The University of Oklahoma competed against Oklahoma State University in the fourth annual Bedlam Esports series, a weekend filled with games and competition while raising money for Extra Life.
Students competed online and in-person to see which school will come out on top in this latest iteration of a classic rivalry.
The University of Oklahoma competed against Oklahoma State University in the fourth annual Bedlam Esports series, a weekend filled with games and competition while raising money for Extra Life. This year, the event took place online Saturday and at the OSU Esports Arena Sunday. The Organizations battled it out in nine games, including Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, League of Legends, Rocket League, and more.
This event also raised money for Extra Life, a charity that supports children’s hospitals through gaming, and raises money via events and streams. This year, OU and OSU raised $500 for the organization. Saturday started off with a panel titled “More than a Game,” which discussed how games can be more than just something we play, rather things we build communities around and experiences for people to have.
The games began with CS:GO. After two games going each way, OU closes out game 3 in a 15-10 round victory, securing the first win of the weekend for the university. Shortly after was Call of Duty: Vanguard, which featured the brand new title for the schools to compete in. After a hard-fought battle, OSU eked out with a victory in the new title. The final title of the online half of the weekend was Rocket League, which was truly an exciting time for Sooner fans. After OSU took the first game, OU came back with four wins in a row to close out the title and win the final title of Saturday.
The in-person event started on Sunday with a panel “Gaming isn’t Niche Anymore, and That’s Awesome,” which discussed how gaming has become bigger than ever, and this has caused mainstream media to take notice of its effects. The first game of the day was Apex Legends, played in Arena mode, featuring 3v3 combat between the two teams. After OU took game one, OSU struck back with games two and three to close out the set and win the first game of Sunday. The next event was Rainbow 6 Siege, which went on for quite some time due to some insane comebacks from both teams. After OSU took game one, OU struck back with a hard-fought game two and a close game three to take the second game of the day and the first win for the university on Sunday.
After Siege was Overwatch, which was a divisive victory for OU, winning the best of five in a clean 3-0 victory, quickly ending the third game of the day. Next was the Smash Ultimate crew battle, which was one of the most exciting events of the day. It went back and forth between the teams, trading stocks between players back and forth. The ending came down to one player each, and OSU clutched out the victory in the last stock of the battle. Next was League of Legends, which after some clean, precise play from OU teams, they took the first two games in the best of three, making them the winners of the game for the weekend. The last game of the weekend was Valorant, which was an exciting one for OU fans. The team dominated in the final game, winning the set 2-0 and taking home the last game of the weekend. Overall, OU defeated OSU, 6-3 for the weekend overall, making the university the winners of this year’s event.
Brandon Dang, a mechanical engineering OSU student, said that he enjoys the atmosphere of the event. “It’s really fun to be with your friends, with your team, and just to be able to cheer each other on is really fun,” Dang said. “I love spectating, even if I don’t know a lot about the game, I can dip my feet into the water and check it out.”
Dang also said that he loves to see many different people come together to play games.“This event really shows how so many people can come together, from many different walks of life, and play games with and against each other,” Dang said.
Christopher Nguyen, an MIS student at OU, said that he loves the hype behind the in-person event. “You can’t replicate the hype, and the enjoyment of people being in person,” Nguyen said. “When events are online, we have twitch chat. However, it’s not the same as being right next to your friends and yelling or cheering at the screen.”
The day peaked overall with 117 viewers at once, with 752 unique viewers over the 11 hours of streaming. Those who would like to watch the competitions can view the VODS on the OSU and OU twitch channels.
