The U.S. Air Force gaming and esports programme Air Force Gaming has partnered with North American esports tournament platform Rally Cry to host esports event FORCECON.
On May 11th, the event returns to the Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio for the third year, featuring the Armed Forces Esports Championship in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
FORCECON will be open to the public, offering open tournaments for attendants, a retro lounge with arcade games and exhibits from selected industry partners. Competing teams will arrive the prior week to train with professional coaches and participate in a media day.
The teams will also lock in their seedings through qualifiers which are not open to the general public.
The federally endorsed event is held to celebrate the intersection of gaming, technology, innovation, education, and the U.S. Armed Forces. As such, it provides opportunities for the public to meet service people through gaming as well as for inter-force networking.
FORCECON is organised by Air Force Gaming, a programme designed to support Air Force resiliency and retention through gaming. AFG was founded in 2019 and is sponsored by the United Services Automobile Association.
The U.S. Air Force has shown interest in esports for several years. The military branch has partnered with esports organisations, such as Dignitas and Cloud9, as well as tournament organiser ESL.
Founded in 2020, esports tournament platform Rally Cry has produced FORCECON since its first edition in 2022.
Furthermore, Rally Cry has teamed with various esports partners in the past, including SportsEngine, LEARFIELD and National Football League. Last year, Rally Cry partnered with Riot Games to boost the publisher’s North American Challengers League (NACL).
Port San Antonio President and CEO, Jim Perschbach, commented on the upcoming FORCECON: “We’re excited to once again to partner in an exciting event that brings people together from across our community and supports our nation’s defenders.
“Now in its third year at the Boeing Center, FORCECON is also a critically important showcase for the public—underscoring how the esports community is connecting with our nation’s defenders as well as transformative industries on the Tech Port campus and across our region.”
