Hotshotz 2017 closes with two-day grand finals

• Winners of the seven games announced, PC modding competition finishes
• Lucky draw, cosplay, indie games and exhibition matches entertain visitors

THE Hotshotz 2017 eGames festival at KDU University College Glenmarie Utropolis came to a close on July 23 after five qualifying rounds held over two months and a grand two-day final.

The second day of the event saw the finals of the seven games being played, with gamers fighting it out on the main stage after the gruelling play-offs of the previous day.

The games, comprising three PC games and four PS4 games, were: DOTA2, Overwatch, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Street Fighter 5, Tekken 7, PES 2017 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare.

The winners are:

PES 2017

1st place – Misaifix | Krie

2nd place – LR | Karl

3rd place – CGF | Rush

Tekken 7

1st place - ZABA

2nd place - Shrimboo

3rd place - Zurvizard

Street Fighter 5

1st place – Fit3amir

2nd place – Raihan

3rd place – Hentai_Tail

Overwatch

1st place – FRAG THEORY

2nd place – M8 Zeta

3rd place – Shimada Bros

DOTA2

1st place – Magic Flying ears

2nd place – Team Tryhard

3rd place – Doc

CS:GO

1st place – Vicious Gaming

2nd place – Morph Gaming

3rd place – Antrhax Esports

COD:IW

1st place – Unveil Donutz

2nd place – Venom Spectrum

3rd place – Rampage Gaming

Tekken 7 competition winner ZABA, who has been playing the game for only three years, said he was extremely happy with his unexpected win. “Three years is not a long time, but I practice for four or five hours every day to hone my skills,” he said, adding that his perseverance paid off.

The Street Fighter 5 competition was a close one, with runner-up Raihan, for whom Hotshotz is his first ever tournament, proving a worthy adversary for champion Fit3amir, who was very pleased with his win.

One of the highlights of the day for the gamers was the Overwatch exhibition match between MBT.Valkyrie, Malaysia’s first all-female Overwatch team, and a pick-up team of Overwatch gamers at the event.

The gaming was hyped with the crowd cheering their favourites, and despite the pick-up team putting up a good fight, MBT.Valkyrie won the match.

The PC Modding competition also drew to a close; after two days of hard work, the competitors displayed their tricked-out machines for judging and for the crowd to admire.

The winners of the PC Modding competition are:

1st place - 30 Degree by Muhammad Abdurrahman

2nd place - Bloody Red by Safuan

3rd place - Silver Edge by Shahid

Modder Muhammad Abdurrahman, who is an architect in Selangor, explained that PC modding is an intricate affair, with both technical and artistic skill coming into play. Hotshotz being his very first competition, and this being his third time building a PC, Abdurrahman said that he was at first intimidated by the competition because of his lack of experience.

“But I realised that this was a great platform for me to gain experience. If you’re afraid of competition, when are you going to gain experience? I believe in my capabilities to design and create things, so I went for it. It was my first time using hard tubing water cooling, which is very difficult to do properly, but it was worth the risk,” he said.

Abdurrahman’s background in architecture and design came into play as he drew inspiration from the process of building the PC itself, adding colours and a Gundam to the design as he worked. He also said that his assistant in the competition Muhammad Abdurrasheed, who is his brother and a building surveyor and part-time game streamer, provided much support and encouragement.

The cosplayers were again out in force on the second day. Celebrity cosplayers Yugana Sensi Uon, Lychiii and Onnies conducted an education workshop for cosplay fans, demonstrating cosplay makeup techniques and tricks, and teaching their fans how to go about creating the props that complete a good cosplay costume.

The game publishers showcase was again open for the second day of the event, with more visitors heading for the Sony Interactive Entertainment Hong Kong Limited Singapore Branch (SIES) and Codemasters Malaysia booths to sample the free-to-play games.

Indie game publishers also attracted visitors, especially the Malaysian Development Corporation (MDEC) Level Up @ Schools booth, which featured a game created by 15-year old game designers Qayyum Yazid, Shafie Shariah and Muaz Norazim from Sekolah Menegah Islam Hidayah, a school in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.

The young designers were given a prize for best game design in the Level Up @ Schools programme, which was created to drive the growth of Malaysia’s games industry.

The day closed with the announcement of the winning individual and team gamers. The total prize pool for the gaming competition is RM70,000 (US$16,351.51); for each game, the first prize is RM5,000, second prize is RM3,000 and third prize is RM2,000. The winners also get a TP-Link router. The official prize-giving ceremony will take place on Aug 2 at KDU University College Glenmarie Utropolis.

There was also a Lucky Draw, where Armageddon and Predator mice and Predator keyboards were given away, and one lucky winner walked away with a PS4 Pro.

HotShotz is supported by main sponsor Predator, which is Acer’s gaming brand, and co-sponsors Digi, Malaysia’s leading telco; Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC); and Sony Interactive Entertainment Hong Kong Limited Singapore Branch (SIES). KDU University College is the venue host, VR Lab is the VR partner, TP-Link is the networking partner, Armageddon is the peripherals partner, Warlord is the gaming chair partner and Lazada Malaysia is the e-commerce partner. The media partner is Astro’s eGames channel eGG Network and Indonesian media site vivo.co.id.

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