Kivalliq youth who excel at online gaming, nowSA国际影视传媒檚 your time to shine.

The Nunavut Gaming Society is hosting a territory-wide online tournament for PlayerUnknownSA国际影视传媒檚 Battlegrounds, with the Kivalliq portion coming up this weekend.

Beyond prizes for winning, the host society has a long-term vision and is looking to establish a team of players across Nunavut to practise together, compete in international gaming competitions and even get paid to play regularly.

SA国际影视传媒淓specially with Covid and everything thatSA国际影视传媒檚 happened in the world, weSA国际影视传媒檙e just trying to keep (youth) occupied,SA国际影视传媒� said Valter Botelho-Resendes of Aaliak Consulting, whose organization was also responsible for development of Cambridge BaySA国际影视传媒檚 digital makerspace, which opened last fall. The makerspace is now owned and run by the municipality of Cambridge Bay.

The tournament, for players ages 14 to 30, has been making its way through Nunavut region-by-region. Upward of 55 youth played in the Cambridge Bay event, with about 100 in the Kitikmeot, and Botelho-Resendes expected the Baffin portion Feb. 12 and 13 to be the biggest yet. On Feb. 19 and 20, it will be the KivalliqSA国际影视传媒檚 turn.

Afterward, Botelho-Resendes is hoping to have a top player from every community in the territory join to form a Nunavut team.

He said the reason PlayerUnknownSA国际影视传媒檚 Battlegrounds SA国际影视传媒� better known to some as PubG SA国际影视传媒� was chosen for the first tournament is because itSA国际影视传媒檚 popular among Nunavut youth and is relatively less intensive on internet needs, which is always a challenge in the North.

He explained that the challenge is latency, which means how fast data travels over the internet, not so much the consumption of data.

SA国际影视传媒淚n Nunavut, weSA国际影视传媒檙e getting anywhere between 400 to 700 latency, which is really high,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

For top players, he hopes to secure funding to provide them with LTE modems so they have better accessibility and can compete without too many disadvantages against southern gamers.

SA国际影视传媒淲e hope to then be able to travel to live tournaments,SA国际影视传媒� he said, once the Nunavut team is ready and Covid allows. SA国际影视传媒淭hatSA国际影视传媒檚 the end goal.SA国际影视传媒�

Though heSA国际影视传媒檚 been happy with how the tournaments and feedback have gone so far, Botelho-Resendes said there has been some criticism about the initiative.

SA国际影视传媒淭here are some community members that havenSA国际影视传媒檛 been happy with what weSA国际影视传媒檙e doing,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey feel that some of the youth should be out hunting and that sort of thing, and weSA国际影视传媒檙e not taking away from that. TheySA国际影视传媒檙e already playing this, and some of them are really good.SA国际影视传媒�

The world has changed, people can work remotely and youth should be able to as well, he added. These tournaments and the Nunavut team can help get southern companiesSA国际影视传媒� eyes on the North and potentially create job opportunities for the youth.

SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of gamers end up going on to jobs like testing, IT support, security,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

The goal is to mentor the youth and help them find new career opportunities.

SA国际影视传媒淚nitially, itSA国际影视传媒檚 about video games and getting them connected,SA国际影视传媒� said Botelho-Resendes.

He even wants to eventually find funding to pay Nunavut youth to become professional gamers for a certain number of hours per week, as is seen with top gamers in the south.

SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檇 like to see them get paid as they would a normal job,SA国际影视传媒� he said.

That would further reinforce youthsSA国际影视传媒� responsibility toward each other to be ready and prepared when game time with their team comes, he added.

For full details of the upcoming Kivalliq tournament and how to register, check out Nunavut Gaming Society on Facebook.