University Campus of Esports Students Run Successful Tournament For Gaming Charity SpecialEffect 

Image depicts the student and staff team in front of the green screen after finishing the SpecialEffect Gameblast24 stream.

On Friday 16th February 2024, students from the University Campus of Esports hosted a charity livestream to raise money for SpecialEffect ahead of the GameBlast 2024 event. 

SpecialEffect is an organisation run to provide bespoke gaming equipment to people with disabilities and make gaming more accessible. They have been running an ongoing annual campaign called ‘GameBlast’, which encourages gamers, streamers, and organisations to come together and play games in order to raise money for the charity. 

GameBlast24 is officially set to begin on the 23rd February, with this stream creating hype around the event to engage more participants in the campaign. 

Throughout this stream, the students ran various segments to encourage people to donate, with much of the content focusing on an open Apex Legends tournament – of which brought staff, students, and industry professionals together for a good cause.  

By opening the tournament to a wider network, students have been able to create connections with a range of professionals to further enhance their own industry networks. On top of this, students were able to cast live with Dan ‘Foxdrop’ Wyatt – a prominent League of Legends caster.

The winners of this tournament were University Campus of Esports’ very own Apex Legends team, Apollo, who are currently sitting in third place in the NSE university standings. Following their win, the trio donated one-pound for every kill they got in the tournament – donating £50 to SpecialEffect as a team.  

Image: (From left to right) Alex Reece, Tahla Zaib, and Torrell Luke sat on a blue sofa celebrating a successful Winter split of NSE 2023.

Lewis Douglas, Course Leader for Games Design and Digital Marketing, led this project alongside students, following his connections working with SpecialEffect to support their mission.

Lewis said: “The students ran an excellent broadcast of our Apex Gameblast24 Tournament!! It was great to see them engaging so well with a new partner for the University Campus of Esports, but also in relishing the challenge of running their first complete event and broadcast package. It will be great to see what they can accomplish in future events!” 

If you want to learn more about the work of SpecialEffect, you can visit their website, or follow their social media to support their mission.