When we had a look back at our 2016 a year ago, we never truly expected to exceed what was a pretty great year in our opinion. However, 2017 did just that. Even with a missing Call of Duty World League event, there was plenty that we were proud of. As we look back at 2017, we can promise you that 2018 will be better still. How can we be sure? Because we have plans...

ONLINE

Over the course of the year we brought about a number of site updates and changes with the start of a credit system, wagers, ladders and ongoing tournaments for a variety of titles, including the Overwatch Festival.

As we close the year we have hosted over 270 online tournaments featuring over 3,700 matches with over 2,000 registered players. To end the year we hosted the Festive Scrim Ladders and a Christmas Noob Hunt. But as promised, this year there will be more. And we want to make sure that your site experience is a good one.

The monthly Top 5 Plays video gained moment and support during the year, and we will hopefully be able to do title focused releases (alongside the general ones) in the new year.

INJUSTICE 2 SA CUP

A little bit of a personal favourite event with many of the ACGL family, the R60,000 Injustice 2 South African Cup saw over 100 fighters battle it out online for the top four slots at the grand final event hosted in Pretoria. Kicking off in May and running to 8 July, the final four shared the stage with Jack Parow and Fokofpolisiekar in an epic finale in front of 2,000 attendees. The tournament winner Brandon ‘Sho Kahn’ Jacob secured a cheque for R20,000 and a spot in the Birmingham VS Fighting Tournament. While he couldn't make the trip due to visa issues, the event itself proved an entertaining night out that introduced competitive gaming to another audience.

CT ESPORTS

On 24 and 25 June we joined forces with the EGE organisers and the City of Cape Town to bring gaming and esports to Sarepta in Kulisriver. CT Esports brought FIFA 17 and Injustice 2 to the community in an effort to test feasibility of a variety of gaming projects. Over 150 players participated over the two days which included players from other areas being brought in by the City. With over R20,000 up for grabs, the event proved to be an extension of work we have continued doing with schools and communities and one we hope to see continue in 2018.

MGMS

The MWEB GameZone Masters Series - or now more simply, MGMS - was back again for 2017. However, it returned a little different than previous years and focused on Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Rocket League. The Call of Duty tournament was hosted online on the first weekend of July and saw 24 teams battling for their share of R12,000 cash and an additional R2,000 in Raru vouchers. Ventus Gaming took the win over Krypto Gaming, while Bravado Gaming placed third. The Rocket League tournament is ongoing with the first qualifier recently completed and the second qualifier scheduled for January 2018. Rocket Eclair took the top spot (and R2,500), while second place went to VxP | Elem3ntriX. Both teams secured slots in the grand finals scheduled to happen after qualifier two.

RUSH

The middle of the year proved to be a busy one for us. Rush Esports was a new event from the makers of rAge and we were honored to feature at the event. We were asked to look after both FIFA and Call of Duty at the event and we felt right in our element. The FIFA tournament was actually the Kaizer Chiefs Esports Tournament and was the South African professional football team's first dip into esports. It proved pretty successful with over 350 players competing for the R20,000 cash prize pool and Razer products up for grabs. The Call of Duty Infinite Warfare tournament featured R10,000 in cash up for grabs alongside PlayStation and Turtle Beach products.

EGE

The Electronics & Gaming Expo is now a Cape Town standard, and its third year saw us hosting Call of Duty, FIFA, Pro Evolution Soccer, Injustice 2, Dota 2, a sequence of school's tournaments and more. The Call of Duty Infinite Warfare tournament was South Africa's biggest LAN event of 2017 and saw 17 teams competing for R40,000 in cash at the end of July.

Entry numbers were high for all the major tournaments with over 120 players in FIFA and 69 players in Injustice 2. In 2018 we are looking to improve on it all.

MATIES CLUSTER SERIES

The Maties Cluster Series saw the University of Stellenbosch enter the realms of esports with a 2v2 FIFA tournament. The six Stellenbosch clusters each submitted two teams to compete in a league at The Neelsie over a couple of days (25 August and 20 September). The top four clusters at the end faced off in a playoffs on 13 October to determine the strongest FIFA team. That team was  AmaMaties A who saw off the Validus B in the final. It appears that the success of the inaugural event will lead to a more expansive esports program at the university in 2018.

RAGE

We may not have been at rAge in 2017 for the same reason we were in 2016 but we were there none-the-less. This year we worked with Warner Bros. Pictures to promote the Justice League movie and Injustice 2 was the obvious choice. Over the course of the weekend over 500 players participated in the 'King of the Hill' activation - which proved that there are plenty of people who enjoy a virtual beat down.

FIFA 18 LAUNCH

We once again assisted MWEB GameZone with their annual celebration of all things FIFA. This year saw the launch date skipped and an event hosted (in conjunction with PlayStation SA) in October. On the agenda was a number of tournaments, including a 1v1 knockout, 2v2 king of the hill, a skills challenge and more.

CANAL WALK GAMING EXPO

We were honored to have Canal Walk Shopping Centre and its partners request our assistance with their now annual gaming expo at the end of October. The 2017 edition of the expo saw a FIFA 18 tournament hosted with a prize pool of over R18,000 cash as well as PlayStation 4 and more. With almost 250 players over the two qualifying days, it was not an easy tournament to win. In the end, FIFA stalwart, Mubeen Gaffoor secured the top spot after a thrilling final in front of an engaged audience.

 

CALL OF DUTY: WWII LAUNCH

We hosted the Cape Town launch event for Call of Duty: WWII event at the MWEB GameZone office. The event was a real celebration of a game returning to its roots and saw attendees playing for their Division over a variety of challenges. However, even before the game arrived, we were celebrating the return to 'boots on the ground' with the Beta.

GENERAL

Throughout the year we kept doing plenty of community driven events and other gaming activities and tournaments - either as ACGL or alongside Zombiegamer. These included:

We would like to end by thanking everyone that supported us throughout the year - without you all we would've simply been a giraffe, zombie and committed family adrift in the sea. See you in 2018. And bring your vitamins.

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