UK games industry trade body Ukie’s Digital Schoolhouse school esports tournament concluded a few days ago, with the final taking place at London’s Gfinity Esports Arena.
Eight teams came together at the event to duke it out after months of gruelling regional qualifiers, playing 3v3 in Overwatch. Ukie says the tournament saw a record 3,500 participants from across the UK.
King Edward VI School’s 3v3 Overwatch team, Scorpions (pictured), emerged as the overall victors.
After crashing out in the final stages of last year’s competition, the Scorpions made a triumphant return to form and snatched victory from the hands of tournament frontrunners Only W! to win a range of prizes and lift the Digital Schoolhouse trophy.
“It was an honour to be here and take part today. The competition was fierce and there were a few close calls, especially in our final round, but we triumphed in the end.”
Reuben A, the Scorpions
The final event also doubled up as an esports careers experience, with various industry guests in attendance. Students had the opportunity to converse with experienced video games professionals, while others could watch the matches live on Twitch from home.
It was also part of the 2019 London Games Festival, which is comprised of a series of events showcasing London and the UK games industry.
The Digital Schoolhouse programme, powered by PlayStation, uses play-based learning to engage the next generation of pupils and teachers with the computing curriculum.
King Edward VI School also held its inaugural annual esports award gala dinner celebration party.
James in superb form for the Annual eSports Report.
Imagine whole school assembly eSports reports on steroids, with more jokes, banter and a little heckling from the audience. pic.twitter.com/Dui0ILp1yD
— K.E.S. Computing (@KES_Computing) April 11, 2019
Image credit: Digital Schoolhouse Finals 2019 – 1583 – Joe Brady
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
