Esports gamer playing in an esports tournament

A team of students from the University of Portsmouth, called 'Portsmouth Paladins', has claimed the Overwatch trophy at the Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports Summer Tournament

26 August 2022

5 min read

The tournament, which began on July 11th, welcomed 1,735 university players and 224 teams, alongside a plethora of student staff in tournament production roles supporting hosts GGTech and NUEL. This was an opportunity to discover new working interests and gain practical experience within the esports environment.

Students across the UK and Ireland competed for a share of £4,450 in Amazon vouchers across League of Legends, VALORANT, including women’s and non-binary competitions, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, Overwatch, Rainbow Six Siege and Teamfight Tactics. 

With students embarking on their university journey after receiving their A-Level results last week, esports societies will begin reaching out to new joiners ahead of the academic year and the new season of Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports competitions.

Gaming and Esports continue to grow in popularity, and we're excited to see more students from the University compete in the future

Prof. Trevor Keeble, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth

Portsmouth Paladins team member Thomas Moles, who just completed a Computer Science BSc degree at the University of Portsmouth, said:  "As a group most of us have been playing together for 3 years now and as two of us have now graduated we wanted to make sure we went out on a win. 

"Having helped the Portsmouth Paladins put on several Esport events, including a varsity event against Southampton, it has definitely helped me grow as a person and playing every week helped get me through some of the tougher parts of lockdown."

Prof. Trevor Keeble, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth, said: "As the Industry Games Association (TIGA) Education Provider of the Year, it's great to see students from across the University of Portsmouth excel in tournaments which give them the opportunity to test their gaming skills against peers around the UK. 

"Gaming and Esports continue to grow in popularity, and we're excited to see more students from the University compete in the future."

Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports competition counts with the collaboration of outstanding partners, who have given their firm support to this League since its birth, such as Riot Games, and Tech giant Intel. Twitch Student, another crucial partner for the competition, will also be joining this season, bringing the audience closer to the players and upscaling the competition towards new levels.

 

David Jackson, GGTech/NUEL Country Manager, added: “Today brings a close to another successful Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports Summer Tournament which has seen high levels of engagement and given students a great platform to interact during the summer. 

“As students' participation increases, and universities embrace esports through courses and facilities, esports societies and competitions will grow, providing students with additional opportunities in esports-related fields such as event production, management, casting, and other related field is essential.”  

The Winners

Women’s and non-binary competitions were won by ‘Ethereal Cats’ in League of Legends, and ‘ASScendants’ in VALORANT, with both teams made up of students from several universities.

The winners' list was completed by: ‘Ready Player One’ from Loughborough University who won the League of Legends finals; Imperial College London's ‘Origins OGs’ won VALORANT; in Teamfight Tactics, player yl c0 showed his skills; T4, from University of Southampton proved its potential in Counter Strike: Global Offensive; the best team in Rocket League was Warwick Summer Scraps, playing for the University of Warwick; it was a victory for Swansea Storm, representing Swansea University, in Rainbow Six Siege; and Overwatch’s trophy went to the Portsmouth Paladins, from University of Portsmouth.