wololo V, players competed in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition and began with a 27-villager economy already in place, as well as a number of other elements, such as a blacksmith and barracks already provided. This allows for games to be won or lost in the opening minutes, and guarantees immediate action.

Betting on Red Bull Wololo and esports games in general can take many forms, and covers all aspects of the industry from live gaming to tournaments and Twitch streaming too. While there are many bets to be made on elements like fantasy betting, betting on streamers and betting in a pool, one of the most popular esports betting methods is real money betting.

What is real money betting?

Real money betting on esports and traditional sports betting follows the same format. Simply choose the tournament or event you would like to bet on, such as Red Bull Wololo, choose your betting market, place your bet, and wait for the outcome to unfold.

What you’ll want to consider when placing your bet is the form of each individual player, what their strategy might be, and how successful they’re going to be in executing it. Will some players try to win early on in the game, or will others hold back and play a longer game?

Another point to consider in Red Bull Wololo is that, unlike in some other tournaments, invited players take part in the group stages rather than skipping straight ahead, which can change the course of the game.

Bear all these points in mind, do your research ahead of time, and then you’ll be able to make informed decisions as to which types of real money bets are the best to place.

If live betting is permitted, it might be worth it to watch the players’ performance first before placing a bet, in order to gain a better understanding of their form and condition.

Know how to play the game first. If you’ve never played Age of Empires IV before, for example, you won’t know what you’re betting on. The more you know about each type of game before you place a bet, the better.

Research the players ahead of time, learn their strengths and weaknesses, and in some cases even consider the underdog too, as this could work out to be a more valuable bet. Everything can change on the day of the tournament, so keep your wits about you and bet wisely.

Once you’ve done your research and feel confident in the bets you want to place, you’ll need to find an esports site for a quality provider. There are a number of excellent esports sites around the world that allow bets on Age of Empires, including:

• 1xBet
• 10Bet
• 22Bet
• Bet365
• Betsson
• Betwinner
• Casumo
• Thunderpick
• TonyBet

Placing a bet on a Red Bull Wololo tournament is easy – whether you place a bet on the outcome of an individual match, or wager on several outcomes to try and multiply your winnings, you’ll find plenty of betting markets to choose from.

While each tournament will have its own different competitors and events, typically the most common types of esports bets include:

Match winner bets

Place a match winner bet and you’ll be betting on the winner of a particular match. It’s a simple bet and one that you can make in most types of esports matches.

Outright bets

Here you’ll be betting on which player will win the tournament outright. You’ll usually need to place this type of bet in advance, so if you have a good feeling about an outright bet, try and place it early.

System bets

With a system bet, you’ll be placing more than one bet using a specific system. You’ll only be able to win if all of your selections are correct, but wins from system bets can be impressive.

Esports-specific bets

Here you’ll be placing a bet that’s specific to a particular esport, in this case, Red Bull Wololo. Check your chosen betting site closer to the next tournament and see which specific bets become available for you to choose from.

Why has Red Bull Wololo become such a popular esports tournament? This goes back to Age of Empires itself – a game that’s developed a loyal following ever since it was first released. With every version subsequently improving on the one before, Age of Empires combines riveting historical storylines with real-time strategy in a game that’s endlessly entertaining and instantly compelling. It’s exactly this evolution that Red Bull Wololo has mirrored, adapting with each of its events from 2020 onwards.

Red Bull Wololo tournament history

Red Bull Wololo I: 16 players took part in the very first Red Bull Wololo in 2020, playing Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition in Empire Wars mode for a prize pool of €20,000.

Red Bull Wololo II: The second in the series, Red Bull Wololo II took place towards the end of 2020, and saw another 16 players battle it out in Age of Empires II, this time for a prize pool of $30,000.

Red Bull Wololo III: Another 16 players face off against each other in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition at the beginning of 2021, with a prize pool of $30,000 at stake.

Red Bull Wololo IV: In mid-2021, the action switched to Age of Empires II: Lords of the West, with 16 players facing off for a $30,000 prize pool.

Red Bull Wololo V: Concluding the saga for 2021, 14 players went head-to-head in a game of Age of Empires II for a huge prize pool of $100,000.

Red Bull Wololo Legacy: In its sixth tournament, Red Bull Wololo Legacy saw professionals and amateurs competing across three titles simultaneously:

• 8 players competing for $50,000 in Age of Empires I: The Rise of Rome
• 16 competing for $200,000 in Age of Empires II
• 16 players competing for $300,000 in Age of Empires IV

1. Choose an esports operator
2. Open an account online
3. Set up a payment method and fund your account
4. Research Age of Empires and make sure you know the games and the players
5. Choose and place your bets

The more research you do, the more informed decisions you’ll be able to make, and the better chance you’ll give yourself of having a successful outcome.

Having a successful outcome in any esports tournament is all about the types of bets you place, and when it comes to Red Bull Wololo and Age of Empires in particular, popular bet types include:

Match winner – Betting on an individual to win a particular match.

Outright – Betting on an individual to win the entire tournament outright.

Game duration – Betting on how long a particular game will last, e.g. 25 to 30 minutes, 35 to 45 minutes, and so on.

Special bets – Betting on a particular element within an Age of Empires game, such as which type of victory (1 out of 3) will win the game for its player.

Aside from Red Bull Wololo and Age of Empires, there are a number of other popular competitions to choose from when it comes to esports betting:

The International: A global esports tournament for Dota 2, held every year since 2011 (with the exception of a cancellation in 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak).

League of Legends World Championship: An annual tournament that sees the best LoL teams from around the world compete for the season title.

PUBG Global Championship: One of the biggest online esports tournaments in the world, featuring the game’s top ranking players.