Brampton teen takes $20K top prize in 'national' e-sports final

By Peter Henderson

A teenager from Brampton, Ont., is $20,000 richer after topping the competition in a national Call of Duty: Black Ops III tournament in Toronto on Sunday, the first in a national series of video-game showdowns hosted at Cineplex theatres.

Allameen Mahamed Ally, also known as the TheAnonAlly, was one of 32 that qualified for Sunday's event in regional tournaments across the country.

The 18-year-old took the crown after four rounds of one-on-one battles, and said he would use his prize money to help his parents buy a new car—and perhaps invest in a car of his own.

His family was there to cheer him on, and he had a message for them afterwards.

"I know you thought me playing video games was useless but I just brought home $20k," he said. "I'm feeling pretty special right now, so I hope you do too."

Ally said he spends at least an hour a day practising Call of Duty on Sony's Playstation 4 console—and up to 10 hours if he doesn't have much else to do.

"For all the pro players, you have to be able to take that time out of your schedule," he said.

And Ally certainly had time on his hands in the run-up to the tournament. He recently graduated from high school and is taking time off before heading to college in September, to study computer science.

Ally's winnings were part of a total of $50,000 handed out to the various competitors on the day. The runner-up, Evan Holler, won $8,000—but wasn't too happy about it.

During the final match, he threw heated words in Ally's direction, and the usually soft-spoken Ally responded in kind.

"Once you get used to it and you realize you're here for you and not anyone else, you can just block it out," Ally said.

Despite the location and the popcorn, the Call of Duty finals were a far cry from a traditional cinema experience.

Two long tables, with a row of monitors on each, sat at the front of the auditorium, with prominent branding from Cineplex's sponsors. Players sat facing the audience, their faces lit by the glow of the onscreen action.

Up to twelve players at a time participated in separate one-on-one matches, and the screen above their heads dynamically switched between split-screens of matches and the views of individual players.

Audience members were encouraged to cheer their favourites and use their cellphones to live-tweet the proceedings, while two commentators kept a running tally of the action and four referees stood behind the combatants to ensure fair play.

Cineplex bought a $10 million stake in eSports promoter WorldGaming in September, betting that the growing field of competitive video gaming will help boost attendance at its theatres.

The company is serious about its pursuit of the younger gaming crowd, permanently converted two dozen screens across the country with game consoles and production setups to facilitate tournaments.

WorldGaming CEO Rob Segal said Cineplex is a pioneer in bringing competitive video-gaming, known as eSports, to the big screen.

Executives from Cineplex and other theatre chains were in the audience on Sunday, he said, looking to see if eSports are a solid investment.

Sunday's event looked to be near-capacity for the screen at the downtown ScotiaBank Theatre, and Segal said future plans include live-streaming on services such as YouTube and Twitch as well as features familiar to any spots fan such as between-match interviews.

"Gaming's not getting any smaller," he said. "It's just going to continue to grow. There's a whole ecosystem around it now, and the online consumption is getting bigger every day. It's here to stay."