JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS (May 15, 2019)- Army Entertainment's 2019 Road to TwitchCon Street Fighter V Tournament, presented by the Army National Guard, kicked off at Camp Mabry, Texas where Sgt. First Class Christopher Brown earned a spot to compete at TwitchCon North America in September. The tour is produced by Army Entertainment, a U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) Family and MWR Program.
TwitchCon North America is a convention celebrating Twitch, an online gaming community and streaming platform.
Brown, a budget analyst in the Texas Army National Guard, won first place and a prize pack provided by The Exchange.
"I am excited to be going to TwitchCon while representing the Army, just to have that privilege and honor is an amazing thing," said Brown.
Brown will be accompanied by the rest of the tournament winners who will be crowned throughout the tournament series.
The esports tournament, where competition was open to all Army and National Guard Soldiers, was the first in a series of tournaments leading up to TwitchCon. Spectating was open to the general public and the competition was open to active duty Soldiers.
"This is great as far as morale and relaxation for our Soldiers but it also gives us a chance to interact with the communities that we recruit in," said Sgt. Steve Johnson, marketing noncommissioned officer for Texas Army National Guard Recruiting and Retention Command.
Two hundred fifty spectators attended the event to watch the tournament and check out the event including former University of Texas football player Lil'Jordan Humphrey.
"One of the big things that we really want people to know is that we are citizen Soldiers," said Johnson. "We live and work in the communities that we recruit in. We are just like everyone else. We just decided to put the uniform on and serve."
In addition to the action of the tournament, Texas Army National Guard brought a mobile gaming trailer, and The Exchange held a drawing for gaming prizes and plenty of food was available.
The tournament was commentated by Maj. Dylan Mack, a competitor in last year's tournament, and Steve Smith, a commentator in the fighting game community.
"I was talking to some of the Soldiers and they were saying that video games help them," said Smith. "It gives them recreation, keeps the mind sharp and it is an all-around enjoyable thing."
The stream on Army Entertainment's twitch channel, (www.twitch.tv/ArmyEntertainment) had over 650,000 live views during the broadcast.
Command Sergeant Major of the Texas Army National Guard, Christopher Dyer, attended the tournament.
"This is an opportunity for us to showcase a different side of what the military has within its ranks," said Dyer. "Having it here at Camp Mabry, and opening it up to the general public, gives people the ability to see firsthand a different side of the military and the people that serve in today's armed forces."
This event brought together gamers from the civilian and military world. Smith said he is a firm believer that everyone plays video games, and Dyer mentioned that a lot of younger service members coming into the military are gamers.
The next tournament on the road to TwitchCon will be in Washington, D.C. at the D.C. Armory on May 18. Ten more locations will be hosting tournaments at various Army garrisons and National Guard Armories.
The winner from each tournament will move onto TwitchCon North America in late September in San Diego, California.
For more information and tournament info visit www.armymwr.com/esports.
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