 Gamers of all ages filled the Sanford Center ballroom in Bemidji for the annual Paul Bunyan Communications Gigazone Gaming Championship. Josh Peterson shows us how these gamers faced off in different realities. The gaming industry has come a long way since the 1970s and 80s. Since then it has exploded into a competitive e-sport and through the use of its gigazone Paul Bunyan Communications seized the moment to launch its annual gaming championship. It's about community for us. We give back to the communities we serve and this is one of the ways we do it. This is a very unique event that we hope everybody takes advantage of if not this year into the future. To put on a tournament like this requires a lot of tech and some of that tech was locally built and designed just for this event. So we wrote our own leaderboard software. We wrote our own registration software. We uh everything that you see running here that has tech. Most of it we wrote ourselves. An event like this would normally be found in a metropolitan area but placed in Bemidji the tournament draws regionally. Very unique to our region really across the country. Not many rural areas have anything gaming related let alone something this expansive. Throughout the day thousands came to compete and tried their hardest to be the very best. For many this gaming tournament is all about fun and games but for some it's a chance to experience a different reality. When you're in it it's like a whole like your mind's just on for it and you're trying to get kills and get the dough. I just like it because like if you practice you can get good and then like just you yourself or you and your buddies go they're playing. In the end no matter where gamers finished there were no true losers. Instead it's a community that wins. In Bemidji Josh Peterson Lakeland news. Winners of the GigaZone gaming championship walked away with over $5,000 in cash and prizes.