Video game tournament draws players from around the globe
There’s more than $24 million waiting to be won in a tournament that holds the largest prize pool of any eSports championship — and it’s on Canadian soil for the first time.
“This is kind of like the Super Bowl,” said Peter Anders, referring to the International Dota 2 Championships tournament that kicks off at Rogers Arena today.
“You get these absolute diehard fans that are running around with their country’s flag, or have the Tshirts of the different players and scream for them when the players walk on the stage,” said Anders, who belongs to the UBC eSports Association.
The game Dota 2 is a mixture of chess and capture the flag, where teams of five are pitted against each other to defend their base and destroy that of their opposition. It’s a game that requires high strategy and foresight, explained Anders, making for an ever-increasing high-stakes championship, and an enthusiasm from the crowd that is comparable to that of any other major sporting event.
With 18 teams at play, the tournament goes through a round robin before entering the double elimination stage. Each game usually lasts between 15 minutes and more than an hour.
Tourism Vancouver, which hopes to pursue more eSports tournaments in the future, said the estimated economic impact of this event will be more than $7.8 million in direct visitor spending.
While Anders and others from UBC’s eSports club will be attending as spectators, they are among the best collegiate teams in North America, winning two consecutive titles in a different tournament.
Vivian Chung, also part of the UBC team, has attended the event for the past two years in Seattle, and was excited to see it come to Vancouver.
“In my first experience, I remember thinking it’s hard to imagine that something that you just play on the computer has such an amazing large-scale event,” Chung said.
While some of the best international players are from China and Europe, Canada has a handful of names on that list as well.
“There’s only about three to five players that are top competitive (Canadian) players, but some of the most popular players are Canadian actually,” Chung said.
Team “Fnatic” for example not only features famed Canadian player Jacky Mao, but is also coached by Kurtis Ling, a former UBC student who won $6.6 million in the 2016 championships.
“Fnatic is my favourite team,” said Anders. “The fact that their coach went to my school makes me even more passionate about the team.”
The historic decision in July by the game developer, Valve Corporation, to move the tournament from Seattle to Vancouver for this year was based on the fact that Vancouver is an up and coming powerhouse in the industry.
Earlier this month, it was also announced that Canada’s first eSports stadium would be built in Richmond, and is scheduled to open next year.