ATLANTIC CITY — More than $50,000 in prize money was up for grabs Sunday as gamers of all ages competed in the Ultimate Gaming Championship Halo Classic at the Bourbon Room inside Showboat Atlantic City.
The “Halo 3” 4x4 tournament featured 64 teams all vying for a piece of the prize pool, with an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people participated.
The three-day tournament was presented by UGC, Caesars Entertainment and INGAME ESPORTS, the company that hosted and co-sponsored the opening-night event at the Esports Travel Summit held in June at Boardwalk Hall. The multi-player tournament was the third event either co-organized or co-sponsored by INGAME, which has a public-private partnership with the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
“Honestly, Atlantic City is just hungry for esports,” said R.J. Hall, tournament operations manager for UGC. “Esports is a massive craze right now. It’s bringing in all these different generations.”
UGC returned to Atlantic City after a successful inaugural “Gears of War” tournament held at Caesars Atlantic City in 2017.
Hall said that while nothing has been finalized yet, UGC “definitely” wants to return to Atlantic City to host another tournament in the near future.