LONDON \u2014 It\u2019s been an exciting week for Laurel County\u2019s Kaleb Howard, a.k.a. \u2018Hazmat\u2019.
Virtual Reality is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and this past Sunday, Howard, played a huge role in helping his team, Eclipse, to become the North America Grand Champion.
Howard and his teammates competed in the North America Grand Finals of X8 at VRMLCON in Denver, Colorado. VRML (Virtual Reality Master League) is the largest competitive VR league in the world. VRML invited the top teams in each game to Denver for a chance to be called the North America Grand Champion. Those games included Onward, Vail, Breachers, and X8.
Howard and his Eclipse teammates played in the X8 finals, which is a free to play first person shooter created by the game developer\u2019s Third Verse.
During the last round of the finals, Hazmat eliminated the last player on the opposite team (Rekt) giving his team the win and the title of North America Grand Champion of X8.
\u201cFirst off, I want to thank X8 and Third Verse for giving me the chance to be here,\u201d Howard said. \u201cI never thought I would get here and it feels great getting to stay here and play live on stage.\u201d
Howard\u2019s teammates were comprised of people from all over the nation. He was also the youngest competitor at VRMLCON at the age of 13 years old.
Howard\u2019s match was streamed live on YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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