Live events such as Smorgasport and music artists at Long Beach State have become a normal occurrence once again on campus, gathering the community to get together and have a fun time.
The Esports Association is no different, with the club holding its annual GG Beach celebration on March 9.
Although the event was held online over the last few years, the in-person event will return to campus at the University Student Union building in the Esports Facility room and arena, which opened its doors in September of last year.
From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., attendees can support Long Beach State players facing off against other universities in live showcase matches in six different video games.
Esports Association President Alyx Nguyen said that although the list of opponents has not been finalized, players have been determining matchups through online tournament brackets for the past two months.
“Off the top of my head, pretty much (invited) all the Cal States. We also have UCLA, USC (and) IVC, which is Irvine Valley College,” Nguyen said.
For those who do not have an interest in watching competitive gameplay, GG Beach will also be holding live panels featuring different companies in the video game industry.
“We have some people coming from Riot Studios. They’re the creators of Valorant (and) League of Legends,” Nguyen said. “There’s also PC peripheral companies that are talking about the industry. So it’s just a bunch of different things.”
An artist alley will also be running concurrently during the event, with Long Beach State student artists showcasing and selling their creations.
“In that same room is going to be sponsorship booths,” Nguyen said. “Some of our sponsors opted to have a booth to kind of advertise what they do or what they provide.”
Several event sponsors have also given merchandise to the association that will be raffled off at the GG Beach event. Once attendees arrive, they will be given a raffle ticket and entered for a chance to win.
“Honestly, it’s more likely that you’ll win than not win,” Nguyen said.
For those who are unable to see specific game matches in person, the Esports Association will be live-streaming the event on its Twitch channel.
“We have some very interesting AV equipment that just got installed and we’re hoping to get that up and running in time for the events,” Nguyen said. “It’s very high quality. So the broadcast should look pretty good.”
While Nguyen might be nervous about the upcoming event and its success, they are excited to see their hard work come to fruition.
“We’re just hoping that we do right by the alumni, we do right by the community and the students, including external collegiate students and players,” Nguyen said.
The Long Beach State community can sign up for free tickets to the event by visiting the GG Beach Eventbrite page.