Esports students from Staffordshire University London have assembled to organise the London Showdown, a charity showmatch in aid of the Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The exhibition event will see rival LDN UTD and London Esports go head-to-head in best-of-three League of Legends series.
The esports community will be able to watch the action unfold live on Twitch on Friday April 2nd from 6pm GMT, with those who miss the broadcast able to catchup on YouTube.
“We intend to make the London Showdown a prime example of how motivated students can collaborate and engage with their industry counterparts,” said Jamie Wootton, one of the students helping to organise the event (and a writer for Esports News UK).
“We are pleased that both London organisations have agreed to participate in the event, and we cannot wait to put on a show and raise money for a very deserving charity.”
“We intend to make the London Showdown a prime example of how motivated students can collaborate and engage with their industry counterparts.”
Jamie Wootton, Staffordshire University Student
Oliver Weingarten, Founder and CEO of LDN UTD, commented: “We worked with Staffordshire University London during our Yop Esports Champs with the Mayor of London, therefore were eager to support the students’ efforts with this fantastic initiative, and also have the opportunity to pit ourselves against the other LDN team.
“At LDN UTD, we pride ourselves on being a purpose driven org, so we also see the London Showdown as a brilliant opportunity to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.”
Alfie Wright, founder and CEO of LDN Esports (recently interviewed by Esports News UK), added: “We’re really excited to be involved with this project, and we are always happy to support a good cause. This is a good chance for us to finally get to play against LDN UTD and take them down for the first time! Thanks to everyone for putting on this event and inviting us.”
London Esports recently finished runners-up in the UKLC, while LDN UTD recently signed a Valorant team, UK Fortnite player Magin and FIFA streamer Shauna Games.
Some Staffordshire University students have expressed their criticism of the university’s esports course on social media in recent weeks – Esports News UK is currently working on a separate piece to report on this.
In the meantime, this is a great initiative for a great cause and we look forward to seeing which London team will emerge victorious.
UPDATE: London Esports won!
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.
