SlashShout- HIGH SCHOOL ESPORTS LEAGUE LAUNCHES NEW QUEUE SYSTEM FOR ONLINE COMPETITIONS

Organizations, companies, and school districts are closing across the United States. This comes amidst the Coronavirus epidemic that continues to spread. For high school students, it is much more difficult to compete and practice when schools are closed to any type of gathering. North American gaming organization High School Esports League (HSEL) has a solution.

The solution

HSEL announced the launch of their new queue system. This solution helps pair high school esports players nationwide in competitive online matches. Rather than risking infection from the Coronavirus, student esports athletes can safely match with opponents from the safety and comfort of their home. Thankfully players can still participate in the HSEL Spring Major tournament to win college scholarship prizes.

How the queue system works

The HSEL queue system eliminates a number of challenges faced by many esports leagues. The organization developed this league to address the needs of its 80,000+ participating students. Students simply enter the queue for a specific title and then they’re automatically assigned to an opponent within a window of time. Athletes then create a game lobby, play their match, and then return to the HSEL tournament platform to report their score. The queue functions entirely online, which helps everyone practice social distancing to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus.

In preparation for the Spring Major

This comes as a very timely addition to the needs of students. The eight-week-long HSEL Spring Major gaming tournament begins on March 30, 2020. As such, it will also be the first competition to support the new queuing system. This esports competition puts students against peers at different schools in two popular esports titles to win up to a $1,000 scholarship prize. Top participants also receive a three-month XBOX Game Pass Ultimate subscription (valued at $44.99) with weekly winning teams also receiving a $250 gift card certificate from a sponsoring restaurant.

The playoffs for the Spring Major begin in May and will end in June.

The games played

The list of HSEL Spring Major esports titles includes the following popular games:

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
FIFA 20
Fortnite
Hearthstone
Minecraft
Overwatch
Rainbow Six: Siege
Rocket League
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Super Smash Bros.: Ultimate
Madden 20
NBA 2K20

Registration is just $37 per student and is open to all high schools across the United States. This also includes those schools not partnered with HSEL. Registration runs until March 27.

Ryan Goodrich

Ryan has been writing since long before he could even write. He's written resumes, software user guides, consumer electronic reviews, and myriad web content spanning a variety of industries. But now he's writing about video games, which is much more interesting.