SHIFT Gaming Experience coming to SA shopping centres

We’ve got some exciting news to share for esports fans across South Africa. It is called the SHIFT Gaming Experience, dubbed as one of the “largest national gaming tournaments” in South Africa. It is brought to you by MTN and Hyprop, taking place online and in-person at several shopping centers across the country between April and August 2023. Here’s what you need to know.

SHIFT Gaming Experience details

The SHIFT Gaming Experience is hosted in partnership with Redragon, Gizzu, and Computer Mania, with African Cyber Gaming League (ACGL) operating all the tournaments, so you know it will be quality!

Gamers from across the country can compete to win their share of the huge R35,000 prize pool, and be crowned the SHIFT Gaming Experience champion. You will be able to compete either face-to-face or online via qualifying rounds, as per the announcement on ACGL’s website, which explains:

“At the heart of all the action is the FIFA 23 competition where gamers will go compete in online and face-to-face qualifying rounds. The online heats will precede those taking place at shopping malls across Gauteng and the Western Cape, with each mall hosting elimination rounds on the Friday or Saturday and a finale on the Sunday of their particular leg of the tournament.

The 28 victors that emerge from these heats, as well as the four top players in the online matches affiliated with the specific mall, will face off for a gift card valued at R2 500 and a chance to progress to the national finale going down at Canal Walk in Cape Town from 25 to 27 August 2023.”

To be clear, across the country, there are over R100,000 in prizes up for grabs.

The Schedule & Locations:

Somerset Mall (Western Cape):

• Online qualifier: 16 April
• In-centre event: 21-23 April

Rosebank Mall (Gauteng)

• Online qualifier: 7 May
• In-centre event: 12-14 May

Woodlands Boulevard Shopping Complex(Gauteng)

• Online qualifier: 21 May
• In-centre event: 26 -28 May

The Glen Shopping Centre (Gauteng)

• Online qualifier: 25 June
• In-centre event: 30 June – 2 July

Clearwater Mall (Gauteng)

• Online qualifier: 9 July
• In-centre event: 14 – 16 July

Capegate Mall (Western Cape)

• Online qualifier: 23 July
• In-centre event: 28 – 30 July

Canal Walk (Western Cape)

• Online qualifier: 13 August
• In-centre event: 23 – 27 August

Check out the SHIFT Experience’s dedicated page on ACGL for qualifier details and more. Registration is, of course, completely free.

There’s not only FIFA 23 to compete in. There are also side competitions planned at the seven shopping centers, from titles such as Fortnite, F1, and even the newly released Minecraft Legends on display, where you can win more prizes. Attendees can also try other titles, such as MultiVersus and Rocket League, and experience the MTN Arena cloud gaming platform, rebuild keyboards in a race, and enjoy giveaways.

The national finale of the SHIFT Gaming Experience will see seven (7) finalists compete for a huge prize pool, with the following distribution:

• 1st place – R20,000
• 2nd place – R10,000
• 3rd place – R5,000

That’s not all, however, as there’s a Call of Duty tournament also taking place at the same time, with a huge R60,000 prize pool. Damn, that’s a lot to look forward to, so don’t forget to sign up!

You can keep up to date with all their announcements by following ACGL on Twitter and Facebook and joining their Discord server.

Header image via ACGL/MTN.