While UNLV fans lament that the university was unable to head to March Madness, the university did excel in a new type of sporting division: esports.
8-Bit Esports, the premier eSports organization for UNLV, battled against Boise State in the inaugural Mountain West eSports Showdown and triumphed as the victors.
Milestone Unlocked
Milo “Frostbyte” Ocampo, 8-Bit Esports at UNLV President and co-founder, expressed his elation over the victory.
“This is a very huge milestone for my life’s work and I’m incredibly grateful. I’m incredibly happy,” Ocampo said.
“The win validates all the hard work my officers (old and new) have put in through the years. My role in shaping Vegas esports had me introducing esports to a variety of people and being able to show off esports to University presidents and athletic directors made it much more personal,” he said.
Work, Not Just Play
While competing in esports tournaments sounds like it is all fun and games, there is a lot of hard work involved. Ocampo himself has been in the esports community for 13 years and began organizing tournaments when he was 10.
“We as esports athletes practice 10-15 hours a day. We’re in-game, we’re out-of-game, we study, we have numbers. It’s intense,” he said.
The showdown was a result of a partnership between Mountain West and ESP Gaming, located in Las Vegas. It was held in conjunction with the Mountain West Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships here in the valley.
The two teams of 15 participants each squared off in three highly popular esports games: League of Legends, Rocket League and Overwatch. Exhibition matches were held Thursday and Friday, while the main event happened Saturday inside Cox Pavilion.
“The Future Looks Bright.”
8-Bit Esports specializes in tournaments and social events for the Las Vegas esports community. Their lab supports several games, including Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
While UNLV’s Athletic Department does not fund 8-Bit Esports yet, that could one day change. Gaming continues to grow globally, and there has been an enormous push for esports in the Las Vegas valley.
The team received support from local businesses through some equipment donations.
“I think what [this showdown] is going to show is that we have amazing talent, we have students and athletes that can go pro and we’re doing this all with very minimal resources,” Ocampo said.
Alexander “Skin” Skinner, also on the 8-Bit Esports team, thought this showdown was just what the esports community needed.
“This is a big signal to the other sport conferences and the collegiate scene of the rest of the United States, and so we’re going to see a lot more competition and I think it’s going to keep growing and I want Vegas to be the center of it,” he said.
Ocampo shared Skinner’s sentiment.
“Moving forward, the 8-Bit teams will continue to train hard to defend their Mountain West title. UNLV and 8-Bit will begin conversing more to see where esports fits in with athletics. The future looks bright.”
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