SA Gaming News Wrap

The year is almost in the firm grip of the silly season but thankfully there is still gaming action happening locally.

Here’s a few local interest articles you may have missed over the last week.

Upcoming Events

You can feel we’re heading into the final furlong of the year with the events all but drying up. Maybe you should enjoy the break because we reckon 2017 will be a busy one.

Cold Fusion LAN are hosting their final LAN of the year at their regular venue of Laerskool Edleen in Kempton Park. The LAN starts at 6pm on Friday 2 December and runs until 11am on Sunday. For more information, you can head to the Facebook event page.

CC Entertainment is hosting their retail shop (in Gauteng) grand opening on Saturday 3 December, and attendees can stand a chance to win a PS4. You can find out more here.

MSSA is hosting the South African National Championships on 3 and 4 December. You need to register to participate and can do so via mindsportssa@gmail.com (although we suspect registrations have closed already). For more information, you can head to the MSSA’s Facebook page.

Looking for regular social gaming action on Xbox One? Then keep the following dates available for Xbox Playdates:
- 2 December: Forza Horizon 3
- 9 December: EA Sports UFC 2
- 15 December: Halo 5: Guardians
- 16 December: Rocket League
- For more on Xbox Playdates ZA head here.

Remember to keep these days open for some upcoming action a little further in the future:

29 April to 1 May 2017: FanCon
28 to 30 July 2017: EGE

Competitions & Giveaways

Bravado Gaming secure ESEA LAN final slot

Bravado Gaming have secured themselves a spot in the CS: GO season 23 LAN finals of ESEA.

The South African team will be participating in the Mountain Dew LAN in Burbank, California against seven other teams from around the world on 5 to 8 January 2017 after defeating Carbon eSports 2-1 in the online qualifiers.

[Source]

Mega8 eSports announced

Kagiso Media (who own JacarandaFM, East Coast Radio, Mediamark, KLA, Urban Brew Studios and others) have launched Mega8 eSports which promises to “further grow and legitimise the competitive gaming industry in South Africa.”

The tournament platform was bought from Cape Town based software developers, Critter, who are now shareholders in Mega8 which will give “gamers the opportunity to win ample prize money on a regular basis by hosting regular tournaments.”

The first of these events is the MTN sponsored Dota 2 Summer Invitational that will feature eight familiar local teams and a R50,000 cash prize pool. The tournament will run from 2 to 4 December and will be streamed live on Twitch and YouTube.

Show Press Release: »

Kagiso Media makes a major play in the eSports space
Johannesburg, 07 November 2016

Kagiso Media today launches an eSports platform, Mega8 eSports (“Mega8”), in a bid to further grow and legitimise the competitive gaming industry in South Africa. Mega8 gives gamers the opportunity to win ample prize money on a regular basis by hosting regular tournaments. The gaming platform was acquired by Kagiso Media from Cape Town based software developers, Critter, who are now a shareholder in Mega8.

Chief Innovation Officer at Kagiso Media Vincent Maher explains that Mega8 was born with gamers in mind. “While the eSports industry in South Africa has grown somewhat recently, with local tournaments featuring better prize pools, it is still a relatively young industry. It is poised for an explosion in growth with improved internet speeds now more widely available. Predictions suggest that by 2019 the local gaming market will be a R3-billion industry.”

Kagiso Media CEO Mark Harris says, “The launch of Mega8 indicates Kagiso Media’s commitment to being at the forefront of developing media trends. We’re a progressive media company that has identified the eSports phenomenon as a burgeoning industry.”

Mega8, together with headline sponsor MTN, will stage its first tournament, The Summer Invitational, from 02-04 December to give the top Dota 2 teams across South Africa the opportunity to participate on the new platform and compete for R50 000 in prize money. The online tournament will also be streamed live via Twitch.tv and YouTube.

Mega8 will thereafter launch official seasons and regularly host tournaments, starting in 2017. Maher explains Kagiso Media’s aim to build the local gaming industry. “With direct links to large media and broadcasting corporations, Kagiso Media intends to grow the local audience. We also hope to turn our local gamers into sports icons, much like top gamers are viewed in other parts of the world. It’s an exciting time for eSports in South Africa.”

Find out more about Mega8 eSports at http://www.mega8.com.

Gamerfest’16 in Ghana

Over the last few years there’s been an increase in gaming events and tournaments in South Africa, but while no-one was looking, the rest of Africa was busy too.

Ghana is starting to really establish an active community and on 16 to 18 December, a number of the local organisations there are working to bring Ghanaians Gamerfest’16.

Attendees will be able to try out PlayStation VR (and other VR), participate in tournaments for FIFA and Mortal Kombat and more.

If you are one of our friends in West Africa, remember to keep the dates open and support the event.

For more information, head to the Facebook event page.

You can find out about even more events happening in South Africa in our events calendar. If you want all the news about goings on in South Africa, simply click on the SA flag to be whisked to the most comprehensive coverage of South African gaming that you will find on the internet. You may just be surprised by how much is happening around the country.

Know of anything gaming related happening or happened in South Africa? Drop us an email at info@zombiegamer.co.za and we will do our best to cover it.