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www.thevillagenews.co.za
24 December 2019
MY ESPORT
Locals make their mark in South African eSports Writer & Photographer Taylum Meyer
nite tournament in South Africa thus far, hosted by Maverick LAN Gaming.
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The tournament was open to learners from all South African schools and the top 20 players from each of the four qualifying rounds were invited to the tournament final in Sandton on 7 December. Among them were 17-year-old James Coombe from Hermanus High, 15-year-old Kai van der Riet and 13-year-old Spencer Nicholas, both from Generation Schools Hermanus.
nline gaming is not only a popular pastime for youngsters but has become an increasingly competitive – and lucrative – eSport. The inaugural Fortnite World Cup that was held in New York in July this year, for example, had a prize pool of a cool $30 million – the biggest in eSporting history. The winner, a 16-year-old from Pennsylvania, USA, took home the top prize of $3 million. Here in Hermanus, three teenagers who only started playing competitively this year, recently proved their gaming mettle by making it to the finals in several big tournaments. The first one was the Fortnite National Online School Cup, the biggest Fort-
The final consisted of five games and the points accumulated over the five games made up their final score and determined their placements. All three boys managed to grab a spot in the top 50 at the finals, with Spencer placing the highest out of the three at 24th. The winner of this
tournament received R25 000, plus a further R25 000 for his or her school, or charity of choice. James, who will be in matric next year, has been playing Fortnite since October 2018 and was recruited by ATK Arena in June of this year for their Fortnite eSports team. ATK Arena has dedicated players and teams in various online games and is passionate about growing eSports in South Africa. James hopes to make a career out of gaming and would like to play internationally. Kai and Spencer both say that for now gaming is just a hobby. After coming back from the school cup final in Sandton on 7 December, Kai and Spencer went straight into another Fortnite tournament in Cape Town called the ATK Fortnite Holiday LAN Cup. They took part in two of the tournament’s qualifiers where they both did extremely well and secured cash prizes. The results were as follows: U20 Solo Qualifier (12 Dec) – Kai 2nd and Spencer 3rd; U14 Solo Qualifier (19 Dec) – Kai 1st and Spencer 2nd (Kai was still 14 at the time). Both will attend the tournament’s final which will take place on 9 January in Cape Town, where the winner will be taking home R5 000. ATK Arena Kai van der Riet, James Coombe and Spencer Nicholas.
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also hosted a duos tournament on 17 December. James and his partner Tristan van der Walt placed 4th and Kai and Spencer came 5th. James, Kai and Spencer would like to thank their parents for their continued support over this past year. Their parents say that although the gaming can be a distraction, the boys' school performance hasn't been affected and they fully support and encourage their boys in their eSports interests. James would also like to thank ATK Arena (www.atkarena.com), and especially Managing Director Warren Barkhuizen for sponsoring him and for helping him to grow his online reputation and presence, both essential for a career in eSports. We wish James the best of luck for the last qualifier of the ATK Fortnite LAN Cup on 7 January, the Open Solos. Good luck to Kai and Spencer for the final on 9 January. We look forward to hearing your results!
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For those readers who are unfamiliar with the online game, Fortnite, it is fast becoming one of the most played games on the planet. Released in 2017 by Epic Games, the game consists of three modes: Fortnite: Save the World; Fortnite: Battle Royale and Fortnite: Creative. The most popular one, Fortnite: Battle Royale has, as of March this year, accumulated more than 250 million players. In the game, 100 players are airdropped from the ‘Battle Bus’ over the game’s map. Players glide down to the ground where they must hunt for weapons and resources with the aim of being the last player (or team) standing. What makes it even more challenging is the fact that the ‘safe’ area of the map shrinks due to an incoming storm. Players are forced to fight one another in an area that gets steadily smaller and smaller, and anyone caught in the storm quickly loses health points which are vital to stay alive in the game.
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