This past weekend was a bit one for Play Mechanix and Raw Thrills, as the companies hosted their biggest Big Buck Hunter Championship event to date. Taking place at the eSports Arena within the Las Vegas Luxor Hotel, plenty of space was available for contestants to duke it out using their virtual hunting skills. Over $100,000 in cash prizes were up for grabs, with $5000 going to the winner of the Ladies Tournament and $20,000 going to the winner of the overall event.
The final battle on Saturday night took place between American Trevor Gartner and Australian Sean Chadwick, pitting hunters from the two countries against each other once again (for a long time, AU didn’t have access to the online portion of the game, but Play Mechanix fixed that a few years ago). Gartner managed to come out on top for the 4th time in a row, bagging that top prize of $20,000. Melissa Romanik claimed the title of 2018 Ladies Tourney Champion in that separate event. for the Ladies Tournament. Congrats to both! I imagine they had quite the weekend celebration with that kind of cash in Vegas.
If you missed the live stream of the event, click here to re-watch it.
If you want more details without watching all of the event, here’s a handy press release:
2018 Big Buck World Champions Crowned at eSports Arena Las Vegas!
(Glen Ellyn, IL. October 31st, 2018) – On Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th, Big Buck Hunter took over the eSports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel & Casino for its 11th annual World Championship event. Competitors and spectators watched and cheered as a new Ladies’ Champion was crowned and a returning World Champion took home a record-breaking 4th win.
On night one of the two-day event, last year’s runner-up Melissa Romanik from St. Paul, Minnesota came back ready for redemption in the 8th-annual Ladies’ Tourney. Melissa fought through the 32-woman, double-elimination bracket and ended up in a nail-biter of a final match with Courtney McLauchlan of Berwick, Victoria, Australia. It was anyone’s game, but Melissa kept her winning streak alive and proved that this was her year – following her 3rd place finish in 2016 and 2nd place finish in 2017 with a big 1st place win and Ladies’ Tourney title in 2018! Melissa walked away with $5,000, and will be immortalized on the coveted Jugs of Destiny trophy, showing the world that with enough dedication and practice, anyone can become a champion. Rounding out the top 4 Ladies were Julianne Jones of St. Albans, Vermont in 3rd and Lauren Hope of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 4th. With all three participating regions present in the final 4, we were all reminded just how global this event can be.
On night two, Trevor Gartner of Wisconsin’s “Sconnie Snipers” hunting party blasted his way through the winners’ side of 64-person (male and female), double-elimination bracket in a show of force that made nerves a serious issue for all of his opponents – including 2017 runner-up Australian Sean Chadwick – who fell to Trevor in the finals after a series of unfortunate “doe-outs” on high-value hunting sites. Andrew Moskowitz of San Francisco, and Will Bromley of Newtown, New South Wales, Australia were in the hunt as well, taking 3rd and 4th, respectively. When the dust settled, Trevor stood victorious, earning a staggering 4th World Championship title, yet another name plaque on the towering Pappy’s Jug trophy, and $20,000. Will anyone be able to stop Trevor in 2019? The players are more driven than ever – and thanks to an earlier start to the 2019 qualifying season, they’ll be able to get to work on November 1st.
Keep up with all things Big Buck World Championship by visiting www.bigbuckhd.com/world
Live stream events can be viewed at www.twitch.tv/bigbuckhd
About Big Buck HD
Big Buck HD is the first-ever 1080p high-definition arcade video game – and the latest installment in the award-winning Big Buck Hunter franchise, created by coin-operated gaming powerhouses Raw Thrills and Play Mechanix. The Big Buck HD Wild update features 9 unique animal adventures, a host of competitive online features, and popular side story campaigns including Duck Dynasty, In Case of Zombies: Doe of the Dead, and the newly-announced In Case of Monsters: Lost Island.
As of this year, players can not only compete with rivals across the globe for cash prizes, but qualify for the World Championship in the process. In addition to these player benefits, custom tournaments and ad campaigns have made the game a popular choice with bar owners and operators worldwide.
For additional information and updates, visit www.bigbuckhd.com and follow us on social media.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OfficialBigBuckHunter
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bigbuckhunter
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bigbuckhunter
# # #
