.png;w=960)
Jacob Gibb, a second-year student in the broadcast television program, uses the knowledge gained in the program to create his tournament show The Payday Bracket.
He got the idea of organizing a tournament after working as a stage manager at a big gaming event in Toronto called Get On My Level (GOML).
Gibb said he was inspired by the experience and wanted to make his tournament.
“I think it was, for me, it was really important seeing that in person, in such a big space,” he said.
“It inspired me to say I should have a way to let people play games again. I think playing games is a great way to connect with people and interact with the community,” he said.
Gibb themed his tournament around his current job at Costco. He said he thought it would be funny as his paycheck was from Costco.
“The bracket name is Payday. Why not make it off Costco? Because they're paying for everything. So I thought that would be funny,” he said.
The payday bracket is host to many fighting games, but it primarily hosts the anime fighting game Guilty Gear: Strive.
Gibb is also a Humber Esports production crew member as a live-stream coordinator.
He used the knowledge of how to run live streams for Humber to better the production of his streams of the Payday Bracket.
"Running any production, it's very important to know how all your tools work and how it should be. I think everyone who is interested in anything creative should know their craft," Gibb said.
"So by knowing my craft and utilizing it on a day-to-day basis with my personal work at my payday bracket and my real job at Humber Esports, it allows me to upgrade my skills and make each viewing experience I do that much better," he said.
The tournament itself has had an uptick in participants and Gibb said he thinks that by the first anniversary of his tournament, he will have at least 50 to 60 participants.
“I can't see why we wouldn't have 50 or 60 players, if not more and I'm very excited to see if I can grow my event even bigger,” he said.
Gibb encourages new players who haven't competed before to join and to have fun.
"It may seem daunting to new players or people who haven't competed professionally in any form before, but at the end of the day it's pretty fun," he said
"You get to play a game you love and people are hopefully willing to help you out and kind of have fun with you," he said.
To join the tournament it can be found at www.start.gg/payday. It's open to all and streamed every week on Saturdays at 7 p.m. EST at www.twitch.tv/gibb_y.
