Local gaming centre, Push Play and Marks Samoa, have concluded its first-ever e-Sports tournament over three weeks with the winners walking away with more than $600 in prizes.

The last tournament of the series, the game “Call of Duty" was won by “Team Katachan Devils” to make them tournament victors. 

Captain of Team Katachan Devils, Eric Ete told the Samoa Observer that he is proud of the performance of his team and complemented Push Play and Marks Samoa for holding the tournament. 

Their team had won $200, Marks Samoa merchandise, 3 free hours at Push Play, $400 Voucher for Marks Samoa, and a trophy from Push Play.

The owner of Push Play, Francis Silva Ah Wong, told the Samoa Observer he is really grateful and excited for not only having accomplished one of the biggest goals for Push Play by hosting a tournament but also for the gaming community in Samoa.

“I am speechless and just grateful for the support and especially for the gamers. Without the gamers the tournament wouldn’t be exciting as it is right now,” Mr. Ah Wong said.

He explained that he was overwhelmed and surprised by the talent and support shown by the competitors.

“At first there was not really that many kids that knew about online gaming because before Samoa had L.A.N (Local Area Network) gaming only, and now having them experience playing online with their cousins, families, and friends, brothers and sisters overseas and they know that they can do more than just playing like friendly matches,” he said.

“Now that they know that they can play competitively and they can earn not only recognition overseas but also locally.”

He is not aware of the exact number of the gaming community in Samoa but he is sure that the community in Samoa is growing and getting to a number where they would expect more in the near future.

“Not only kids play for fun nowadays, but they also play competitively and they play online cash prize matches and tournaments and that’s what we want to provide for our locals here in Samoa,” he said. 

“We want to promote their skills overseas and get recognised by overseas countries especially here in the Pacific, we don’t need to go too far to compete, we can still host our own tournaments here in Samoa and just be [our] best.”

Mr. Ah Wong stated that he is surprised by the winning team’s performance and the skills they displayed throughout the tournament. 

“The way they were performing is exactly the way you want a winning team to perform,” he said.

He revealed that Push Play is planning another tournament towards November or December when most of the gaming community is available for tournaments.

 Mr. Ah Wong is looking into hosting Battle Royale tournaments with games such as Player’s Unknown Battlegrounds, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Battlefield: Firestorm, and Call of Duty: Warzone.

“The journey ever since we started Push Play has been rough and somewhat an experience of a lifetime,” he said.

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