eSports 

As part of the Year 9 eSports class and Year 10 Game Development classes, students have the opportunity to join an excursion to PAX Aus, one of the largest gaming culture, technology and eSports exhibitions in the world. This has been GSSC’s 5th trip down to PAX Aus, which gives our students a chance to experience the culture and careers in the video game and pop culture industries as part of the eSports course.

It was a big day as always, with the attendees arriving at school for a 6:30am bus trip down to the Exhibition Centre in Melbourne. Students had the opportunity to:

• Try new games (computer, console and board games were all available to try).
• Compete in competitions in different games.
• Meet celebrities, eSports professional players and online content creators who were walking around or as part of panels.
• Explore the collectable card and tabletop gaming stalls, with students engaging in figure painting.
• Dress up as their favourite pop culture characters and meet other cosplayers, as well as professional cosplayers and costume designers.
• Investigate careers in eSports, computing and game design.

Students spent the day exploring all that PAX Aus had to offer, with many students engaging with other convention goers, competing for prizes in their favourite games, trying their luck at giveaways or just taking in the experience and trying a bit of everything. The eSports class students were encouraged to engage in competitions as part of their involvement in the class, and it was great to hear that three of our students took up this opportunity, with Hunter Latorre making it all the way in his competition and winning a new PlayStation-branded headset for his victory. Congratulations Hunter!

After a big day of walking, lining up, buying things, listening to talks and competing, we got back on the bus at 5pm for the big trip back and getting a final experience of end-of-day traffic in the CBD. We look forward to taking a new group of students down next year to PAX Aus 2027!