Synonym for competitive that has negative connotations [duplicate]

I'm writing a mildly dystopian scenario where competition is taken to vicious extremes, and I was wondering if there was a word that I could use (specifically a noun that was a synonym of "competition") to describe the sort of vicious, cutthroat ... _________ (the word that I want) that was going on.

I'm specifically looking for a word that doesn't refer to a one-off event (like "contest" or "tug-of-war"), but rather is more about the state of things.

Solution 1:

How about "rivalry," "antagonism, and "oppugnancy?"

rivalry: the state or condition of competition or antagonism.

antagonism: an active hostility or opposition, as between unfriendly or conflicting groups.

oppugnancy: the state or quality of being oppugnant; antagonism.

Solution 2:

Try death struggle or struggle to the death; such a struggle can last a long time -- for instance in a civil war, which in the worst case can continue for decades.