The PLANET9 University Invitational, a varsity competition between eight London universities, concluded on Saturday, with University College London becoming the inaugural champions.
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PLANET9, an esports competition platform created by Acer, was created to bolster the industry’s grassroots and competitive ecosystem. The platform emphasises player skill improvement with features including specialised coaching and mentoring.
The tournament’s four remaining teams — University College London, Imperial College London, University of Roehampton, and London South Bank University— battled it out on the final day with University College besting Roehampton in the grand finals. As a result the university claimed £1000 worth of Acer prizes, with Roehampton claiming £500 worth. Imperial College placed third, receiving £250 worth of Acer prizes, whilst the tournament MVP went to University College London player ‘FiLexMAMO’.
The tournament was presented in partnership with Acer. Moreover, Acer product series Predator was also an official partner, whilst HudL.gg, a UK-based esports solutions company, supported the event.
The platform also attracted two key influencers to assist competing teams — namely Raymond ‘KaSing’ Tsang, support player for Excel Esports’ academy team BT Excel, and Dan ‘Foxdrop’ Wyatt, currently a League of Legends colour caster and content creator.
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RELATED: PLANET9 launches London-based esports university tournament
On what’s next for the platform, PLANET9 told Esports Insider: “[We are] pleased to broaden opportunity for students’ esports involvement. PLANET9 sees great potential in university students, especially during the pandemic, and looks forward to taking the PLANET9 University Invitational to another level—as well as growing school esports programmes on PLANET9 with more players and fans. Our goal is to expand P9UI to a national scale and then to an international level.”
Participating schools included: King’s College London; Royal Holloway University of London; London School of Economics; University of Roehampton; London South Bank University; Imperial College London; University College London; and Queen Mary University of London.
PLANET9 is also running a giveaway that is still ongoing; successful applicants can win a Predator Triton 500 Gaming Laptop, Predator Gaming backpack and 15,840 Riot Points. Applications can be made here.
Esports Insider says: University esports is on the rise all over the world. More and more schools are offering esports scholarships, and institutions in countries like Canada and Turkey are embracing the change. Varsity esports is arguably a key stage in the industry’s long-term development, particularly in North America, and it will give young people from all backgrounds the chance to experience gaming — without having to worry about financial or connectivity barriers. PLANET9 is smart to establish itself as a facilitator of esports competition in universities; it is the perfect ecosystem in which the industry can grow even further.
Disclaimer: This article is sponsored by PLANET9.