Inaugural gaming triathlon unites communities

Esports
The event provided a testing ground for getting solo gamers out of their bubbles and into a team-based format to work towards a common goal.
Mariud Ngula
  • 1 Hour Ago

Oryx Esports Namibia’s inaugural gaming triathlon brought together 21 players across seven teams of three to battle it out in Tekken 8, EA Sports FC 27 and Assetto Corsa in Windhoek last weekend.

The competition, held at the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) alongside Namibia’s Anime, Manga, Gaming and Creative Arts Convention (Namcon), featured an N$6 000 prize purse shared among the top three teams across the gaming titles.

Team No Mercy were crowned champions and secured the N$3 000 prize, ahead of second-placed ESL eSports, which claimed N$2 100, and third-placed JUSRHAVEFUN, which took home N$900.

Tournament coordinators Damien Britz and Bjorn Carstens said they deliberately opted for a team-based format over the usual individual competition format to encourage collaboration among players.

They said the format encourages players who ordinarily compete within their respective gaming titles, often on their own, to “get out of their bubble” and work together towards a common goal.

“What makes it nice is its ability to bring different communities together,” said Carstens, adding that having players “work together for one prize pool is a big thing for us”.


The ultimate nerd convention

Britz described Namcon as the ultimate nerd convention, where gamers, geeks and anime fans converge and dress up as their favourite characters.

“They come here and enjoy the esports, check out manga and artwork, and watch calligraphy performances by the Japanese Embassy. It’s a mixed event with plenty of fun involved,” he said.

He further confirmed that Oryx Esports Namibia intends to establish the triathlon as an annual competition, with the inaugural edition serving as a trial run for something different to see “how it fares with the crowd”.

“[This event proved to be] a huge testing ground. The reception has been out of this world. The number of people who came to dress up, participate and look at the different stalls [was more than we could have imagined],” Britz said.

“We had a lot of people here who love this. This is definitely happening yearly. Watch this space!”

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