Susquehanna Soniqs make esports history in South Korea, winning $1.2 million championship

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. 

The Susquehanna Soniqs, a Harrisburg-based professional esports team, made esports history last month, winning the PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) World Championship and notching one of the largest esports prize pools in history in the process. 

"I didn't come here expecting a world championship, and we found four players who slotted into our system perfectly," Susquehanna Soniqs general manager Darren Moore said. 

For Moore, the championship was a bit surreal, but the focus — and the reason he came to the Keystone State — was to help put "Pennsylvania in pole position" with esports. 

Moore started his career in esports as a content creator before operating as general manager for Savannah, Georgia-based esports team, Team Gates. He joined the Soniqs in 2018. For him, the PUBG championship helps put both the Soniqs and Pennsylvania on the map, but the goal is and will remain — sustainability. 

"The PUBG title literally and figuratively puts Harrisburg on the global esports map. The news of the Soniqs winning one of the largest esports prize pools ever offered made global news," Harrisburg University President Eric Darr said. 

Darr serves in an advisory role for the Soniqs. Since 2017, Darr has been actively expanding the esports footprint at both the university and within central Pennsylvania. 

Now, after finishing atop the leaderboard in the PUBG Global Invitational.S in Incheon, South Korea last month, the team is positioned to continue influencing the esports world both here in North America and internationally. 

"[Esports] is the biggest growing media section in the world," Moore said. 

Winning is the fun part, grinding ain't 

The 8-week tournament wasn't easy, Moore added. Upon arrival, the team had to quarantine and then once the tournament kicked off, the schedule was a near two month-long grind. 

"I think it was stressful for everyone," Moore said. 

The 32 teams would compete in a tournament round-robin with three rounds: Rank Decision Matches, Weekly Survival and Weekly Final. The preliminary rounds were rank decision matches to determine seeds. Then the 16 weekly survival matches would determine the top 16 teams each week. Those teams would then go on and compete in a sort of winner's bracket for the Weekly Final. The Weekly Final would essentially be the money rounds, the better the finish — the higher the payout. 

The tournament champions would be decided based on winnings earned, with higher prize pools in later stages of the competition. When all was said and done it was the Susquehanna Soniqs raising the trophy and splitting the $1,296,189 grand prize. The single largest tournament prize for a first-person shooter (FPS) in esports history. 

“We didn’t really know how to deal with it because it is such an unfathomably large amount of money," James Giezen said. Adding that the reality of the win didn't really hit him until he was back at the hotel. 

The 20-year-old Giezen, who goes by the gamer tag "TGLTN," is one of the best-known PUBG players in the world. Before joining the Soniqs organization, the Australian-born Giezen had already made a name for himself streaming. Outside of practice sessions and tournaments, he continues playing PUBG streams on his Twitch channel noon to 6 p.m., daily. 

Giezen jokingly admits he plays a bit more than most, including his teammates, but streaming is a part of him and a part of the culture of video games and esports.

For Moore, as important as winning, is it's not the only goal. Balance remains a key component for the Soniqs and a vital piece of the puzzle for what the organization is doing. Stability has long been a pillar in what Darr is building within Harrisburg's esports ecosystem. And that ideology is very much alive in Moore. 

"Getting them [players] to understand the work-life balance," Moore said. "If you want longevity in this scene you need to step away." 

He adds that burnout is an often-used term in the industry but should not be normalized. For the team, the balance is the same. Winning is important (the team has two national championships already) but not the only benchmark. 

"We want to build something on the East Coast," he said. "We want people who understand the space and esports." 

Future of sports

Giezen believes streaming services such as Twitch have helped break the stigma of video game players and the concept of video games as just a niche, basement hobby. 

"Streamers have become cool," he said. 

It's a sentiment echoed by Moore, who understand the impact streaming can have for esports and the industry as a whole.

"Influencers are going to be the new celebrities," he said. 

Both he and Giezen understand the cultural pull esports has. Headlines often tout the winnings and figures behind the already multi-billion-dollar industry, but outside of the streaming and gaming world, esports remains a bit of a niche industry. 

“In my eyes, it makes sense it will overtake real sports," Giezen said. 

The confusing element of esports can be the number of titles. Unlike the NFL, MLB and NBA, esports operates under individual games. Each game is a separate title, a separate league. And consequently, each game has its own championship and tournaments. 

While it can be confusing for the uninitiated, Moore believes that streaming and social media's influence is a strength for esports. Both avenues fuel the curiosity and fandom for individual streamers and games alike. But competitive esports is the focal point, the initial exposure for the public. 

"Esports is a canopy for hundreds of different video games. There's something for everybody," Moore said. 

Neil Strebig is a journalist for the York Daily Record/USA Today Network and curator for the York on the Move newsletter. He can be reached at nstrebig@ydr.com, 717-825-6582 or via Twitter @neilStrebig.