HotShotz 2017 kicks off with almost 200 gamers at UM qualifiers

• 4 of 6 games streamed over Twitch, Facebook Live, with just under 40,000 total views
• Goal to spark interest in talented Malaysians in gaming beyond playing games

THE road to DNA’s inaugural eGames Festival, HotShotz 2017, kicked-off last Saturday at the country’s oldest university, University Malaya (UM), with the eSports component of HotShotz blasting off.

Almost 200 gamers descended at UM to try to shoot (with their feet), kick, punch, body slam and blow past their opponents to try and get one of the top three spots (list of winners at end of article) in each of the six games featured to qualify for the HotShotz finals from July 22-23 to be hosted by KDU University College at its main campus at Glenmarie, Shah Alam.

The six games that gamers were battling it out amongst themselves were:

PES 2017 (Winning Eleven); COD:IW; Street Fighter 7; Overwatch; CS:GO and Dota2.

Aside from the eSports component, HotShotz consists of:

• Games publishers showcase
• PC Modding
• Indie Games Showcase
• Cosplay competition
• PC Modding

The broad scope of HotShotz is in keeping with DNA’s own tagline: “Your Eye On The Tech Ecosystem”. And this ecosystem approach is also what brought KDU on board as the venue partner.

According to Tan Chin Ike, head of school for its School of Computing and Creative Media, KDU is delighted to lend its support to Hotshotz 2017. “Our objective at KDU's Game Development Department is to provide talents for this growing industry as well as to support the other areas within this field. We hope that by supporting HotShotz, we can spark interest in young talented Malaysians in this field and also create an awareness for this industry that goes beyond just creating games or playing them, which is why we really like the fact that HotShotz has other elements such as Cosplay, PC Modding and Indie Games publishers.”

The early excitement around HotShotz will be around eSports as we run a six university qualifiers designed to select the best of the amateur gamers in the country and even region (it is open to all).

Although DNA got some flak for restricting participation to amateurs, it was good to see some of the pro players come and support their friends. To make the event more accessible, four of the six games were streamed live over both Twitch and Facebook Live, with a combined reach of 160,000 with just under 40,000 views.

Among the visitors who came to check out the action, DNA met a manager who was scouting for promising players to join his pro team (which included his son). While he expressed disappointment that his team could not play, he supported DNA’s decision to keep the participation to amateur players and encourage more gamers to join in.

Also, joining HotShotz but as sponsors were Digi, which is the official HotShotz Streaming Partner. Besides offering instant pictures, a Digi booth at the UM venue offered gamers and fans an irresistible 10GB seed pack that gives them the freedom to play their fave games on the go without hunting for wifi spots.

Digi will again be offering their irresistible give-away at the next qualifier that will be held at the expansive International University of Malaysia (IIUM) at Gombak, Kuala Lumpur this Sat, May 6, so do register for the games if you wish to compete or do drop by between 11am to 6pm to check out the action and play some games at the free-to-play zone.

Let me also welcome leading gaming hardware provider Acer which has joined HotShotz as our Official Gaming Machine Partner.

See you at IIUM on Sat! You can get more information on HotShotz at www.hotshotz.asia or on Facebook.

Sony Interactive Entertainment Hong Kong Limited Singapore Branch (SIES) and Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) are sponsors of HotShotz with Astro as the Media Partner.

List of winners at UM qualifiers who will compete at the July 22-23 finals of HotShotz:

Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
1. Amim
2. Nunis
3. Sun Alli

Street Fighter V
1. Kenny Tail
2. Aliffa Mohd Isa
3. Rafa Mohamad

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare
1. Rampage Gaming
2. Venom Red
3. 4 Nerds

Overwatch
1.Frag Theory
2.M8 Zeta
3.SoloQ Gaming

Dota 2
1. Team 5ive
2. Team Depressed
3. Team Malay All Star

CSGO
1. Virtual Genesis
2. East Esports
3. NACL

Catch the energy and excitement of the qualiers in this video.

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