Full house as grand finals are hot ticket in ‘Las Vegas of gaming’

Dundee was billed as the “Las Vegas of gaming” as Scotland’s premier esports event got under way yesterday.

The SEL4 grand finals kicked off at Dundee Contemporary Arts yesterday with the Call of Duty Esports Scotland Cup.

The attendance is thought to have come close to the 300-person daily capacity permitted during the four-day event.

Over the next three days the grand finals will take place in CounterStrike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, League of Legends, Valorant and Tom Clandy’s Rainbow Six Siege.

A record-breaking prize pot of £11,000 is available to the winners.

Gaming team Skelp is being represented by 18 players in four teams.

“It’s a bit of an extreme comparison but in the same way that Las Vegas is the Mecca for gaming, why can’t Dundee be the Mecca for esports?” said Glaswegian Jonny Boyle, 31, who set up Skelp during lockdown.

“SEL4 is the culmination of everything we have been working on for the past year. This is like our World Cup finals.”

Ellis Watson is delighted to see the cream of Scotland’s esports gamers coming to the city in which he lives.

The 30-year-old lives in Lochee and has a job in marketing for Certas Energy.

In his spare time, he is an avid Call of Duty competitor and was the live-stream commentator at yesterday’s event alongside Dom Gallo, 22, who is originally from Windygates, Fife.

“I have been in gaming since I was 13,” said Mr Watson, who previously played football for Montrose. “Everyone knows that Dundee is the gaming capital of the UK, and maybe Europe.”

Mr Watson, whose moniker is Elmo, is looking forward to the opening of the proposed Northern Lights Arena on the Waterfront in 2024.

“When that building opens Dundee will be booming,” he added.

Leading gamers in the Call of Duty competition include Shea Sweeney, 26, and Jamie Lambert, 22.

Mr Sweeney, whose moniker is Qwiker, has been an esports professional since 2015 and represented Celtic in the prestigious Call of Duty World League Championship in 2019.

“This is the first esports Scotland grand finals I have been in and it looks top notch,” he said.

“If I win this event and play well it’s almost as though I am the best in Scotland so I will feel proud.”

Mr Lambert, who goes by the tag Jambo, came third in last year’s Call of Duty Challenger championship.

He said: “I have played in America, Paris, London and Birmingham. It’s nice coming here because it’s much easier for travel!”

An enthusiastic member of the audience was John Alexander, who was not present in his role as leader of Dundee council.

Mr Alexander plays Call of Duty on the Xbox and also joins his children Noah, 4, and Jack, 6, on Nintendo Switch.

“This event is an incredible opportunity for the city,” he said.

Action from the SEL4 grand finals yesterday.