Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Gamer.LK and NOC to stage Esports South Asia Cup

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Gamer.LK has partnered with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Sri Lanka to host a series of internatio­nal Esports tournament­s, starting with the InGame Esports South Asia Cup this month.

Electronic Sports, referred to as Esports, is the competitiv­e play of video games. It is the fastest growing sport in Sri Lanka today. With a following in the millions and tournament viewership numbers overtaking some popular traditiona­l sports in the country, Esports is on its way to becoming a top three sports in the coming years, according to Gamer.LK.

Globally, Esports viewership is estimated to overtake traditiona­l sports viewership by 2024, with global millennial­s already watching video games and Esports content more than traditiona­l sports today.

The InGame Esports South Asia Cup is open to six South Asian countries and had over 100 teams taking part in national qualifiers. One team each from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified to represent their countries in the final play- offs which will be held online on March 27, 28 and 29.

The title being played is Counter- Strike: Global Offensive and the teams are competing for a prize pool of US$ 10,000.

The InGame Esports South Asia Cup will be preceded by the Sri Lanka Cyber Games from March 20 to 22 at Stein Studios, which is Sri Lanka’s largest Esports and Video Games festival.

The three- day event attracts over 3,000 Esports athletes and has a walk-in crowd of 10,000 spectators.

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