Jersey gamer chosen to compete in Europe for part of a $1,000,000 prize pot

Posted: 05/10/2017

A Digital Jersey Hub member is part of a team that’s been chosen to compete for the European qualifiers at a massive gaming competition (ESL One) w...

A Digital Jersey Hub member is part of a team that’s been chosen to compete for the European qualifiers at a massive gaming competition (ESL One) with a $1,000,000 prize pool.

After four weeks of gruelling competition against some of the top teams in the world, Tim McGuinness will be flying out to compete in front of tens of thousands of spectators in the Echo Arena Regional Qualifiers.

Tim’s team is one of the top four in Europe for Echo Arena, a futuristic world where teams of three go head to head in what appears to be a strange cross between football and frisbee but with everything taking place in zero gravity. EA isn’t just the usual computer game though, it’s played through virtual reality which means players no longer sit at a desk, but interact with virtual worlds and environments in the same way traditional athletes do, with their own hands.

Tim, founder of Virtual Reality Jersey, says that eSports, the name given to pro gaming, is a huge spectator sport, “In 2016 the World Finals for videogame, League of Legends, had twice as many concurrent viewers as for the FA Cup Final. Thousands watch matches live and whole stadiums are being built. Goldman Sachs valued eSports last year at $500million and expects it to grow by 22% each year. Now the sport is embracing virtual reality and the possibilities are endless.”

Tim’s team, Team Gravity, is itself a virtual global entity with fellow team members in the UK and Switzerland. They will be flying to Hamburg, Germany to compete against three other teams in the European Regional qualifiers. “It really is an exciting opportunity,” says Tim, “Over the 28th and 29th of October we will be battling it out to secure cash prizes, or better yet, to qualify for the World Finals which will be taking place early next year”.

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