Ready your warriors, StarCraft competitors! We’ve just posted the Gamers for Giving 2016 Legacy of the Void tournament settings! The full tournament details can be found on the website’s Tournament page, or you can view the PDF by clicking here.

If you competed in last year’s tournament, you’ll notice a few major changes:

• Players will be seeded in the tournament based on their most recent StarCraft 2 ladder ranking.
• The tournament will take place over the course of Saturday AND Sunday. Players should anticipate competing on both days, however, admins reserve the option to finish the competition if the tournament can be completed in its entirety on Saturday.
• The map pool will be the Blizzard ladder map pool, to be published after the end of the current season (1/31/2016).

Additionally, we’ve modified the payout structure of the tournament. 1st – 6th place will now be eligible for prizing based on the following increments:

• 1st Place: $400
• 2nd Place: $200
• 3rd Place: $100
• 4th Place: $50
• 5th / 6th Place: $25

The tournament will have a guaranteed $800 prize pool. The prize pool may increase in the event we are able to secure excess or specialized sponsorship, but will otherwise remain constant regardless of the number of tournament participants. In the event of a prize pool increase, an announcement will be made here on our website.

Lastly, we plan to stream the entirety of the tournament thanks to our local StarCraft hero, Ehren “Wingnut” Benson. The tournament’s stream channel will be announced at a later date.

If you have questions or feedback, feel free to reach out to us on Twitter, @GamersOutreach or to @Wingnut (who is also acting as the tournament’s head admin).

We look forward to seeing you on March 12th & 13th at the EMU Convocation Center!

Returning for their second year, we’re proud to welcome back GamerSaloon.com as a sponsor of Gamers for Giving!

GamerSaloon is a leading provider of gaming competitions where players can compete in skill-based tournaments for cash prizes. The website has grown to become one of the largest gaming communities online, and has awarded millions in prize money since its inception in 2006. GamerSaloon offers daily tournaments for console and PC gamers alike, and has events for most all of today’s leading titles.

GamerSaloon will be hosting a number of exhibition activities during Gamers for Giving, and will also be showing off their new Counter-Strike Global Offensive Bounty Arena, a competitive matchmaking tool that lets players earn cash based on each kill in-game. Attendees will have the chance to interact with GamerSaloon staff at their booth, and learn about the company’s new Counter-Strike platform.

We’re excited to have GamerSaloon back at Gamers for Giving! Be sure to give them some love on Twitter and Facebook, and stop by their booth at the event to say hello!

We’re excited to announce ServerMonkey.com has come aboard as a sponsor of Gamers for Giving 2016! Server hardware is the backbone of a LAN party, and thanks to ServerMonkey’s support, we’ll be outfitted with some of today’s latest and greatest IT equipment to keep game connectivity flowing smoothly for our PC gamers participating in the BYOC!

ServerMonkey specializes in new and refurbished servers and networking equipment from brands like HP, Dell, IBM, Sun and Cisco. Offering some of the best IT equipment at the most affordable price points, we’re proud to welcome ServerMonkey as the official provider of server hardware powering Gamers for Giving 2016!

This is the first year ServerMonkey has been involved with our fundraising event. Thanks to their support, we’ll be able to offer a wide variety of gaming activities to LAN attendees throughout the weekend!

Be sure to throw them a friendly nod on Twitter or Facebook in appreciation of their involvement!

Happy new year, fellow gamers! We wanted to let you know we’ve made some modifications to the pricing and availability of tickets at Gamers for Giving 2016. Below you’ll find a few updates we’ve just implemented based on feedback from attendees!

• We’ve increased the capacity of the general BYOC LAN by 40 seats. Seats in sections D and G of the layout are now available for purchase.
• Sky Loft Passes are now priced at $225.00 (online), and include access to a VIP seat in the LAN party (pending availability).
• The VIP area is now limited to 32 seats, coinciding with the availability of Sky Loft passes.
• Halo team passes are now priced at $200 flat. Remember, the purchase of a team pass covers 4 players + 1 coach!
• Call of Duty team passes are now priced at $200 flat. Remember, the purchase of a team pass covers 4 players + 1 coach!

As originally noted, parking fees are included with the purchase of Gamers for Giving passes. The convocation center has a much larger parking lot than the student center, and plenty of parking should be available at the venue.

We’re looking forward to seeing you on March 12th & 13th!

2015 is coming to a close, and we hope you’ve been finding some time to enjoy the holiday season with friends, family, and of course, your favorite video games.

In case you missed it, we shared a short blog post over on the main Gamers Outreach website featuring letters from parents and families we’ve been able to support this past year. Their stories have largely been made possible thanks to resources generated via Gamers for Giving – so if you’ve participated in previous years, thank you!

In other news, tournament rule-sets for Gamers for Giving 2016, as well as a list of the casual activities we’ll be hosting in the LAN will become available in January. For those of you who’ve signed up for the LAN party, you should know we’ve been taking a close look at your survey responses! We’re depending on your feedback to help us shape the big event this March.

On that note, we thought we’d share some of the data with you. As of this blog post, there are nearly 300 individuals registered for the PC LAN party. Below you’ll find a sample of the headline tournaments PC gamers plan to participate in, pulled from our survey data. Note: not everyone registered answered all our survey questions, so this data is a bit skewed. Still, it should serve as a decent sample for the ratio of competitors.

We’ve also received some fun suggestions for additional activities. Dota 2 and Rocket League seem to be the two most frequent requests, so be on the look out for some announcements regarding both of those games in the coming weeks.

Lastly, we’ve compiled a list of games people have said they plan to play in the LAN. Here are the titles folks plan to spend time playing during the weekend…

• Call of Duty
• Battlefield 4
• Star Wars Battlefront
• Halo
• CS GO
• Dark Souls
• League of Legends
• Rocket League
• Dota 2
• Diablo
• Hearthstone
• Smash Bros
• Team Fortress 2
• Smite
• DayZ
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Minecraft
• Fallout 4
• Age of Empires 3
• H1Z1
• Planetside 2
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Warhammer
• EVE
• World of Warcraft
• Portal 2
• Quake LIVE
• Rainbow Six Siege

That’s all we’ve got for now. Enjoy the rest of your holiday, and we’ll see you in 2016! From everyone at Gamers Outreach, Happy New Year!

Ever wanted to get involved with Gamers Outreach as a staff member? Now’s your chance! We’re recruiting volunteers to assist with our annual fundraising event, Gamers for Giving!

There are a wide range of opportunities available to anyone interested in volunteering. Are you really good with a camera? Join our media team! Have excellent skills as a writer? We could use help crafting content during the big weekend of our event! Have experience running a LAN party? Join our LAN team and help us create a great weekend for attendees participating in our BYOC. There are endless opportunities to get involved!

If you’re interested in having a role, take a few minutes and fill out this form. Your application will be forwarded to our Operations Director, Shaun Fyall, who will get in touch if anything in your area of interest becomes available.

We hope you’ll be joining us March 12th and 13th at the EMU Convocation Center!

Just a friendly FYI: if you’re someone who’s interested in attending the Gamers for Giving BYOC LAN, you may want to get your ticket(s) ASAP! We just opened registration on Friday, and general seats are already 50% gone!

All tickets are sold through our friends at the Intel LANFest series and can be purchased here.

Moving to the EMU Convocation Center has provided us with a few opportunities to offer new experiences at Gamers for Giving. Here’s a breakdown of the passes available for purchase at our event this coming March. Parking & venue facility fees are included in the cost of each ticket purchase:

• Gamers Outreach Sky Loft: $275 Online | $350 at the Door
  The Gamers Outreach Sky Loft is a hospitality lounge with privileged views of the arena floor and jumbotron. Set aside as an area for special guests, partners, and corporate sponsors, we’ve made a limited number of passes publicly available for purchase. Premium food items and beverages will be served in a relaxing atmosphere, overlooking the entirety of the Gamers for Giving venue.

• BYOC LAN Ticket: $30 Online | $40 at the Door
  Purchase this ticket if you would like to participate in the BYOC LAN. This ticket also grants you entry into the headline PC tournaments of Gamers for Giving. Bring your PC or console to game with attendees for the entire weekend! We’ll also be hosting a variety of casual servers and activities. Check out the LAN Party section of the website to see a list of things you’ll need to bring.

• VIP BYOC LAN Ticket: $125 Online | $145 at the Door
  Purchase this ticket if you would like to participate in the BYOC LAN as a VIP. This ticket also grants you entry into the headline PC tournaments of Gamers for Giving. Bring your PC or console to game with attendees for the entire weekend! We’ll also be hosting a variety of casual servers and activities. Check out the LAN Party section of the website to see a list of things you’ll need to bring. VIP seats come with a variety of extra benefits including…
  • Concierge Service: a staff member dedicated to fetching food, drinks, snacks, or any other general errands so you never have to leave the LAN! More information on this will be provided in a later blog post
  • Skip the Check-in Line: VIPs will be able to bypass the check-in line the morning of Gamers for Giving.
  • Extra Table Space: VIPs receive an extra foot of table space.
  • Early Access to the Venue: VIPs will be able to set up their rigs before the doors of Gamers for Giving open.
  • Gamers Outreach T-shirt: VIPs receive a Gamers Outreach t-shirt as part of their purchase!
  • Gamers Outreach Loot Bag: VIPs will receive a gift bag filled with loot from our sponsors and partners.
  • Close Proximity to the NOC: VIPs have quick access to the NOC, our central location for servers and event administrators

• Halo Team Pass: $220 Online | $280 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Halo 5 tournament on Xbox One. This team pass grants a total of 4 players + 1 coach with access to the event. Only 1 member from your team needs to purchase this pass for your group. Team information will be collected when you check-in at the event.

• Call of Duty Team Pass: $220 Online | $280 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Call of Duty Black Ops 3 tournament on Xbox One. This team pass grants a total of 4 players + 1 coach with access to the event. Only 1 member from your team needs to purchase this pass for your group. Team information will be collected when you check-in at the event.
  

• Super Smash Bros. Pass: $35 Online | $45 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Super Smash Bros. tournament on Wii U. This pass grants 1 player access to the event.

As usual, press and spectators will be able to access Gamers for Giving for free! If you are a parent accommodating a minor, a member of the press, or you’re someone who just wants to come and check out the event, you’ll only need to visit the spectator check-in desk when you arrive.

Be sure to help spread Gamers for Giving hype by tweeting us with the hashtag #GFG2016! We hope to see you on March 12th & 13th at the EMU Convocation Center!

Update – for those who’ve purchased BYOC LAN tickets, all openings on the seat map should now be available for selection.

Registration to participate in Gamers for Giving 2016 has opened! Hooray! All tickets are sold through our friends at the Intel LANFest series and can be purchased here.

Moving to the EMU Convocation Center has provided us with a few opportunities to offer new experiences at Gamers for Giving. Here’s a breakdown of the passes available for purchase at our event this coming March. Parking & venue facility fees are included in the cost of each ticket purchase:

• Gamers Outreach Sky Loft: $275 Online | $350 at the Door
  The Gamers Outreach Sky Loft is a hospitality lounge with privileged views of the arena floor and jumbotron. Set aside as an area for special guests, partners, and corporate sponsors, we’ve made a limited number of passes publicly available for purchase. Premium food items and beverages will be served in a relaxing atmosphere, overlooking the entirety of the Gamers for Giving venue.

• BYOC LAN Ticket: $30 Online | $40 at the Door
  Purchase this ticket if you would like to participate in the BYOC LAN. This ticket also grants you entry into the headline PC tournaments of Gamers for Giving. Bring your PC or console to game with attendees for the entire weekend! We’ll also be hosting a variety of casual servers and activities. Check out the LAN Party section of the website to see a list of things you’ll need to bring.

• VIP BYOC LAN Ticket: $125 Online | $145 at the Door
  Purchase this ticket if you would like to participate in the BYOC LAN as a VIP. This ticket also grants you entry into the headline PC tournaments of Gamers for Giving. Bring your PC or console to game with attendees for the entire weekend! We’ll also be hosting a variety of casual servers and activities. Check out the LAN Party section of the website to see a list of things you’ll need to bring. VIP seats come with a variety of extra benefits including…
  • Concierge Service: a staff member dedicated to fetching food, drinks, snacks, or any other general errands so you never have to leave the LAN! More information on this will be provided in a later blog post
  • Skip the Check-in Line: VIPs will be able to bypass the check-in line the morning of Gamers for Giving.
  • Extra Table Space: VIPs receive an extra foot of table space.
  • Early Access to the Venue: VIPs will be able to set up their rigs before the doors of Gamers for Giving open.
  • Gamers Outreach T-shirt: VIPs receive a Gamers Outreach t-shirt as part of their purchase!
  • Gamers Outreach Loot Bag: VIPs will receive a gift bag filled with loot from our sponsors and partners.
  • Close Proximity to the NOC: VIPs have quick access to the NOC, our central location for servers and event administrators

• Halo Team Pass: $220 Online | $280 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Halo 5 tournament on Xbox One. This team pass grants a total of 4 players + 1 coach with access to the event. Only 1 member from your team needs to purchase this pass for your group. Team information will be collected when you check-in at the event.

• Call of Duty Team Pass: $220 Online | $280 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Call of Duty Black Ops 3 tournament on Xbox One. This team pass grants a total of 4 players + 1 coach with access to the event. Only 1 member from your team needs to purchase this pass for your group. Team information will be collected when you check-in at the event.
  

• Super Smash Bros. Pass: $35 Online | $45 at the Door
  Purchase this pass to compete in the Gamers for Giving 2016 Super Smash Bros. tournament on Wii U. This pass grants 1 player access to the event.

As usual, press and spectators will be able to access Gamers for Giving for free! If you are a parent accommodating a minor, a member of the press, or you’re someone who just wants to come and check out the event, you’ll only need to visit the spectator check-in desk when you arrive.

Be sure to help spread Gamers for Giving hype by tweeting us with the hashtag #GFG2016! We hope to see you on March 12th & 13th at the EMU Convocation Center!

This one’s for you, fellow console gamers! At last, we’re excited to unveil the remaining three headline tournaments that will appear at Gamers for Giving 2016.

The featured console tournaments at our 2016 event (along with their corresponding platform) will be…

• Halo 5 (Xbox One)
• Call of Duty Black Ops 3 (Xbox One)*
• Super Smash Bros (Wii U)

All three console tournaments will span the entirety of the weekend. The first day of competition will begin in the morning hours of March 12th, and will last until approximately 11 PM Eastern. Tournaments will break for the evening, and then resume the following morning on March 13th. Players will have a period of time to check in and warm up prior to the start of each respective tournament on Saturday and Sunday morning. Please see the Schedule section of the Gamers for Giving website for the complete time frame of activities.

Each tournament will award the winners a guaranteed cash prize. Game discs, consoles, and monitors will all be provided at the event. Players will only need to bring wired controllers, (GameCube controllers for Smash) headsets, and desired accessories. See the Tournaments page for a breakdown of the prize pools, settings, and rules.

Competition passes will be available for purchase beginning on Friday, December 4th.

We’re looking forward to an incredible weekend of competition! Hope to see you at the EMU Convocation Center on March 12th & 13th!

*As many avid Call of Duty competitive players are aware, Activision & Treyarch have endorsed PlayStation 4 as the official home of Call of Duty esports. While we prefer to align our tournaments with the status quo of professional competition, we believe many of our attendees heavily favor the Xbox platform. Additionally, from a logistical perspective, acquiring the number of PlayStation consoles needed to facilitate a large-scale tournament at Gamers for Giving is simply not within our means at this point in time. We believe we can currently provide our competitors with a higher quality experience on the Xbox platform. For those of you who favor PlayStation: we hope you’ll pick up your Xbox controllers once again and join us at Gamers for Giving 2016. If you have any questions or feedback to share, feel free to send an email our way – contact@gamersoutreach.org, or reach out on Twitter, @GamersOutreach.

A young gamer plays Peggle on a GO Kart at Gamers for Giving 2015.

In this blog, we’d like to invite you to support the fundraising efforts of our upcoming event, Gamers for Giving 2016. Please consider making a donation by visiting the home page of our event’s website, GamersforGiving.org!

It’s been eight years since we started Gamers for Giving (as well as Gamers Outreach) and boy, what a ride it’s been!

For those who’ve been with us from the beginning, you no doubt remember the early days. We started as a group of high schoolers with a passion for playing video games. After a couple years of hosting events, a few of our team members began volunteering at our local hospital. Through that experience, we learned firsthand how video games could make an impact in the lives of children coping with long-term treatment. We also became aware of a greater hardship. Every year, there are thousands of children in hospitals across the country who need access to bedside activities, therapy, and treatment.

We wanted to make a difference in the best way we knew how. We applied our knowledge as gamers, and started working with our local hospital to create something unique: portable gaming carts that could be used as tools to provide children with easy access to bedside activities. These gaming carts have become affectionately referred to as “GO Karts.”

Michael “StrongSide” Cavanaugh visits a patient at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Our first GO Kart was delivered back in 2009, and the response from our friends at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital was incredible. For the first time, hospital staff had a medically friendly, safe, and durable piece of equipment they could rely on to provide patients with bedside recreation. That GO Kart is still in use at the hospital to this day.

Slowly but surely, we began delivering more GO Karts. In a pre-streaming world, it was thanks to funds raised at Gamers for Giving that we delivered a few more GO Karts each year. Year by year, what started as a one-off project for our local hospital eventually grew into a program that currently impacts thousands of children’s lives across the country. In fact, in the span of just 2015 alone, we’ve nearly tripled the reach of Gamers Outreach programs. Much of that has been possible because of Gamers for Giving.

A patient at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital enjoys a GO Kart.

Here’s where we are now: Gamers Outreach supports children and families in 16 hospitals nationwide. If 8 children per day use a single GO Kart, collectively, we estimate that approximately 80,000 children per year currently benefit from the GO Kart program. We believe the time has come to expand that impact. There are nearly two hundred children’s hospitals around the country. We’re only in 16 of them. We need your help to reach the rest.

Hospitals Gamers Outreach currently supports.

We’ll be chasing down a $100,000 fundraising goal at Gamers for Giving 2016. If we hit the target, it will be the most we’ve ever raised from a single event. It’s an ambitious goal for us, but we know it can be reached with your support!

If you plan to attend the event in-person, your participation alone will have an impact in the lives of the families we hope to help! If you’re unable to join us, we invite you to participate online by making a donation on the Gamers for Giving website, or to spread the word about our efforts by writing a tweet, or sharing this post on Facebook.

Attendees participating in Gamers for Giving 2015.

We see ourselves as platform builders. Our goal is to create sustainable experiences that produce joy and minimize trauma for patients, all through the power of video games. We also believe our programs provide donors with a tangible opportunity to make a difference. As we look forward, we believe 2016 is going to be a year for incredible action. We hope you’ll make a contribution, and aid us in our quest to provide kids in hospitals with recreation and therapy.

Let’s help others level up.