Tech & Sci
08:24, 06-Aug-2017
Hong Kong’s first ever eSports festival a knockout for gaming fans
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Hundreds of youthful fans cheered on some of the world’s best-known video game players as they competed in a cyber battle during Hong Kong’s first ever large-scale eSports festival on Friday.
The event comes at a time when professional gaming is gaining global traction as an official international sport. It will be a medal-sport at the 2022 Asian Games to be held in the east China city of Hangzhou, which is the world’s second largest sporting event behind the Olympic Games.
Leading players, many of whom have undergone gruelling training regimens, can make mega bucks playing in tournaments which can offer more than one million US dollars in prize money.
The 3-day tournament pits teams of ex-professional players from Spain, Germany, China, the United States as well as Hong Kong, now a special administrative region of China, against each other in “League of Legends” matches.
The festival, which ends on Sunday and is expected to draw up to 50,000 people, will also be featuring performances by such South Korean pop stars as bands EXO and Super Junior.
1969km