Competitive online gaming sees growth during pandemic. A Seattle firm is in the mix

With a lack of traditional sports being played and televised, there has been a shift to people finding competitive entertainment through esports.

Everything from the typical fighting and arena games to modern sports games are being streamed and watched across the internet. Specific games like “Overwatch” and “Call of Duty” have created their own leagues.

Against that backdrop, Northwest Esports of Seattle is building a community of video game players through various services, including tournament hosting.

“It’s pretty amazing how many people are actually online and gaming,” said Jake Greene, owner of Northwest Esports. “I think it’s an interesting time, too, because people who normally wouldn’t get involved with competitive stuff are getting involved.”

Founded in 2004, the business has been instrumental in growing the popularity of esports in the region, ranging as far as Vancouver, British Columbia and Portland, Oregon. It also has helped set up several gaming-related clubs at universities in the area.

Now in this unprecedented time, Northwest Esports is seeing growth as more and more people turn to gaming as an entertainment source.

“That’s because there is a greater demand for it. More people have been joining our community than ever before,” Greene said. “The activity has ramped up considerably.”

The number of tournaments facilitated in the last four weeks has been two or three times the number the business would have done.

As more people turn to websites like Twitch and Mixer that are hotspots for game streaming, it is allowing a lot more digital media consumption. Growing that interest in the Pacific Northwest boils down to putting on local events, which is exactly what Northwest Esports does.

In 2018 and 2019, Northwest Esports hosted over 20 in-place video game tournaments at local bars, community centers and entertainment venues. Those types of events helped the company gauge the regional popularity of esports.

“Our discord has over 1,000 members that are within the region,” Greene said. “Anytime we tweet events, within 72 hours we get close to filling up the bracket.”

The company’s core values include integrity and sportsmanship while playing games.

Northwest Esports is on the board of a non-profit called HighSchool.gg. Together, they have put on events in educational settings in Washington and California.

With the stay-at-home order still in effect, previously planned events have been canceled.

“We had an event booked with the Experience Olympia tourism board for Thurston County at the Lucky Eagle Casino called PARADiGM,” Greene said. “We were expecting well over 500 attendees but we had to cancel. That was going to happen next month.”

It was a hit to them to a degree because that was going to be one the first medium scale Northwest Esports event where they would’ve covered everything top to bottom in partnership with the casino and tourism board.

Despite this year’s postponement, Northwest Esports is planning to put on PARADiGM next year.

“We are a community organization, so how things are going for our community and raising funds for our community is an important part about how we interface,” Greene said.

This Sunday, April 26, Northwest Esports will facilitate a tournament hosted by another esports company called LANFest. The event is called Gamers Fighting COVID-19 where they will be raising money to help fund research into the coronavirus.

The tournament will be streamed at Twitch.tv/LANFest where viewers can donate, or people can donate directly at lanfest.donordrive.com. Approximately 50% of the funds will go to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the other half will be donated to local community chapters across the United States.

For more information about Northwest Esports and upcoming events, visit nwesports.org.

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 11:35 AM.