By: Justin Liddle
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — People are earning a lot of money from what looks like just playing video games. Esports, or playing video games competitively, is intense and on the rise here in Northwest Arkansas.
Super Smash Brothers Ultimate released last December and brought in a new population of players into the already established scene for the series here in Fayetteville.
More players entering tournaments now means there is going to be more money to win.
“Money is all dependent on entrants and you get more entrants the more people that come to events,” said Blake Miller, manager of the UARK Esports Smash team.
A special tournament was held recently that had nearly 70 people enter, which brought the prize pot to around $850.
Jalen Walker, co-captain of the UARK Esports smash team, got third place at the tournament and won $130.
Walker said while Esports is easy to get into, to compete with the best in the area you have to be serious.
“You should play the game more because there’s always someone better than you and you can never just take a break,” he said.
Students looking to get involved in the Smash competitive scene in the area have plenty of options. UARK Esports host tournaments every Friday night in J.B. Hunt room 234. Prospective players could also check out AXIS Gamewaves Thursday nights here or Bears Sunday afternoons here.