Worldwide Battlefield 3 tournament will see players compete online for the chance to win a portion of the US$1.6 million prize pool.

EA has announced it will be teaming up with Richard Branson’s previously announced gaming service, Virgin Gaming, to host a worldwide Battlefield 3 online competition.

The Battlefield 3 Worldwide Conquest Tournament–billed by EA as “the largest video game competition in gaming history”–will see players from around the world competing in an online Battlefield 3 tournament for the chance to win a share of the US$1.6 million prize pool.

The tournament will begin in early 2012, and will culminate in a live grand finale.

To pre-register for the tournament, players must sign up to Virgin Gaming; according to EA, further details about the event will be released closer to 2012.

The Battlefield 3 open beta will begin on September 29 and close on October 10 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions of the game.

Battlefield 3 will include both a single-player campaign and an online component, which can be played with up to 64 players (for the PC version only). It will also support co-op play for its campaign.

For more information on the online tournament, visit BattlefieldMillions.com.