Arkansas State esports hosted a competitive event Saturday in a conference the team held with NYIT.

   The event was broadcasted on the team’s Twitch page and featured titles such as Fortnite, League of Legends and Overwatch. 

   Steven Holmquist, a senior at A-State who is also the team captain of the League of Legends team, led the Red Wolves to victory over their New York competition in the event.

   “The League match was a ton of fun to be a part of,” Holmquist said. “NYIT were a really strong team and came out early both games, but we were able to turn both games around for a 2-0 series win.”

   Holmquist says the transition from an in-person event to an online event was a seamless change for the conference.

   “The original plan was to have the NYIT esports team come to our campus and play and have the speakers come and speak in person,” Holmquist said. “But of course with the ongoing pandemic we decided to move it all online and thankfully through Twitch, we have the platform to seamlessly transition the event online.”

   While the League of Legends and Fortnite teams were able to notch victories over NYIT, the Overwatch squad suffered a reverse sweep to close the conference out. Drew Morgan, a junior healer for the team, still had a great time during the event.

   “It definitely was a tough loss for us,” Morgan said. “We let off the gas when we were up big and let the game slip away. But it was still a lot of fun and a step forward for our program as a whole.”

   A-State students who might be interested in joining the team can look forward to tryouts at the beginning of the fall semester, with more information due to be released over the summer.

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