Auckland's Spark Game Arena Live dazzles with NZD $240K tourney

Thousands of gamers assembled at Auckland's Spark Arena in New Zealand over the weekend to participate in Spark Game Arena Live, a distinct gaming festival hosted by Spark New Zealand, the telecommunications and digital services provider.

The festival showcased Killabyte, an immersive gaming experience that transformed every attendee into a participant in a massive virtual snake hunt.

The event also featured New Zealand's largest live esports final, where Rangitoto College student Henry Dowson emerged victorious in 'The Rise Cup featuring Fortnite', a nationwide tournament with a prize pool exceeding NZD $240,000. Dowson received NZD $35,000 in cash and gaming equipment valued at over NZD $3,000. The finalists were not the only ones to walk away with prizes.

Upon entering the festival, attendees found themselves integrated into a fictional organisation, D.A.R.T. (Data Anomaly Response Team), tasked with defeating Byte, a gigantic digital snake attempting to revert gaming to the era of black-and-white pixel-based games. Players damaged Byte through various festival activities, such as spectating tournaments, listening to industry talks, playing games, and even eating.

They used unique RFID bracelets to scan at different touchpoints, thereby dealing damage to Byte and earning experience points (XP) that could be tracked via a mobile 'Mission Hub'. Attendees also participated in side quests that involved collecting Byte scales scattered around the venue, unlocking additional lore and rewards.

Matt Bain, Spark's Marketing and Data Director, stated, "This type of experience isn't just a first-of-its-kind for gaming, it's New Zealand setting the benchmark for gaming festivals. Killabyte has been transformative for Spark Game Arena Live, elevating it out of a gaming expo to make the festival itself an innovative and exciting genre of gaming that gives players a new way to participate and compete against one another."

Among the festival's highlights was the opportunity for attendees to meet notable gamers from Australasia, including Vincent Ton, known online as Vindooly, and Taylor Morgan. Vindooly, recognised as Australia's fastest-growing YouTube creator in 2023 with 1.6 billion views and over 4 million subscribers, expressed his admiration for the event.

"Spark Game Arena Live was incredible and an experience I'll never forget. The stadium, setup and production was like nothing I've seen before. It was truly amazing to see players chasing their dreams and showcasing their talent, and the event brought a level of excitement and community that really made everyone feel like a winner," he said.

The character Byte was developed in collaboration with BUCK, a globally renowned animation company.

Gareth O'Brien, BUCK's Executive Creative Director, commented, "When Spark approached us with the idea of turning a gaming festival into a game, it presented an exciting opportunity for us. Not only was designing a highly-crafted and engaging Boss character at this scale something we'd never seen done before, but figuring out how to sustain a storyline over the course of the day was a challenge we were keen to tackle. The resulting Byte character is a devious digital snake, whose lore throws back to old-school gaming, while living up to the contemporary, ever-developing visual world that a discerning gaming audience expects."

In addition to BUCK, the development of Killabyte saw collaboration from Colenso BBDO, Spur, and Satellite Media. Participants engaged in intense competition throughout Spark Game Arena Live, with players JOYNZ and Bravemage4676 securing high scores in their respective morning and afternoon sessions. They each won gaming gear worth NZD $1750.

The festival also hosted the Red Bull Home Ground National Valorant Final, where teams from Aotearoa and Australia competed fiercely. Team 'Sumthin Dumplin' triumphed in the final game, earning a spot in the Asia-Pacific qualifiers in Tokyo, Japan. They will represent New Zealand with the hope of advancing to the Red Bull Home Ground World Final in Germany this November.