This past weekend, Red Bull held a new event for gamers that took the age-old idea of a LAN and added a uniquely competitive spin, creating an arena filled with passionate gamers from all walks of life who came together for a weekend of adrenaline-fueled headshots, crouch slides, and clutches.
Red Bull Locked In took four popular local streamers from the gaming world, Julia “Bish”, Collins “ItzSkarra”, Tyler “Binkz” And Henrico “Henrico.m”, and asked them to captain a team of 30 regular gamers, for 48 hours across multiple rounds of Apex Legends, culminating in an epic final event where the winners would walk away with bragging rights, heavy medals and the chance to fight for their title at the next Locked In event.
LAN parties are not something new. Many of us gamers will remember heading to the same location that Red Bull used for the Locked In event, the Bellville Velodrome, for LANs almost a decade ago. However, the heyday of the LAN has come and gone, and it will take veterans like us to bring that culture back to the forefront of gamers’ minds.
Back then, LAN parties involved hundreds of gamers sitting at their PCs, playing games, sharing movies and series, and forming friendships. Players would hold impromptu competitions where winners would walk away with whatever was around, but best of all was the bond that gamers formed in the trenches of local gameplay.
Red Bull Locked In saw this concept, added 30mg of caffeine per person, and created an event where strangers sat next to strangers, played games, and fought for a trophy as if they were brothers and sisters in arms.
While some popular gamers and streamers, like Julio “Beast” Bianchi or Luca “RoBoHoBo” Tucconi, made the 120-man cut, most of these players were just regular gamers like you or me, who thought they had the chops to show up for their team. And let me tell you, they certainly did.
While the gamers were locked in the Velodrome through the weekend, they could play whatever games their hearts desired with any player from any team. When Saturday rolled on by, though, the heat was on.
Saturday was event day, with each team of 30 battling it out for as many points as possible across Battle Royale and various other Crucible moments throughout the day.
Bish captained Team Red, Binkz captained Team Yellow, Henricom led Team Blue, and ItzSkarra led Team Silver. Amidst surprise game modes, Captain Power-Up Cards, and sweaty clutches, Team Yellow held an astounding lead, proving they were going to be the team to beat.
The final game mode was a 6v6 Sudden Death Deathmatch, in which each Captain would choose six players to represent their team. Winners moved on, losers were left behind. As the 3rd and 4th teams at the end of the day, Team Silver and Team Red faced off first. Skarra’s Team Silver had been fighting from the bottom for most of the day, yet managed to pull off an epic win against Bish’s Team Read, moving forward to take on the 2nd place Team Blue, and Henrico.m.
As a side note, every crucible match could only be played once by each player on a team, so the higher Team Silver climbed the board, the deeper Skarra had to dig into his player pool. Only learning his team’s play styles from that single day of gaming.
Yet again, Skarra and his team pulled a win out of their pockets, knocking out Team Blue from the overall competition. Now, it was time to face the giants of Team Yellow. Players who had held a comfortable lead across the day showed that no matter what was thrown at them, they had the stuff.
In what can only be described as a match so tight, the crowd had moved way passed the edge of their seats and were biting their nails, standing and watching the screen. Skarra led his team to an overall victory.
A true underdog story played out right in front of our very eyes.
Confetti, trophies and medals aside. What Red Bull Locked In achieved was a weekend filled with camaraderie. A weekend where gamers fist-bumped, high-fived, cried on each other’s shoulders and, ultimately, made new friends. Red Bull Locked In combined a classic LAN with a tournament, giving layman gamers a chance to experience what being on a big stage could feel like, and a venue to enjoy each other’s company, sitting side-by-side, pwning noobs.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent at the Velodrome, and even got to showcase our own skills during a show match, where I’m pretty sure I got more kills than the legend ThendoPlays himself. Fingers crossed this event takes off even more next year, and we get to see more of you guys out in the crucible, showing us what you’ve got.
Until next time, Cape Town. Game On, Geek Out.
