UPG Delivers Most Exciting Esports Tournament Yet
The finals of the First Ultimate Pro Gaming (UPG) Tournament was held at the Aviation Social Centre in Accra on 25th February 2023, with play province taking away the ultimate prize and the trophy.
The tournament which started in August 2022 had regional events in Accra , Takoradi and Kumasi. These three major cities played host to the exciting and highly competitive qualifiers.
The Accra edition saw Team Xplosion (@xplosionesports) and Team Falcon ( @falcongh) qualify for the finals. In Takoradi, Team PlayProvince (@playproivince), Team Ruutz(@ruutz), Team Modernrow (@modernrow) and Team Originals qualified for the finals.
Esports in Ghana has developed exponentially from the local small hub competition to a highly invested and entertaining spectacular event. The UPG final did not disappoint with the level of razmataz associated with great entertainment.
The glitz at the final and very competitive event saw PlayProvince take home the Winning cup and price money of GHS 10,000 ( $777 approx.). The first runner up for the competition is team Xplosion who took home GHS 2,000($155 approx.) and the second Runner up Team Falcon took home GHS 1,000 ($77 approx.).
The UPG tournament is one of the few tournaments with a large prize pool in Ghana. With the growing interest in esports, it is anticipated the price pools will keep increasing and the cohort of gamers will develop as they transition into pro-athletes.
“Looking on at the excitement, the fierce and competitiveness these young guys brought here is just beyond my expectations.”
“Once again this finals goes on to reiterate what we’ve pushed across all through the qualifiers to the finals – promote esports in Ghana and showcase the quality of talents in Ghana, from changing the perception as a gambling and legitimate field to a bright and fertile career path for our young dreamer.”
“Personally want to congratulate all the teams, those from far and near and of cause PlayProvince for putting up a show. These young talents should be proud and of course moving forward we promise to rectify some downsides and put up a good competition to give the teams the best of platforms as well,” Antony Botchway told Esports Africa News after the event.
LAN tournaments are great opportunities for corporate and social institutions to engage with esports enthusiast the players are mostly young adults who have very varied interest including, entertainment, esports, music and gaming for fun.
Sponsors for this event included GameIt hub who have hosted the events at all their chain of gaming hubs in Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi.
On display was talent from many industries including fashion, music , graphic and video editors, shout casters, phot and videographers , project managers etc.
The esports industry employs a lot of skilled professionals who have transferred skills from traditional employment and have created their own niche organisations and businesses. It is anticipated that the industry in Ghana will be one of the main employing industries in the gig economy in the next few years.
