Inside The Call Of Duty UK Championships

On Sunday 7th August I was granted V.I.P. access to the first ever official Call of Duty UK Championships held in London's Leicester Square. At stake was an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to compete in the 'Call of Duty XP' tournament for a $1million cash prize, not to mention being among the first to play the new Modern Warfare 3.

The event was laid on by Activision themselves with the help of gaming event organisers Multiplay, and the sheer logistics of the event were apparent from the moment I walked in the room. Everywhere I looked there were shiny new Xbox 360 consoles, high definition monitors, enormous flat screen TVs and enough cabling to circumvent the globe. The tech guys had been setting up since 4am that morning, and were still scurrying around like worker ants solving technical issues and connecting routers and switches in a complicated jumble of wires and hardware. As my first experience of a gaming tournament it was impressive to say the least.

Standing between the potential winners of this qualifier and entry to XP itself were 31 other 4-man teams, all of which had been evaluated before admittance to ensure competition at the event. The ages ranged from mid-teens right up to mid-30s, and it was impossible not to be impressed with the enthusiasm and spirit of those present. Despite some of them having queued outside the event since the early hours that morning there was laughing and joking between the majority, while others remained impassive and serious, perhaps mentally preparing themselves for the marathon tournament that lay ahead.

Not only had Multiplay organised the teams and matches into a working tournament but Activision had been kind enough to lay on free refreshments for the players involved. A serious amount of Red Bull was quickly consumed by all present, before announcements and a quick refresh of the tournament rules were communicated to the entrants. Teams then gathered at the various stations and began setting up their positions. One thing I hadn't been prepared for was the amount and variation of accessories brought in by the players themselves. It seemed that failing to turn up with a £100+ pair of gaming headphones instantly put you at a disadvantage, and teams wore serious expressions as they adjusted sound and voice settings and created online parties to enable their in game communication.

The games themselves were frantic and fast-paced. I consider myself a fairly decent Black Ops player but the speed and accuracy of these tournament players (some of whom were even sponsored to play) was simply astounding. The room quickly dissolved into the sounds of automatic gunfire and explosions, the occasional shouted swear word and the cheers of victory, often accompanied by the groans of defeat. The central stage featured high-profile games that were then commentated on and broadcast to the rest of the room over the array of plasma televisions up in the bar area so those taking a break or already eliminated could watch.

The tournament decider was reached after the shock defeat of the #1 seeded 'Frantic' in the quarter finals. Eventually team 'apeX' emerged victorious, booking their place on the trip to LA in emphatic style, overcoming 'Nemico' in the final. Other honourable mentions should go to the team from the Sun newspaper as well as every other gamer involved for remaining positive, upbeat and (for the most part) refraining from insulting the other team with anything other than good-natured smack talk. It really is a credit to everyone involved and the more events like this that are broadcast to the masses will only act to enhance the reputation of E-sports and gamers in general.

As for me? Well Team Activision needed a fourth player and I conveniently happened to have my gamertag on a USB stick in my pocket. Although we fought valiantly our complete lack of Capture the Flag tactics and the fact that we'd only just met left us poorly-equipped to face teams that had been playing and practicing together for months (if not years) so we were ruthlessly dispatched in the first round – though not before winning a round of Domination in emphatic style.

Best of luck to the apeX team at the XP finals, go forth and represent the UK in style lads!