SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Twitch, the world’s leading video game broadcasting network, announced the winners of the first annual Twitch & Alienware Scholarship for outstanding student gamers. Sponsored by SteelSeries, the competition awarded 50 thousand dollars in scholarships based on criteria spanning academic and gaming achievements. The winners, who each will receive 10 thousand dollars, include Kevin Carlino, John Stockwell, Antonio Revard, Joey Yurgelon and Kelli Dunlap. A scholarship for professional gamers of this scope is unprecedented and lends credibility to the burgeoning eSports movement.
“Live video game streaming is gaining momentum quickly as evidenced by the traffic to Twitch as well as the increase in pro tournaments, partnerships, charity drives, developer showcases and sponsor interest,” said Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch. “The avid professional gaming and spectator community has helped us thrive with more than 20 million visitors a month, and this scholarship is our way of showing appreciation for their passion while reinforcing our commitment to what we view as a legitimate sport.”
Twitch partnered with SteelSeries, Dell’s high powered PC gaming brand and the leading manufacturer of premium-quality peripherals, and Alienware, Dell’s manufacturer of custom laptop and desktop enclosures, given the strong presence the brands have in the competitive gaming space.
“Some of our most loyal, passionate customers are students,” said Kim Rom, CMO, SteelSeries. “The passion that our customers show for gaming is absolutely infectious, and we want to support them in any way we can. We hope the scholarship money will help our customers turn their passion into a career.”
The following Twitch & Alienware Scholarship winners were determined by a panel of industry experts who factored in their grades, gaming achievements and passion for the gaming profession. The inaugural Twitch & Alienware Scholarship was announced on June 5, 2012 and marks the first of an ongoing scholarship program.
Scholarship Winners:
Kelli Dunlap: American School of Professional Psychology in Washington, D.C., PhD candidate
- Halo expert and graduate student conducting doctoral dissertation research on the interplay between video games, personality and mental health.
Kevin Carlino: Arizona State University, Computer Science
- Fifteen year Diablo veteran and host of Diablo Daily for Team Evil Geniuses
John Stockwell: Pennsylvania State University, Computer Science
- Competitive Team Fortress 2 player and aspiring game developer
Antonio Revard: Michigan State University, Media Arts & Technology (Video Games Design & Development)
- Former professional Counter-Strike player and popular Twitch broadcaster
Joey Yurgelon: University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Mechanical Engineering
- Starcraft and League of Legends fanatic.
About SteelSeries
SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces. For the past decade, SteelSeries has been on the forefront of competitive gaming gear thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gaming teams. SteelSeries also supports the growth of competitive gaming tournaments and electronic sports leagues through professional team sponsorships, partnerships, and community support all over the world. For more information, please visit www.steelseries.com.
About Twitch
Twitch (formerly TwitchTV) is the world’s leading video game broadcasting network where more than 20 million gamers gather every month to watch and interact around the games they love. Twitch’s proprietary video delivery platform and infrastructure form the backbone of a distribution network for leading video game broadcasters including pro players, tournaments, leagues, developers and gaming media organizations. Twitch is leading a revolution in gaming culture, turning gameplay into an immersive entertainment media experience. Learn more at http://twitch.tv.