The Algonquin Video Game club is hosting their annual Ultra Gonq Battles tournament on Saturday, March 31. The event will take place in the AC Hub at Student Commons and is set to last the whole day.
Player registration begins at 10 a.m., and the tournament starts at 11. Entry fee is $5 but players can get in for free if they bring a console or a screen for the event.
Club leader Andrew Kramer, who is a technical writing student at Alqonguin, describes Ultra Gonq Battles as a “big party.”
“There are people who drive out to Ottawa just to hang out with us and participate,” he told the Times, noting that there will be a lot of big-name players coming from Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton and elsewhere.
All of Ottawa’s top players will also be in attendance, according to Kramer who himself is a fixture of the local competitive gaming community and attends most tournaments in Ontario and Quebec.
This is the second year the event will run under the name Ultra Gonq Battles, but the Algonquin Video Game club has held annual tournaments under different names since its inception.
“There are two real objectives we have,” Kramer said. “The first one is to host a large tournament for the competitive game community in Ottawa.” Last year 71 players competed and this year’s tournament is slated to be even bigger.
“The second objective is to demonstrate what kind of clubs there are on campus,” Kramer said, explaining that the Video Game club often draws a lot of attention and generates interest in Algonquin’s uniquely diverse campus community.
Ultra Gonq Battles will see contestants face off in the arenas of 10 different fighting games, including Street Fighter V, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear Xrd, and a surprise mystery game which will be announced at the tournament.
All of the event’s proceedings go to Extra Life, a non-profit organization which supports hospitals from the Children’s Miracle Network. With this particular event, they will be fundraising for CHEO.