EA Sports launched its latest hockey video game, NHL 23, on Friday. In North Bay, the city partnered with a Mississauga e-sports gaming company called We Got Game and North Bay Battalion hockey players for a video game tournament at Memorial Gardens on Saturday.
It was a chance for young gamers to pick up a controller and show what ‘they’ve got.’
Focusing hard on the screen, hands frantically pushing buttons, was 10-year-old Hayden Comamnda crushing his opponent Jason from We Got Game; final score 7-2.
“I was just passing by who was open and was just shooting it,” said Comamnda.
We Got Game brought in Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 consoles, TVs and controllers for the young gamers to compete in the local NHL 23 video game competition for the new game.
Around 20 kids came to Memorial Gardens on Chippewa Street to compete in an NHL 23 video game tournament with local NHL places organized by the City of North Bay. (Eric Taschner/CTV News Northern Ontario)“Let’s have some fun with NHL 23 … kids will be excited and won’t even have the game and it’ll be a balanced competition because people have only played so many hours on it,” said We Got Game owner Dave Miller. .
The idea to bring a video game tournament came through connections the city made with the e-sports gaming company made during the pandemic and We Got Game was eager to make the trip up to North Bay.
“One of my colleagues reached out to them and we kept them in our pocket and reached out and got something happening this time around,” Lacey Steven, the arts and recreation programmer for the City of North Bay, told CTV News.
Five kids competed in the 1 vs 1 tournament; including Jaxson Berry.
“It’s pretty fun and it gives kids a lot of chances to play games,” said Berry.
North Bay Battalion players swapped their jerseys and sticks for controllers to face-off against gamers in the 3 vs 3 competition.
While mostly children were playing for bragging rights, Battalion tickets were up for grabs for the tournament winners.
Staff with We Got Game said the company is all about playing the games people love in a competitive but fun way.
“Bringing people together, having fun with the games that they love,” added Miller.
For more information on upcoming We Got Game events visit their Facebook page.