Taking place between Friday, 21 July and Sunday, 23 July at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, Rush will feature a variety of competitive eSports tournaments hosted by local organisations across eSports stages, with live shout casting (commentary) by some of South Africa's shout casters.
Four main stages will be showcasing titles such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), FIFA 17, League of Legends, and Street Fighter V. Supporters will be able to watch all the competitions live on big screens, with dedicated seating areas at all the stages.
In addition, visitors will also be able to sign up to enter tournaments across a range of games like Hearthstone, FIFA 17, Street Fighter V, and Metal Slug.
"Rush is an exciting, compelling showcase of everything that South African eSports currently has to offer. We’ve created a unique experience that will appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers, and one that will serve as a visual introduction to anyone who doesn’t know what all this esports fuss is about," says Lauren Das Neves, marketing manager for Rush, NAG, and rAge.
Das Neves adds, "Having been actively involved in the local gaming industry for the past 20 years through NAG and rAge, Rush is a great platform for us to build, empower, and connect with new and existing eSports communities."
Kaizer Chiefs supporters have announced their participation at Rush. The club has partnered with sponsors Vodacom and Nike for the event, giving gamers a chance to compete at the Kaizer Chiefs eSports stage. Gamers will go compete in the FIFA 17 tournament to be the ultimate winner. Participants can sign up on the ACGL website.
For Warcraft and Hearthstone fans, Kwesé will be hosting a Hearthstone Fireside Gathering at Rush. There is R30 000 cash in prizes for winners across the weekend, with the player in the daily top spot walking away with R5 000. Second and third place get R3 000 and R2 000 respectively. There’s also a gaming notebook from MSI up for grabs.
Other activities include PlayStation VR, arcade cabinets, and retail stands. Participants will also be able to visit the NAG Arcade / Eurasian Entertainment stand. Visitors can also try Metal Slug and attempt to set a high score. The player with the highest score at the end of the weekend will win an arcade machine.
Matrix Warehouse will be running a fastest-lap challenge on their stand with mystery prizes up for grabs each day. Orena is ramping up its Fight Night offering at Rush, with the casual Street Fighter V tournament set for an EFC-sized boost.
EFC Worldwide welterweight champion, Dricus du Plessis, and bantamweight champion, Demarte Pena, will compete in an exhibition match in the OFN octagon at 11:00 on Sunday, 23 July, with other EFC athletes waiting in the wings to challenge them. Gamers can enter the Orena Fight Night challenge and stand to win R20 000 at the end of the season.
Orena is also offering the chance to qualify for ESWC for CS:GO on one of the main stages. "The country’s best eSports teams will be fighting it out in a world-class arena for the opportunity to take on some of the best players on the planet," adds Luca Tucconi, operating executive at Orena. "The competition is fierce and the prize is massive – and we have one or two surprises up our sleeves for the winners."
Alongside this line-up, one of the other features of Rush is South Africa’s first Winter NAG LAN. A NAG LAN ticket also gives visitors access to the Rush event for the full weekend. Casual competitions for Dota 2 and Rocket League will be hosted in the NAG LAN, with hardware peripheral prizes up for grabs, sponsored by Apex Interactive. A formal competition for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare will also be hosted in the NAG LAN for 16 teams on PS4 in the NAG LAN, with a total of R19 000 in prizes to be won.
As part of the NAG LAN Rush launch offer, upon purchase of any NAG LAN Rush ticket for R600, participants will automatically qualify for, and be guaranteed, a NAG LAN at rAge ticket, which will then cost R450. This once-off offer applies to any NAG LAN at Rush tickets that have already been bought.
Pink-IT will hold its first annual summit at Rush over the course of three days. Pink-IT is designed to build a supportive and inspiring community for women in technology and foster a culture of sharing, collaboration, discussion, and inspiration for female software developers.
The first annual summit will bring together companies interested in hiring female software developers in South Africa, opening up opportunities for women in the industry. The summit will be a weekend for all female software developers, game developers, UX designers, graphic designers, and animators who want to learn how to build a mobile-based eSports game using BlueMix.
Those who want to come and watch all the eSports action as it happens will need to either purchase a Day Ticket (valid for entry for one day only), which costs R50, or a Weekend Ticket (valid for entry for all three days), which costs R100. Tickets are available at the door or at Computicket. For more information on the NAG LAN, contact [email protected].
For more information, visit www.rushesports.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.