The SA Gaming News Wrap took a little break over the last few weeks. Blame it on any reason you care to, but it’s back and better than ever before. OK. It’s just back. But that should be enough right?
- ACGL: [Photos] Call of Duty Minor Lan at Funderland
- ACGL: [Photos] 31 March Minor Lan at Funderland
- ACGL: Season 2 – Home Page, Rank and Community Hub Update
- GINX TV: Julia Robson joins GINX Esports TV in Africa
- Orena: Takealot.com – Battle Royale (Final Scoreboard)
- Red Bull: Esports associations & player unions: Is it time for another look?
- Red Bull: Is there space for WESG in the esports ecosystem?
- Red Bull: What to look out for on the South African esports scene
- Tech Girl: 9 South African all female CSGO teams competing in the Valkyrie League!
- Tech Girl: 3 South African games you can help develop
Upcoming Events
ACGL have a number of online tournaments happening over this weekend, including Fortnite, Call of Duty, Rocket League and more. All the necessary details and registration pages are available here.
A quiet-ish weekend lies in front of you:
- Xbox Playdates ZA are hosting their play dates every Wednesday from 8pm and selected Fridays from 9pm. You can get more information here about the regular gaming play dates. The remaining line-up for April is:
- 18th – PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS
- 25th – WWE 2K17
- Mettlestate is hosting the ROG Valkyrie League for CS:GO currently. You can catch two matches a week from the tournament every Wednesday from 7pm until 30 May. Tune in to the action here.
- The Nexus in Gauteng is playing host to the monthly JHBD meetup. That means 12 hours (starting at 10am) of fighting games, fighting games and more fighting games. Entry is R25 and there will be a Dragon Ball FighterZ tournament starting at 4pm. Additional information can be found here.
- The Ark Gaming (Gauteng) is hosting the double trouble (2v2) FIFA 18 tournament on Saturday (14 April) from 10:30am. Entry is R350 per team with a 32-team cap on entries. Up for grabs is R9,000 across the top three spots in the tournament. Head to the event page for more.
Remember to keep these days open for some upcoming action a little further in the future:
- 28 to 29 April 2018: FanCon
- 19 to 20 May 2018: GeekFest
- 29 June to 1 July 2018: Rush
- 27 to 29 July 2018: EGE
- 14 to 16 September 2018: Comic Con Africa
- 5 to 7 October 2018: rAge
Competitions & Giveaways
- MWEB GameZone: Win an epic Far Cry 5 hamper including a Joseph collector’s figurine
- SA Gamer: Free Games Vrydag – Injustice 2 Legendary Edition (Xbox One)
VS Gaming to Host FIFA eWorld Cup Qualifier
VS Gaming have secured the rights to host a FIFA eWorld Cup Qualifier this year. The main event will be played in May and will feature a cash prize pool totaling over R1,5 million as well as a spot(s) in the Global Series Playoffs later this year.
Unlike last year’s eFootball tournament, the 2018 iteration will be played on both console platforms. This will see 512 players per platform divided into eight pools of 64 each.
It’s unclear on how the online qualifiers and open brackets will work currently, but additional information is promised.
Hit the press release below for more, including the prize pool breakdown.
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Tuesday, 27 March 2018, VS Gaming announced today that it has acquired the rights to host a FIFA eWorld Cup Qualifier in 2018 after signing an agreement with EA Sports on the 22 of March 2018.
With 1024 players, the VS Gaming Cup is the largest on the continent and the second largest in the world. According to VS Gaming spokesperson, Wanda Mkhize, this historic agreement means players can now test their skills and be given the chance to compete to represent South Africa at the Global Series Playoffs later this year.
“EA SPORTS FIFA is one of the country’s top selling video games and with almost 7 million gamers around South Africa, we can safely say this is a more than an ideal partnership between VS Gaming and EA SPORTS. It most certainly escalates an already successful tournament to world status and gives local gamers the international exposure each of them dreams of,” concludes Mkhize.
The VS Gaming Cup is an accredited official EA SPORTS™ FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier as EA brings competitive FIFA to millions of fans around the world through the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 in August 2018.
About the VS Gaming Cup
The VS Gaming Cup will have 1, 024 registered competitors across both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms. The event will be divided into eight pools per platform consisting of a maximum of 64 players per pool. The total number of contestants will be 512 per platform.
The total prize pool for this year is over R1,5 million with the winner on each platform receiving R400, 000. The breakdown is as follows:
| XBOX WINNERS | PS4 WINNERS | PRIZE POOL | TOTAL |
| 1st Place | 1st Place | R400 000 | R800 000 |
| 2nd Place | 2nd Place | R150 000 | R300 000 |
| 3rd Place | 3rd Place | R75 000 | R150 000 |
| 4st Place | 4st Place | R30 000 | R60 000 |
| 5th–8th Place | 5th–8th Place | R15 000 | R120 000 |
| 9th–16th Place | 9th–16th Place | R5 000 | R80 000 |
| R755 000 | R1 510 000 |
For more details on the entire EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series, please visit www.FUTChampions.com.
Esports enthusiasts who would like to compete in this tournament and become a part of the VS Gaming community can register on www.vsgaming.co.za. You can also compete in the online qualifiers, the second round of which is taking place 31 March and 1 April 2018. Those that competed in the first round of online qualifiers, which took place 24 and 25 March, are also eligible for the tournament in May.
Further details on the tournament, prize packages and ticket sales will be released in due course.
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1337 LAN
23 to 25 March, the Lowveld hosted the 1337 LAN. With tournaments for CS:GO and Dota 2 and over 130 participants, it appears to have been a good start to the new event.
In the two main tournaments – each with R10,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs – it was the teams from Leetpro that walked away as champions.
Photos from the event by Ice Photography can be found here.
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Local-owned favourites take the win at 1337 LAN
The motto “work hard and play even harder” was given new meaning at this weekend’s 1337 LAN held at Emnotweni in Nelspruit, where locally-owned semi-professional eSports teams dominated the playing field.
This first-of-its-kind event attracted more than 130 esports enthusiasts playing, among others, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2. Spectators from the general public had the chance to watch the specially produced live stream of games live in the arena with commentating by professional esports casters.
In the DOTA 2 team competition teams competed in round-robin format with favourites Leetpro.DOTA and Sinister 5 facing off both in the first round and again in the final. While Sinister 5 managed to win the first round 2-1 it was Leetpro.DOTA who walked away with R10 000 in cash and other prizes after a gruelling final that Leetpro.DOTA managed to win 2-0.
“The play of the tournament was when Darron ‘Chelsea)’ Reinhardt, playing Tusk, threw down the Ice Shards to protect Rynhardt ‘RDK’ de Kock on the Tiny from being killed by the Dire team,” says Dota 2 caster Jono “Jubba” Simon.
The CS: GO team competition was played in double elimination format with 16 teams. Again, local favourites Leetpro.CS, Leetpro.fe (who went to China for WESG earlier this year), and NoYou (comprising of LP Voxity, Sinister 5 and Skeletons Again members) dominated the playing field.
Although local team Uniwisp seemed to have started off with a bang, they lost against Omnius Gaming in the second round and fell out of the competition after the fourth round versus NoYou. Omnius Gaming and Leetpro.fe just missed the final after being taken out by NoYou, who went on to face Leetpro.CS in a nail-biting final.
The first map saw double overtime before Leetpro.CS managed to take the win. Although a clear winner could not be predicted during the second map, the Leetpro.CS boys did what they came to do after yet another overtime and also left with R10 000 cash and loads more in prizes.
“Each team member really pulled their weight and supported one another. One team member that really stood out is Tiaan ‘Tiaantjie<3’ Rheeder who, when least expected early on in the game, and again later, really carried the team. When everyone else was down, he just kept going,” says Leetpro.CS captain Aaron ‘SloWye’ van der Walt.
Other teams that competed to look out for in the Lowveld Corporate League during the year includes T3ch 4 of White River and RE Acce of Ermelo.
The LAN was also home to an exhibition showcasing the latest trends in PC and cryptocurrency mining hardware, and here visitors to the arena could try their hand at gaming on top-of-the-range custom MSI PCs and laptops as well as try out the VR experience with the HTC Vive.
“The aim of the LAN is to promote and grow esports in the Lowveld and provide a safe environment for local players and interested parties to network. The more events of this kind hosted in the Lowveld, the more interest there will be and the more local talent will develop”, says organiser Johan Bezuidenhout of Leetpro.
Although Leetpro’s core business focuses on cryptocurrency mining and PC hardware, the Leetpro esports division is very passionate about the development of esports in South Africa and as the company is based in Nelspruit, they would love to see more organised gaming events in the Lowveld.
“As this is a non-profit event, we relied on likeminded businesses to assist with the venue, infrastructure and prize money to make this event as successful as possible. We would like to thank all the sponsors involved, but we would also like to thank each team and player for supporting and sharing our enthusiasm for esports in the Lowveld,” says Bezuidenhout.
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Unearthed Announced
Local game developer Mad Matter Creative has announced its first game called ‘Unearthed’. The game is a multiplayer title with a “strong sci-fi theme” featuring a “blend of survival and adventure elements”. The Unreal Engine 4 powered game will be heading to PC following its current Indiegogo campaign.
Additional information can be found in the press release below.
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Unearthed – A Sci-Fi MMO
Prepare to leave the Earth you know
27 March, 2018 – Pretoria, South Africa – Independent game developer Mad Matter Creative has announced its first game, “Unearthed”, a multiplayer title for Windows Desktop PCs. Unearthed has a strong sci-fi theme and features a blend of survival and adventure elements and is being developed in Unreal Engine 4.
Ragel Alheit, the sole developer of Unearthed and the founder of Mad Matter Creative, describes Unearthed as follows:
“Unearthed is a game which evolves. It encourages exploration from its inception, both in the literal and in the figurative sense. I want players to expect only the unexpected and retain their excitement about the potential and possibilities the developing game holds. They should always wonder: What will happen next?”
Server-wide events will unite players in immersive scenarios which expands and contributes to Unearthed’s lore and the mystery surrounding the setting. Such events can come in the form of, amongst others, a new environment, a blight altering a familiar one, or an incursion of hostile forces. Players will need to work together to face the challenges, or try and brave them on their own.
Unearthed’s environmental sectors is the heart of its multi-layered worldscape. Dynamic elements such as flash floods, forest fires and blights, toxic vapors and sandstorms, as well as many other unique components add to the player’s experiences in the fight for survival.
The game defies the traditional and offers players the chance to pursue what they wish to, without restricting a player to a specific style of play. Neither are players restrained by limitations imposed by skills or levels. Whether it is exploration, trade, earning prestige in arena battles, crafting, gathering, defending outposts or investigating the mysteries of the world they find themselves on, players will have the opportunity to focus on what they love.
While Ragel has been developing and funding Unearthed herself, a larger team is now essential.
An successful Indiegogo campaign will ensure that a team of talented individuals can be hired and added to the ranks of Mad Matter. This will shape Unearthed into the game it is meant to be.
Mad Matter Creative is running an Indiegogo campaign for Unearthed at: indiegogo.com/playunearthed
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Videos
ACGL Top 5 | March
by African Gaming
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.
