The UK’s only national schools esports tournament came to an end this week after a thrilling final battle held at the Gfinity Esports Arena in London. Eight teams came together at the Grand Final event to duke it out after months of gruelling regional qualifiers, playing the smash hit game Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment, with the tournament seeing a record 3,500 participants from across the UK.
After crashing out in the final stages of last year’s competition, the Scorpions made a triumphant return to form and snatched victory from the hands of tournament frontrunners Only W! to win a range of prizes and the coveted Digital Schoolhouse trophy.
Reuben A of the Scorpions said “It was an honour to be here and take part today. The competition was fierce and there were a few close calls, especially in our final round, but we triumphed in the end.”
The finale acted as an immersive careers experience and drew a wide range of high profile guests and spectators from across participating schools, the games industry and the political landscape, with matches also broadcast on video streaming platform Twitch. Students had the opportunity to converse with experienced video games professionals, broadening horizons and highlighting career growth opportunities as part of a truly unique educational experience provided by Digital Schoolhouse and its games industry partners.
The finale was part of the 2019 London Games Festival, which is comprised of a series of events showcasing London and the UK’s globally-lauded games industry. Other events of the festival include EGX Rezzed at Tobacco Docks, Now Play This at Somerset House and a cosplay parade through the capital, all backed by the Mayor of London, who over the last three years has provided £1.2 million of funding to the festival.
For more information on Digital Schoolhouse, please visit the official website, and for any enquiries or interview requests please email DSH@premiercomms.com
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About Digital Schoolhouse
The not-for-profit Digital Schoolhouse programme, powered by PlayStation®, uses play-based learning to engage the next generation of pupils and teachers with the new Computing curriculum. Digital Schoolhouse is delivered by the UK games industry trade body Ukie, and was originally seed funded by the Mayor of London’s London Schools Excellence Fund (LSEF).
Each Digital Schoolhouse is based in a school, college or university environment, and aims to work with a growing network of local primary and secondary teachers to deliver creative and cross-curricular computing lessons using play-based learning. Through this, it supports the new Computing programme of study for the national curriculum in a way that leaves pupils and teachers feeling inspired about, and engaged with, computing and the wider creative digital industries. The workshops put theory into practice and help teachers embed it with ongoing personalised support and continuing professional development (CPD). The programme has been accurately described as a ‘bridge between education and industry’ – and a good one at that.
About Gfinity
Gfinity (LON: GFIN) is a world-leading esports solutions provider. Its business to business platform, “Powered by Gfinity”, delivers managed services to game publishers, sports rights holders, commercial partners and media companies. Gfinity creates bespoke solutions, including competitions and industry leading content production, connecting its partners with the esports community in authentic and innovative ways. Partnerships include EA SPORTS, F1 Esports Series, Halo World Championship and the Forza Racing Championship.
Gfinity connects directly with competitive gaming consumers through its owned competition platform, the “Gfinity Elite Series”. The Series enables competitive gamers to be part of the Gfinity community, testing themselves and developing new skills, while providing a pathway for those who aspire to a career in esports to join a leading professional team. “Gfinity Elite Series” content is distributed through linear and digital channels and is enjoyed by tens of millions of esports fans around the world.
All Gfinity managed service solutions and owned competitions are underpinned by its proprietary technology platform delivering a level playing field for all competitors and supporting scalable multi-format leagues, ladders and knock out competitions.
More information about Gfinity is available at www.gfinityplc.com
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