Welsh gamers put themselves on the map with a large tournament to mark the debut of World Esports Day
Wales celebrated the first ever World Esports Day on 24 October by hosting a national tournament involving various teams from across the country.
In association with the British Esports Association, Esports Wales invited various colleges, universities and gaming venues from across the country to compete in the Rocket League Invitational. The tournament was held online and streamed via the organisation’s Twitch channel.
Winners of the tournament, RetroByte, a gaming venue from Newport, South Wales, beat out Cardiff University’s team in the final, winning the best-of-seven series 4-3. Their prizes came in the form of British Esports Association t-shirts, who helped sponsor the event.
John Jackson, founder of Esports Wales, noted that: “I think the World Esports Day is a great opportunity for people to show off their involvement with esports, and how the scene is growing in the UK and Wales.”
Gamers prefer staying indoors anyways
The tournament took place on Rocket League, a competitive game that sees teams of up to three players pilot rocket-powered cars in a game similar to football to see who can score the highest number of goals in five minutes.
Esports has seen a meteoric rise in recent years, with Newzoo reporting the industry is predicted to generate £1.68bn in 2020. This figure would be an increase of 11.7 percent from 2019. This is reflected in viewership of events too, with audiences expected to jump to 495 million viewers this year.
During the coronavirus pandemic, online only events like these have seen a notable increase in popularity as people remained homebound.
We have seen a massive growth in esports here in Wales over the last two years and we can only see it getting bigger.
Jackson was responsible for organising the tournament and has pushed for large-scale support of esports across Wales since starting the group, particularly at the grassroots level.
He said: “World Esports Day is a great opportunity for people to show off their involvement with esports and how the scene is growing in the UK and Wales. We have seen a massive growth in esports here in Wales over the last two years and we can only see it getting bigger.”