New champions crowned at MTN SHIFT Gaming Experience at The Glen
Families, friends and gaming fans gathered at The Glen Shopping Centre for a weekend of competitive gaming, where local players walked away with gift cards, titles and qualification for the tournament's next stage.
The MTN SHIFT Gaming Experience brought three days of exciting gaming action to The Glen Shopping Centre with gamers of all ages competing for prizes, bragging rights and qualification for the tournament’s national finals.
Now in its fourth year, the MTN SHIFT Gaming Experience is South Africa’s biggest and only mall-based gaming tournament held across shopping centres nationwide.
The tournament makes competitive gaming accessible to experienced players, first-time competitors and spectators, while offering a total prize pool of more than R250 000 across the remaining tournament series.
Hosted at Cappello Court near Entrance 3, the event followed an online EA FC 26™ qualifier held on June 21, where the top players earned direct places in The Glen Mall Final. During the event weekend, players also had the opportunity to qualify through in-centre heats before competing for top honours.
Top gamers rewarded for their skills.
The Glen leg produced several impressive performances across a variety of gaming titles.
In the EA FC 26™ competition, Zahir Ahmed Patel (22) claimed first place, winning a R2 500 The Glen gift card and qualifying for the Canal Walk Final.
Uthmaan Abdul Aziz (23) finished second and received a R1 500 gift card, while Ryan Govender (19) took third place and won a R1 000 gift card.
Timothy Daniels (17) won the Beat Sabre competition and received a R1 000 The Glen gift card.
The Keyboard Rebuild Challenge, one of the event’s most popular activities, crowned three daily winners.
Lesego Mosikare (24) won on Friday, Isaac Shivambu took top honours on Saturday, and Bongani Nxumale (26) claimed victory on Sunday. Each received a R500 The Glen gift card.
The Fighting Cup competitions also attracted strong competition.
In Brawlhalla, Jaden Devlal (19) finished first and won a R1 000 gift card, while Carlos Kori (23) placed second and received R500.
In Tekken, Yadhill Mooni (26) claimed first place, with Burhan Ashfaq (21) finishing second.
Pedro Jeque (25) won the Street Fighter competition, with Vuyo Fani (18) taking second place.
First-place winners received R1 000 The Glen gift cards, while runners-up received R500 gift cards.
The Toyota Gaming Engine Fastest Lap challenge crowned Letloko More (23), Nathan Watt and Samuel Kipundu (28) as the Friday, Saturday and Sunday winners. Each received a R1 000 The Glen gift card.
Vuyo Fani (18) also walked away with a R1 000 The Glen gift card after winning the Subway Surf Challenge.
The EA FC 26™ winner from The Glen has secured a place in the Canal Walk Final, where players will compete for qualification to the National Football Final, which carries a R50 000 prize pool.
The final regional event will take place at Canal Walk, with the online qualifier on August 16 and the in-centre competition running from August 26 to 30, where the country’s top gamers will battle for places in the national finals.
