Students make pre-emptive strike with online game app

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

A proposal for a new web-based system that aims to boost professional online game players' chances of winning has earned a team of University of Adelaide students the Tech eChallenge award for 2016.

The team, called 5k Decoy, has tapped into the potentially lucrative world of the online multiplayer game, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).

CS:GO is a first-person shooter game that pits teams of virtual combatants against each other. In some competitions, professional teams stand to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money if they emerge victorious.

For the Tech eChallenge, 5k Decoy developed the concept of a website app that compiles statistical information and analysis based on teams' performance in the game. This would enable professional players and team coaches to more accurately focus on areas of gameplay and strategy improvement, helping to boost their chances of winning.

The 5k Decoy team comprises students Aaron Hunter, David Donnellan and Gavin Meredith, who are all studying for their Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Software) at the University of Adelaide.

As the winner of this year's event, 5k Decoy will receive prizes valued at more than $20,000, including a trip for all three team members to Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle, USA. The trip will provide a unique opportunity for the team to pitch its technology to Microsoft executives.

The Tech eChallenge is run by the University of Adelaide’s Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC) and School of Computer Science in conjunction with Microsoft.

"5k Decoy's concept is yet another outstanding example of local innovation that has the potential to make a global impact, this time in the world of professional online gaming," says the Director of ECIC, Professor Noel Lindsay.

"This is a highly competitive market that is currently at its peak, so anything that helps to give teams the edge – and to do so legally within the terms of their competition – is bound to be welcome," he says.

"We continue to be highly impressed with the quality of the new technology ideas on show at the Tech eChallenge, and we are pleased to be partnering with Microsoft to foster such new ideas and talent," Professor Lindsay says.

A special commendation was awarded to team STREL, comprising Bachelor of Chemical Engineering student Ethan Coulter and Bachelor of Innovation & Entrepreneurship student Nicole Henderson.

STREL's concept was a digital platform that connects researchers with industry, entrepreneurs and investors as a gateway for turning ideas into a commercialised reality – connecting 'those with the ideas' to those 'who do the ideas'.

More information about Tech eChallenge can be found at: www.adelaide.edu.au/echallenge

 

Contact Details

Professor Noel Lindsay
Email: noel.lindsay@adelaide.edu.au
Website: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/noel.lindsay
Pro Vice-Chancellor Entrepreneurship;
Dean of Business - Adelaide Business School
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 7422
Mobile: +61 (0)428 842 024


Ms Zrinka Tokic
Email: zrinka.tokic@adelaide.edu.au
Website: http://www.ecic.adelaide.edu.au
eChallenge Program Manager
Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC)
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 7422
Mobile: +61 (0)401 976 207


Mr David Ellis
Email: david.ellis@adelaide.edu.au
Website: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/
Deputy Director, Media and Corporate Relations
External Relations
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 5414
Mobile: +61 (0)421 612 762