League of Legends world finals draw gamers to the Rockhead.

By Kyle Goodhue

A barcraft for the League of Legends season three world finals was held Oct 4 at the Rockhead Pub attracting many Windsor players.

The barcraft, an event like a sports bar for competitive gaming tournaments was hosted by eSport Gaming Events, a Windsor company that organizes Local Area Network (LAN) tournaments and barcrafts in southern Ontario.

When tickets went on sale only 44 people had pre-ordered a ticket for the viewing party. However with tickets still available at the door the final tally was 90 people. Will Girard, chief financial officer at EGE said he is pleased with the turnout.

“Overall I think the event went really well considering that it was scheduled very late and the bar wouldn’t allow anyone under \age in,” said Girard.

Attendees for the final crowded into the Rockhead’s private basement room and Girard said they would have liked more space.

“The bar was literally at full capacity,” said Girard “We did try and anticipate having more people and booking both the upstairs and downstairs of the bar, but we did not have enough pre-sales to book both.”

Those who attended received free swag at the door. Patrons also had a chance to win prizes during the event, including t-shirts, riot point cards, sweaters, hats and a gaming mouse. The prizes were courtesy of Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends and their new viewing party program. The program was started to help document the numerous viewing parties around the world being held to watch the world finals and to send event organizers prizes for those who attend.

“Our prizing ended up being really good too, which was a great bonus,” said Girard.

The finals were held at the sold out Staples Center in Los Angeles, with 13,000 in attendance and millions worldwide watching through online streams and barcrafts. The finals were a best of five between South Korean team SK Telecom T1 and the Chinese team Royal Club Hz.

After three matches SK Telecom T1 took the series and the $1 million cash prize. Fourteen teams from North America, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, and Europe competed in the world championships.  American Express, signed on as a sponsor of League of Legends, eSports and the world championships. Shaun Bryne, chief CEO EGE said he feels the finals and American Express signing on as a sponsor have been a huge step towards legitimizing eSports.

“It’s the first time a big mainstream company got behind eSports so that’s really going to push things forward,” said Bryne. “The championship as a whole has been absolutely astounding. Selling out the Staples Centre where the Lakers play in a couple hours is absolutely crazy.”

Dustin Garvey, a high ranking League of Legends player and member of the University of Windsors Collegiate Star League team said the barcraft at the Rockhead went well.

“They are a lot of fun and not too expensive,” said Garvey. “It was great, but maybe it needed a larger venue and the audio louder because it was a bit hard to hear.”

The administrator for the Facebook group League of Legends, Windsor Area, Liam McMahon, said he was generally pleased with the experience.

“I really liked the event overall but I would have honestly preferred the attendants had registered and bought tickets online so that the bar would have prepared it’s staff for the sheer number of people that ended up showing up,” said McMahon.

EGE used the online payment site Picatic.com for ticket purchases. All revenue from all their barcraft ticket sales went back to the clubs and groups in Windsor-Essex County. Windsor clubs received $110 and $500 was raised for the clubs in Waterloo.

Bryne said the “pay what you want model” and lower fees influenced the change to the new site.

“Instead of us being the only one that benefits from it we’re giving that benefit back to the community,” said Bryne. “I’m excited to see what they do with the money, maybe in house tournaments or giveaways. It will definitely help the community continue to grow.”