The first season of new format of the Telkom Digital Gaming League (DGL) comes to its conclusion in October with the Master’s Final tournament, taking place at the rAge Expo from 7 to 9 October in Johannesburg. There will be teams from each of the eight Masters Multi-Gaming Organisations (MGOs) competing for South Africa’s largest eSports cash prize pool in history – R1 million.

The Telkom DGL has become the pinnacle of eSports in South Africa from both a financial and a technological perspective.

“Telkom took the decision to back eSports in January. Since the launch we have seen tremendous growth in this sector, with new tournaments opening up and other large prize pools being offered. This is all good news for eSports and we are excited by the future opportunities this gives the MGOs and sponsors alike,” says Jacqui O’Sullivan, Managing Executive: Group Communication and Public Relations, Telkom.

The Masters finals will see two tournaments; both Counter Strike and Dota 2 will be played during the expo. As is the norm the eight MGO’s have different teams taking part in the two games.

Telkom DGL has another surprise in store for fans. Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner, one of the world’s foremost eSports shoutcasters, will be back in Johannesburg to host the finals. Taking centre stage with ReDeYe will be Tech Girl’s Samantha Wright, Kamza Mbatha and Ryan Macquet. This makes for an exciting line-up on stage at the finals at rAge and for the livestream.

The Digital Gaming Championship (DGC) will also be taking place at the rAge expo this year, where 500 of the best competitors from the seven leagues have been invited to take part. The DGC is made up of the following leagues:

·         16 Counter Strike: Global Offensive Teams

·         16 Dota 2 teams

·         16 League of Legend Teams

·         16 Battlefield 4 Teams

·         8 Call of Duty Black Ops 3 PC teams

·         8 Call of Duty Black Ops 3 PS4 teams

·         16 Hearthstone

“Both the DGC and DGL further cements Telkom’s commitment to eSports in South Africa. Not only does this make good business sense for the company but it can only grow the sport in South Africa. The more corporates that get behind eSports the better. By attracting the talent we have to this year’s DGL we only see big things in future for the league,” says O’Sullivan.

For 2016, the MGOs competing at Masters level are:

·         Aperture Gaming

·         Bravado Gaming

·         CarboN eSports

·         Damage Control

·         Flipsid3 Tactics South Africa

·         Veneration E-Sports

·         White Rabbit Gaming

·         Xperts@Total.Chaos                      

All games will be streamed live on: https://www.youtube.com/c/TelkomGaming/live.