Good news for any Esports enthusiast up in the North-East! The British Esports Association (BEA) have recently announced plans to open a campus for esports education at Riverside Sunderland. Get those controllers out and start practising right away everyone!

We cannot wait to see what sort of talent this could produce for the future of Esports. The organisations new establishment will be known as the National Esports Performance Campus, which will hopefully see a plethora of eager gamers wanting to compete.

The BEA said that the location will “nurture and support the next generation of talent, as interest and engagement in esports grows in the UK.” This could be the start of a new generation of Esports competitors from the UK. With so much potential around, it should be interesting to see if it can be harnessed properly.

Not only this, but the campus is supposedly going to be used for education and coaching for every position within the business as well as the coaches and players. Additionally, it will also host events, tournaments, summer camps, and serve as the Great Britain esports team’s training center.

“The UK is Europe’s second biggest video game market and ranked 6th globally – this speaks to the potential of esports which will capitalise on gaming’s popularity, with talented competitors emerging and a growing audience keen to spectate and enjoy esports as a leisure activity,” said BEA chief executive officer Chester King.

What do we all think about this then? Do you reckon you’ll be able to compete in the North-East? I’m sure many of our staff here at go2games could be contenders that’s for sure! After news that Esports will be apart of the Duke of Edinburgh award, we can’t wait to see what future will look like! Head on over to our store to choose a game you reckon you can compete in.

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The Duke of Edinburgh Award is an awards scheme aimed at pushing young people to their full potential to help the community by developing different skills and completing independent expeditions. Now, Esports have been added as a recognised skill requirement for completing the Duke of Edinburgh Award. You can view the minute and a half-long promotional video on the topic here, but to summarise, Esports are becoming more and more recognised as a desired profession and skill, especially among young people.

Esports widely refers to virtual and video game competition events, essentially the Olympics of the gaming world with various types of Esports ranging from fighting game tournaments to League of Legends, Fifa, Rocket League, Overwatch and so on. For a more in-depth dive into the wonderful world of Esports and why it would make a brilliant base for a film or anime series, have a butcher’s at the video essay by acclaimed YouTuber Gigguk right here.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s CEO Ruth Marvel stated: “Esports is one of the fastest growing activities in the UK and helps young people develop essential skills[…]DofE has a proud history of evolving our programmes to reflect the changing interests and needs of young people, so I’m delighted that, following a successful pilot, we’ve added esports to the DofE Skills list”.

Besides the fact that this means a whole new generation of gamers in the UK have a chance to improve and follow their dreams, I also happen to know someone who’s competed in Apex Legends tournaments, even one third place. This thereby technically makes every move they make a pro-gamer move.

A pilot study by the DofE also concluded with results suggesting that playing esports can help develop skills such as, communication, strategic thinking, leadership and teamwork abilities. And to buck the stereotype of the ‘otaku’ (basement-dweller) or NEET (person Not in Employment, Education or Training), the pilot also found subjects have developed their self-esteem, organisational and social skills at least in part thanks to skills picked up via Esports play. Here are statements from some who took part in the trial:

Hannah 17: “I think the team play aspect of esports – and competitive gaming in general – is just really interesting. How you can form bonds with people and learn how they play and improve your own skills is really cool. Competing in something that big is just really interesting to me.”

Brody 17: “It’s going to be a future phenomenon. Many people think there aren’t many jobs available in esports, but there are loads, from business to playing and shout casting and all the other roles within the esports industry. The fact the DofE is doing esports just gives us more opportunities and more experience to gain skills”.

Tom Dore of the British Esports Association is also pleased with the outcome, stating: “Like all traditional sports, it teaches young people many life-enhancing skills. It can also lead to a whole host of exciting education and career opportunities, not just within the global esports industry, but also wider digital, creative and STEM based industries”.

A Brief History: The Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

• The DofE was set up by The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip in 1956.
• 6.7 million young people have taken part, with 3.1 million achieving their award.
• 14- 24 year olds can take part and earn their Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
• Young people learn new skills, volunteer in their community and go on expeditions with friends.

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The post Esports Come to the Duke of Edinburgh Award first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Since 2012, Go2Games has been operating from the heart of Croydon, reaching out to gamers across the UK and EU. Started by four friends native to the borough, today Go2Games’s entire workforce are from the local community, representing the diversity that runs all the way through Croydon. However, Go2Games does not want to be solely an online retailer. Nor does it see its contribution to society as merely that of a local employer. Go2Games has always placed community cohesion at the centre of what it does – and it is this civic duty that underpins what it is about. In early 2020, the planet surrendered to the hellish grip of a sustained global pandemic and it was shortly thereafter that Go2Games doubled down on its role for the many strands of community that together, make Croydon what it is.

Crystal Palace Football Club literally runs through the blood of Go2Games, with several of its employees, including its MD Craig, lifelong (and some might say long-suffering) fans of the team. Because of this, Go2Games has developed a historical partnership with the Palace For Life Foundation, having sponsored its Down Syndrome Eagles Football Team. During the early stages of the pandemic, back in April 2020, Go2Games got together with Palace For Life to provide gaming consoles to local, disadvantaged children, young adults and families, whilst also distributing consoles to hospital wards too. As Craig said himself, “As families increasingly feel the need to tighten their belts, we thought giving away some free consoles might have a positive impact on local lives, and we’re grateful to Palace for Life for identifying for us those who need it most.”

This partnership with Palace For Life deepened even further in 2021 as Go2Games launched its #keepcroydonconnected campaign. With the pandemic causing schools across the UK to close and learning to then go online, if you were stuck at home without the tech you needed to do your schoolwork, to log onto online Zoom classes or to submit work to deadlines – you were truly at a disadvantage. Partnering also with Croydon Commitment and Croydon Voluntary Action, G2G’s #keepcroydonconnected campaign sent out a call-to-action borough-wide asking people to donate any used laptops, tablets and PCs that they had no further use for. Go2Games would then receive these laptops, send them to a refurbishment company and then, with the help of several people and groups including local MPs, distribute these devices to the young people and older adults who needed them the most. Pre-pandemic, this communitarian quest to help those less fortunate members of the community had long been part of G2G’s DNA – #keepcroydonconnected was a logical extension of this mission.

GO2GAMES PROUD TO BE A DISABILITY CONFIDENT EMPLOYER ❤ @playstationuk@nintendouk@xboxuk pic.twitter.com/IlYVtBhF9m

— Go2Games (@GO2GAMES) January 21, 2021

It is those who before the pandemic, have already had the odds stacked against them that stand to struggle the most coming out of the pandemic into the “new normal”, whatever that might mean. Ableism and its impact on those seeking employment who have some sort of disability is, on the part of employers, borne out of a lack of education, an unconscious bias, an absence of compassion and understanding – or a cocktail of all three. That is why Go2Games has committed deeply to being a Disability Confident status employer. Announcing this in January 2021, Go2Games is proud to hold this status and more importantly, is now an employer which is confident in doing so and in turn, is an employer that people with disabilities can feel confident to both approach and apply for roles at the company.

Two years ago, Croydon’s Legacy Youth Zone threw its doors open to the young people of the borough. Built on the model of existing On Side Youth Zones which give young people safe and inspiring places to go in their leisure time, somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to, Legacy offers world-class facilities to young people to engage in the activities they love doing but also to find out about and discover new passions and hobbies alongside each other. Go2Games has partnered with Legacy as a Gold Supporter and have been involved with Legacy throughout every step of the way. In recent times, Go2Games have run gaming sessions at Legacy, premiering new releases and trying out new and featured products, eSports FIFA tournaments and regular junior Mario Kart tournaments – all inside and outside of lockdown, as per government guidelines around youth centres.

Since May 2021, Go2Games have been in partnership with the local social enterprise Fashion Meets Music, taking up a space on the shop floor to promote new releases and a selection of our wide stock range, to offer shoppers at Centrale a free gaming experience by courtesy of Nintendo Switches and a PS5 with classic and new games – but most importantly, to offer an array of traineeships and accredited work experience for the people of Croydon.

We are currently running a Kickstart scheme from the shop, having brought on board some amazing new content creators, post-production crew, streamers and social media administrators – all of whom are now heading up the effort across our social media platforms! Working together with Fashion Meets Music, who showcase independent, black fashion designers, pan-African art and textiles and some banging playlists has been wonderful and places Go2Games quite literally at the heart of Croydon. Come down and meet the crew, see if you can beat us at Mario Kart, FIFA, Street Fighter or any of the titles we have there and if you are interested, put your name down for some 2021 gold dust in the form of a PS5 or an Xbox Series X!

Finally, a good news story! A couple of weeks ago, stand-up comedian and all-round stand-up guy White Yardie came down to the shop to meet Go2Games and launch a charity prize draw to win a PS5 – in order to raise vital funds for the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who have recently had their lives turned upside down by the eruption of the volcano La Soufriere. The prize draw has now since ended and we are thrilled to have raised £1075 in just a ten-day period! The draw has now since ended and White Yardie spoke to a very excited winner to congratulate them and to highlight in detail how much St Vincent and the Grenadines have been through in the last few months.

We are nothing without the people with whom we share this town and there is so much more that unites us than that which divides us. Go2Games was born out of this unity and shared experience and as it has grown, Go2Games’s values have remained rooted in this sense of community and social responsibility. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this story – and if you think you can help us write it, come find us because as a wise man once said: “Without people, you’re nothing”.

The post Go2Games in the Community first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Hi friends, I’m really excited to be writing my first post on the Go2games blog!

Blogs are amazing platforms to share knowledge, ideas and personal thoughts. Firstly I want to start off by introducing myself, my name is Teneil I am 21 years old and I am part of the social media administration team at Go2Games! I would get straight into telling you my first tasks of the day but I would be lying if i didn’t tell you that it started with a Spiced Chai Latte lol. My day started at 10am posting the new 60 seconds news video on twitter and Tik Tok, my colleague Tanisha manages the other social media platforms e.g. Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.

I actually got to sit behind the scenes whilst Ron, Toby and Sam from the post production team filmed the news episodes which was a really cool experience!

I later followed with uploading Daily Deals/ News Images which consist of the latest gaming updates, news and upcoming releases… if you’re a Sonic fan you defiantly want to head over to the twitter page for their most recent announcement!

This afternoon the “Inside streamers” second episode went live on YouTube, they came together for a second time by the benches for a good old chit chat… its definitely worth a watch!

To end the day I released the Go2Games “Music2Games” playlist which is our most recommended hits to play whilst gaming, call me bias but our playlist caters to everyone.

Overall it was a really successful day and excited to see what tomorrow brings!

Teneil x

The post My day at Go2Games – Teneil – Social media administrator – 9.6.21 first appeared on Get2Gaming.

JME has announced that his tournament ‘The Serious’ Rainbow Six Siege Tournament will be played at the Gfinity Arena. It will have a prize pool of £2,500 with a LAN final.  The LAN final will be played at the Gfinity Arena.

Qualifiers will take place on August 28^th, with the best teams qualifying for the LAN finals on September 9^th. Once teams have battled it out to take part at the LAN event, they will then go on to battle JME and his team on stage at the arena.

JME has already come out and said “I’m online murking just as much as I’m on stage, it was only a matter of time until this happened.” He also said “I’ve got my team, Headtop, and we’re more than ready.”

For people who actually don’t know who JME is. He is one of the biggest UK grime MC artists. Alongside his brother Skepta he is a co-founder of the Boy Better Know record label and brand. JME has always been known for how much he loves video games, there was even a rumour that he swapped a shiny gold vinyl version of his album for a shiny Charizard Pokémon card.

The post BBK Rapper JME hosting £2,500 Rainbow Six Siege tournament at Gfinity. first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Xbox Australia has revealed its first designs with actual models for their first fashion design which is going to be an Xbox Onesie. They have announced that it is “not just your standard onesie.” It is going too made out of the black and white colour scheme. Below you read what features this onesie is going to feature:

• Enlarged pockets to fit an Xbox Controller and Media Remotes
• Arm pouch for a mobile phone
• Roll-able leg and arm sleeves
• Forearm grips to prevent slipping
• Extra-large hood to accommodate headsets
• Customised Gamer tag embroidery

Below you can see the images released by Xbox of what the onesie is going to look like:

The post XBOX ONESIE: Revealed by Microsoft first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Manchester City have announced that they have signed a professional eSports player to represent Manchester City in gaming events.

Manchester City become one of the latest football teams to invest into eSports, following the likes of Manchester United, West Ham and Schalke.

Kieran ‘Kez’ Brown is the new signing for the club. Kieran is a young professional FIFA player who recently finished runner-up in the Spencer FC Game Academy, a competition for young professional FIFA players on YouTube.

In Kieran’s first interview he said, “It’s exciting, it’s something new for the Club and it’s something new for me. I’m going to livestream on twitch, I’m going to be making videos for Manchester City’s YouTube channel and I’m going to be playing some City fans and representing City in future tournaments, which I’m looking forward to. This is an opportunity which not many people get the chance to do and I couldn’t turn it down.”

With Man City now moving onto the eSports scene, how long before your favourite club signs up a professional gamer?

The post Manchester City sign their first eSports player first appeared on Get2Gaming.

As you Halo fans already know it is just a few more days to go until Halo 5’s biggest – ever Warzone Firefight expansion launches on June 29 and 343 has now shared loads more new information about it.

The pictures which have leaked has given players a great insight of what the new maps are going to be like, also a rough scale of how large the maps are really going to be like. 343 has been giving weekly updates with stuff such as insights from the developers point of views and one major thing they have recently updated us about is the new game mode Warzone Firefight and how it has changed since the beta in April.

First thing 343 did was go over the fan feedback from the beta they released not so long ago, 343 have taken measures to make sure players objective are clear. “We added a brand new splash feed that shows up at the beginning of each round. It shouts, loud and clear, the round number and what you need to do to succeed. It’s front and centre and literally comes in with a ‘splash’” 343 said.

They also announced that the mini scoreboard in the bottom-right of the screen now shows your team’s progress towards current objectives. Before this scoreboard only showed your personal score.

“Depending on the goal, the scoreboard will look and act different in order to inform your squad as to how the round is shaping out,” 343 said. “For instance, if the goal is to eliminate 100 Grunts, a red bar will fill from right to left as your team takes each one out. Or if, for example, your team needs to defend the Armoury, a blue bar will slowly shrink from left to right as the enemy AI captures the base.”

343 also confirmed there will be six maps, one of which is new, for Warzone Firefight. The beta only had one. These include:
• Escape from A.R.C.
• March on Stormbreak
• Raid on Apex 7
• Skirmish at Darkstar
• Urban
• Attack on Sanctum (new)

The post Details on Halo 5’s Upcoming Free Expansion. first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Splyce, who are worldwide known for their amazing Esports teams within different departments of gaming have recently signed an Overwatch team.

The organisation have signed the former Fine, I’ll Go MsCree roster, who have been playing which each other since the beta was released. They have yet to post any top results in significant events, however Overwatch is fresh to the Esports scene and we are sure they will come up with some major results as the game is played more in the competitive scene. The team is based in North America and will now play under the Splyce banner at all upcoming events.

The roster of the new Splyce team includes: Bradford ‘PYYYOUR’ Ross, Josh ‘Steel’ Nissan, Eric ‘Papasmurf’ Murphy, Matt ‘Flame’ Rod, Matt ‘clockwork’ Dias and Jan ‘cozen’ Lacosta.

The post Splyce picks up Overwatch team first appeared on Get2Gaming.

With the end of week 3 of the Halo Championship Pro League, Counter Logic Gaming are still standing at the top with an amazing 6-0 win to loss ratio. The way CLG play as a team is just unbelievable, their strategies are just out of this world and the opposition can just not get a grasp on how to beat this outstanding team.

However Team EnVyUs are not standing down as they are only one win behind them and it is obvious they are not going to give up that easily. It will be interesting to see if EnVyUs are going to be able to catch CLG If they slip up in an upcoming match.

Thank you for watching this week's #HCS Pro League action! Here's a look at the standings in North America. pic.twitter.com/zWRFAXmodH

— Halo Esports #HCS (@HCS) June 18, 2016

The post The End of Week 3, HCS Pro League first appeared on Get2Gaming.