Full Sail Stories
Published Aug 01, 2013
Red Bull Training Grounds Takes Over Full Sail
This past weekend, the Full Sail Live Venue was transformed into a live gaming arena during the Red Bull Training Grounds event.
This past weekend, the Full Sail Live Venue was transformed into a live gaming arena during the Red Bull Training Grounds event. Full Sail students and the public filled the seats to watch eight invited professional eSports athletes face off in head-to-head StarCraft II battles. While the players sat focused within a soundproof cube during their respective matches, the atmosphere in the rest of the Venue was lively, with the game being projected on multiple screens and Red Bull experts and commentators Sean “Day[9]” Plott, Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham, and Ben “Mr. Bitter” Nichol calling live play-by-play of all the action.
Besides being spectators, Full Sail Film, Recording Arts and Show Production students shadowed and assisted behind-the-scenes of the event’s live digital broadcast and students in the Game Design Master’s and Game Development degree programs had the opportunity to share their projects with the gaming pros and gain feedback on their gaming works-in-progress.
After scrimmages and round robin tournament play on Friday and Saturday, Sunday’s final round was an exciting, seven-game series between Chris “HuK” Loranger and Jens “Snute” Aasgaard, with Snute emerging the victor.
Also over the weekend, Red Bull awarded a $10,000 “Gives You Wings” scholarship to Full Sail Game Design Master’s student Paulina Cabrera. Paulina, who earned her Game Art Bachelor’s Degree from Full Sail in 2012 (she was her class’s valedictorian), was chosen for her high academic standing and outstanding achievements. Besides her current studies in the Master’s program, she’s working with an industry mentor and is part of a pending game project with a real-world client.