REK 2.1 playoffs start tonight: top 12 simulator pilots can earn a real robot, but no live fight is announced

REK's "REK 2.1", announced on 28 October for 20 November, is built around a two-week playoff in its simulator, and the first week starts tonight. REK's own pages say the best simulator pilots get to pilot a real humanoid robot. They do not yet say that a live fight takes place on 20 November.

What REK has published. The YouTube short announcing REK 2.1 was uploaded on 28 October. Its description says: "Sim playoffs start Oct 30 at 8PM PT." REK's Steam page for the simulator carries an update headed "Rek 2.1 Playoffs. Win and Pilot a real robot." It gives week 1 of 2 as 30 October, 8 PM, to 31 October, 8 PM, and writes the time zone as PST. The video's description says PT; on 30 October the West Coast is on daylight time, so the two labels may mean the same clock, but REK has not said so. Taking the Pacific time given, week 1 opens at 03:00 UTC on 31 October.

How it works. According to the Steam page, the top 6 players on the leaderboard each week advance to the next stage, for a total of 12 players across the two weeks. Players can compete on PC, Meta Quest or iOS through TestFlight. The listing says the best pilots will earn the chance to pilot a real humanoid robot at a live REK event.

What the simulator is. REK Sim is a simulator, not remote control of a real robot. REK says it is driven by the same neural nets that power its real humanoid robots, uses physics-based combat rather than canned animations, and starts players with modified versions of the Unitree G1 and the EngineAI T800. Rounds are on the clock, the scoreboard counts every clean hit, and ties go to sudden death. These descriptions are REK's own and we have not tested the software.

What is still not published. REK has not given the dates of week 2, or said what the next stage is after the top 12 are chosen. It has not said whether all 12 pilots will fight on 20 November, who they would fight, or where. No venue, ticket page, prize or rule set has been published for 20 November. Until REK publishes a fight card, Roboxing treats 20 November as the date of the playoff outcome and the REK 2.1 announcement, not as a scheduled fight night, and has not added it to the schedule.

Why it matters. It is the clearest published route from a phone or PC to a real arena in humanoid robot fighting: REK is using the simulator as its qualifying round for pilots. The route is REK's claim of intent, not yet a record of anyone having made it through.