Online, Virtual Games Escape the New Reality

NEWNAN, Ga. — A few blocks from downtown, inside a building with a brick and stucco facade, two men were immersed in an e-sports event, one of the safer competitions remaining in a sporting world upended by the coronavirus pandemic.

The men — Tyler Mercer, 24, and Chris Caldwell, 23 — call themselves Killer Instinct for online video gaming purposes, and they were at Newnan Esports on March 21 playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Six teams were competing, though the other teams were playing from homes nearby.

Hayden Marlowe, the owner of Newnan Esports, opened his business so Mercer and Caldwell, the reigning champions, would have access to the fast internet speeds that gaming demands. The two live in rural Pike County, Ga., where their bandwidth isn’t as snappy as it is in Newnan, a town of nearly 40,000 about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/sports/esports-gaming-coronavirus.html