Gamers win scholarships

Who would have ever thought that playing video games could lead to a scholarship?

According to Twitch, an online broadcasting community for gamers to watch and share live streams, announced the winners of their first Twitch & Alienware Scholarship for outstanding student gamers. Sponsored by gaming peripherals manufacture SteelSeries, the competition awarded $50,000 in scholarships based on criteria spanning academic and gaming achievements. Kevin Carlino, John Stockwell, Antonio Revard, Joey Yurgelon and Kelli Dunlap were each given $10,000.

“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.”
 
“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.”