Ace Pro Gaming launches the next phase of its pioneering Esport series.

The Tekken 254 Circuit has provided an in-depth look into our investment in Esports. The circuit has run for the past 6 months with two seasons and looking to grow bigger and better. We believe Esports is wholly dependent on its management and we have invested fully in management. With all these up our sleeves, we are excited to be launching our next planned series of competition and that is the FIFA franchise.

FIFA is arguably the largest game played amongst many persons living in and out of Nairobi and also regionally in East Africa. FIFA constitutes to up to 80% of games being played in many of the gaming lounges. ‘Walk into any gaming lounge in Nairobi, Kiambu, Kisumu etc and FIFA will be the most played game you will see on the screens. Out of 10 screens in the lounge, 8 are being used for FIFA’– says Head of Marketing Jairus Ogembo.

FIFA is highly played by many young people who throng into the many game lounges around estates, university accommodation areas, and also residential homes. Gaming lounges have also had its share of increase constituting to 35% growth especially in Nairobi. Many movies & series shops have either closed to create room for a gaming section or expanded space inside to spin off to have a video gaming business on the side. This clearly shows its intense growth and we as Ace Pro Gaming look to tap it by creating a series of tournaments that will see players compete for points and prizes.

The FIFA series will go by the name “e-Lig series”. The e-Lig will be played in a format designed by the Ace Pro Gaming tournaments team. Our first investment into the planned FIFA competition will be the universities & colleges series. The series will be played amongst different universities & colleges in Kenya. The series will feature a great format of play, and points awarding system that will spice up entertainment but also incorporate a lot of strategy, competition and business opportunity.

We also look to angle and work hard to have the e-Lig | University & Colleges Series to be part of the Kenya University Sports Association games in the near future. ‘Digital sports are proving to be an answer to an increase in spectatorship, participation and also job creation amongst many young people.”– Charles Wambugu, Head of Operations Ace Pro Gaming.  The KUSA games are run annually having different Universities competing against each other clearly showing how organized these games competitions are and we believe including Esports will have great benefits to the games.

More information on the e-Lig selected venues, dates, explained format, number of participants and points awarding system will be released soon.

Qualifier two sees Frost finish third

Qualifier two had mixed results and reactions such as the first ever reset in the Tekken 254 Circuit, AlphaPlay | Mickey losing, Frost breaking out to finish third and a deadly Pool C that saw best players fight for top 2 finishes.

POOLS

The Tekken 254 Circuit Pool A saw AlphaPlay | Mickey secure Top 8 spot after cruising past the pool with 5-0 Win-Loss record dropping only one match against Proto-G (3-2 Win-Loss record). Mickey was joined by Frost in top 8 who completed the pool with a 4-1 Win-Loss record. Proto-G, PokerFace, XiT | QueenArrow and Dawa Jr finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.

Pool B had AlphaPlay team member Simba finished with a 5-0 Win-Loss to take up 1st position and was followed by Vega (4-1 Win-Loss record). Furious Monkey (3-2 Win-Loss record), Battousai (2-3 Win-Loss record), PseudoDude (0-4 Win-Loss record) and Mugi (0-4 Wins-Loss).

Pool C saw Tiz top the pool with a 5-0 Win-Loss record but dropping 3 matches. AlphaPlay | PRIEST came second with a 4-1 Win-Loss record to book a top 8 bracket spot. Nakuru based DarkTempest (3-2 Win-Loss record), Chuma Mzee (2-3 Win-Loss record), RMP | Shoryuken (1-4 Win-Loss record) and Dice1533 (0-5 Win-Loss record) finished 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively.

Pool D saw Xstar wash out DVK 2-0 in the first set to top the Pool with a 5-0 Win-Loss record as DVK came second with a 4-1 Win-Loss record. In4red, RobbyM$, Pipsqueak, and FlurryFists finished 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.

AlphaPlay | Mickey v. DVK

AlphaPlay | Mickey’s clean record was shattered in this set with DVK snatching up a win with a 2-0 score. Switching characters between Bob and Violet, AlphaPlay | Mickey fell short dropping 6 rounds and managing to take up only 1 round.

Tiz v. Vega

Tiz sent Vega packing to the losers’ bracket in the second set of the Top 8 bracket. Using Nina, Tiz dropped only 1 set against Vegas strongest character choice Akuma.

Frost v. Xstar

Xstar lost his lead against Frost in a set that ended 2-1 to Frost. Using King, Xstar failed to hold his lead to lose the final match (3-2) to give Frost the set and seal the win.

AlphaPlay | Simba v AlphaPlay | PRIEST

This set saw two teammates go up against each other in a thrilling match that ended 2-0 to AlphaPlay | PRIEST.

FINAL TOP 8 POSITIONS

The circuit saw Xstar take 7th place pushing Vega to 8th, AlphaPlay | PRIEST, AlphaPlay | Simba finished 5th and 6th respectively. Tiz secured 4th position to bag himself 21 points whereas Frost took 3rd position.

The grand final saw the very first reset we have ever had in all tournaments held. AlphaPlay | Mickey coming from the losers final managed to beat DVK 3-1 to take the grand finale to a reset where he again beat DVK 3 sets to 1 to take up the 1st position.

AlphaPlay | Mickey goes into qualifier two with sights to complete a clean record for the second time.

Michael Muhoro aka AlphaPlay | Mickey came into this new season with a mind of taking over the Tekken scene in Nairobi with his deep knowledge of the fighting game for the second time. Signed to AlphaPlay, an Esport Organization based in Nairobi seeking to tap into the rising digital sport in Kenya, he continues to put up a great performance in each tournament he walks into.

His mastery of different Tekken characters that he selects for each set he plays also shows a player that understands the technicalities and various move lists contained in these different characters.

With the new season going into its second Qualifier this weekend 21st July, AlphaPlay | Mickey continues to extend his unbeaten record since November of last year when we held our first ever Tekken tournament that birthed the Tekken254 Circuit. He currently sits at the pole position with a clean record of 24points, a win-loss record of 9-0 and 20MatchWins. He managed to keep this season’s opener clean just as he did with season one.

COMPETITION

The Tekken 254 Circuit saw changes made in its format and system coming into the new season. Incorporating a reverse point system where points are rewarded according to the number of participants in reverse order. (With 24 players, 1st position acquires 24points, 2nd gets 23points….24th position gets 1point). This has helped increase competition and strategy for the players with many targeting top finishes to capture points in the various positions. Also, with just a 1point difference between positions, players see it easy to improve in the next tournaments. The new system also increased games for players that do not make it to the top 8 double elimination bracket having them play extra games with players from different pools in the various position playoffs.

Focusing on competition, many great players such as Tiz (23Points, a win-loss record of 8-2 and 17 MatchWins) have put up great competition against AlphaPlay | Mickey but always falling short.

AlphaPlay | Mickey and Tiz holding 1st and 2nd position respectively will go into Qualifier two in different Pools.

Tiz will be joined by RMP | Shoryuken, AlphaPlay | PRIEST, Chuma Mzee, DarkTempest and Dice1533 in Pool C. This Pool C is projected to be the Pool of death with 4 of the players being highly rated in the Tekken254 community. The fight for top 2 slots will be the stakes in this pool.

AlphaPlay | Mickey top seeds Pool A and will be joined by XiT | QueenArrow, Proto-G, Frost, Poker Face and Dawa Jr.