Hybrid World Adelaide, South Australia’s inaugural digi-tech festival and the Adelaide Crows, will partner to promote the growing eSports phenomena this October.
The Adelaide Football Club made Australian sporting history in May by becoming the first mainstream sports organisation in the country to buy a professional eSports team.
The Crows purchased professional outfit Legacy eSports – one of Australia’s eight top-tier teams that competes in the Oceanic Pro League playing the game League of Legends.
Hybrid World Adelaide, which will run from 4-8 October, is also dipping its toe in the world of competitive video gaming, working with League of Legends game developer, Riot Games, to present a high school League of Legends tournament in a purpose-built LAN during the public program from 6-7 October at Tonsley.
HWA and AFC signed an MoU, agreeing to work together to promote eSports in South Australia as a form of entertainment, and as a pathway to educational and economic benefits.
AFC will support HWA’s eSports activity with Legacy player appearances and demonstrations, and commentating (or ‘shoutcasting’) by Tim Wendel, Legacy Head of eSports.
“We are very excited about this partnership with such an innovative festival in its inaugural year, which gives us the opportunity to bring to life our Club purpose of ‘bringing people together to achieve great things’, and showcase some of our best Legacy talent, with Riot Games. Hybrid World Adelaide and the SA Government recognise that esports is quickly growing in Australia, and will be an important part of the future sporting landscape”, said Nigel Smart, COO, Adelaide Football Club.
HWA and Riot Games are presenting the first ever high school LAN tournament in South Australia, where school teams will meet up in person to play collectively. This will be the first such tournament supported by Riot’s world-first High School League of Legends Clubs initiative.
Every high school in South Australia is invited to take part in this initiative, that will also promote excellent play and behaviour online. League of Legends is a video game created by Riot Games in 2009 which has become the most popular game in the world with 100 million players. The game pits two teams of players against each other on a mission to destroy the other team’s Nexus (base).
Hybrid World Adelaide will take place from October 4-8 at the Tonsley Innovation District and is predominantly free. For more information, visit www.hybridworldadelaide.org.
More News
