E-Sports Alliance held a packed Fortnite competition last night.

It took place at the Guild Hall in the Porter Creek area of Whitehorse.

Fortnite is a video game in a Battle Royale format.

Admission was $5 and cash prizes were given out.

48 gamers registered for the event, which is normally a good thing. In this case, not so much, as the amount of consoles in action resulted in some technical issues. The Star stopped in after they had played one round and were working on setting up another round.

Daniel Vigneau and his son Landon, 8, were there to have a go at competing against one another.

“We saw it on Facebook and we’re both gamers. He’s always talking about how much better he is than me, so we figured we’d come and do a tournament and really figure it out,” said the elder Vigneau.

Vigneau said they play Fortnite almost every day.

“He’s been playing since he was five years old, so he’s gotten pretty good.

“I’ve been playing since the inception of Fortnite. It’s been fun.”

Fortnite came out in 2017.

Vigneau added, “I’m glad these guys are able to put on an event like this.”

John Tran, part of the E-Sports Alliance, and his partner Lianne Leger were assisting E-Sports president Brandon Wicke run the show.

They said the problems were caused by a LAN connection, which normally works better than going online. They were using it to connect to the computers and game consoles being used for the event.

“When you stress the system with 12-plus, dozens of setups, it makes it a bit harder on the system,” explained Leger.

The consoles included PlayStation 4s and 5s, Xboxes, Nintendo Switches and PCs.

Previous events nights have included the games Halo, Smash Bros., Starcraft, Mario Party, Counter-Strike, Rocket League and Mario Kart 8.

They are planning on holding another Mario Kart 8 next month.

“Now that there’s been more interest, there’s been more advertising about all these events going on, we feel that if we put on the Mario Kart 8, it’s going to be an even bigger turnout than this time,” said Leger.

“We’ve learned from all of them … what to do and what not to do.

“Hopefully we can continue to improve and make it a good experience for everyone.”

This was the biggest turnout they’ve had so far. Usually, they average 12-24 people.

Smash Bros. drew in 30 people.

Due to the added attention lately, they’ve been seeing new faces showing up.

They post events online on Facebook and Instagram, but word of mouth is still the best way to get the word out.

“Once they talk to a friend who’s been here, they’re like ‘It’s really good, it was a lot of fun, there’s pizza,’” related Leger.

“They don’t get to game this way anymore. Gaming is very solidarity. Even though you’re talking to people, you don’t see them, you don’t hear them as well as you do in this kind of setting.”

On cue, cheers rang out as the game systems got up and running.

“Fortnite is one of the most popular games in the world, which is why we gave it a try,” explained Tran.

“The whole purpose of this is to bring people together,” said Tran.

“We’re always on the lookout for other spaces to use because it’s really growing and having a bigger space to work in would be great,” added Leger.

Once the game began, the cheers grew louder and louder. Arthur Leveugle and Casey Guy ended up as co-winners of the round.

Leveugle said he was proud of how he did.

“I’m happy.”

This was Leveugle’s first time playing at the Guild. He said he had fun and is planning on coming back.

Guy, 13, said he came out because of his friends.

“They usually try to get me out.

“It was pretty fun, except the lag. I would have won that!”

Guy said he’s been out to other E-Sport events at the Guild, like Smash Bros. and Halo.

“I usually come when there’s a tournament. They’re relatively cheap and fun.”

Carter Hinds, 15, alias Billy Eyelash, came in third. He said that felt “pretty good. I could have done better.”

Hinds won $7 for his effort.

“I had a lot of fun.”

Hinds, a first-timer, added he was also planning on coming back again.

According to their Facebook page, E-Sports Alliance is “a registered Yukon non-profit dedicated to supporting competitive gaming in the Yukon.”

In July 2023, E-Sports announced that they were invited to serve on the Competition Committee of Esport Canada.

They were also invited to become a member organization of Esport Canada.

The Alliance will serve on Esport Canada’s Competitive Committee as a voting member as well.

An eight-member E-Sports Alliance team also went down to Vancouver March 29-31 to compete in a Super Smash Bros. competition at the Battle of B.C. 6 gaming convention.

The top result achieved by the Alliance at the event was 97th out of 500 competitors.