First Cornwall College Esports Festival takes place

The first Cornwall College Esports Festival took place this month, with the Cornwall College Krakens esports students organising the event.

Five teams participated in the games, with three spots up for grabs for the South West Esports Festival final at Exeter College in June.

Demonstrating their communication skills and sportsmanship, the teams competed against each other in Overwatch 2, and team BD emerged victorious, claiming the top spot in the festival.

Blue Flame came in second place, while Pendennis took third place in the Cornwall College Esports Festival.

“We are so proud of all the teams that participated, some were avid gamer’s and some were new to the world of esport,” said one of the Krakens. “It was an honour to coach them throughout the festival and see them compete at such a high level.”

Cornwall College Esports Festival follows growth in esports course

Cornwall College said its esports course has ‘been growing rapidly in the past year, and the success of the festival is a testament to the dedication and hard work of the Krakens and the other students on the course’.

“Esports allows them to constantly meet people from all around the globe, different cultures, countries, languages and they’re picking everything up,” said Alex Jackson, the Study Programme Manager of the level 3 esports course at Cornwall College Camborne.

“It’s absolutely amazing to see young people being able to [destigmatise gaming and esports] and I think once the stigma fully shifts, gaming will become a real positive route both physically and for mentality as well.

“We look forward to seeing what the future holds for our esports course and the Krakens, and we wish the top three teams BD, Blue Flame, and Pendennis, who have progressed to South West Esports Festival final at Exeter College in June, the best of luck.”

The Cornwall College Esports Festival comes as other colleges and universities are running more of their own events. Recently, 100+ students attended Aston University’s first LAN esports tournament, for example.

On Thursday February 23rd 2023, Cornwall College is hosting a taster day for prospective students in year 10 or 11 who are interested in studying esports.

Dom Sacco

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.