NYC Video Game Festival Picks Competition Winners

The second annual NYC Video Game Festival was held over the weekend. Although brand new, it boasted of everything a typical game convention does: interactive attractions and free demo kiosks for upcoming games, new technology on display, and public product demonstrations shown for the first time, such as F1 racing simulators, electronic darts and VR simulations.

But there were also competitions: both of the esports variety and the non-traditional…and by the second item we mean “build an idealized vision of the future in Minecraft.” The Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs Esports Competition gathered local elementary, middle, and high school borough teams to build Minecraft versions of a more sustainable, future-ready New York City. Prompt examples included how to improve transportation to the Queens Willets Point soccer stadium and how to reimagine Governors Island as a hub for sustainability.

Are kids into it? They appear to be. Over 15,000 NYC Public School students have entered the competition past and present, and this year set a new record with 3,395 students entering — in 2021 there were just 1,200. There was a 44% increase in the number of high school submissions in 2026, as well as 178 schools new to the competition.

So who emerged victorious? Team Hyper Pigmentation from Brooklyn’s PS 889 was able to defend the crown they won last year with the Elementary award two years running, while Manhattan’s NEST+ and Staten Island’s Tottenville won for Middle and High School respectively. The NYC Collegiate Esports Circuit Finals (NYCCEC), produced with Video Game Amateurs (VGA), saw The City College of NY (CCNY) win the League of Legends competition, and Pace University win the Valorant competition. For the first time this year, the collegiate finalists shared in a $10,000 prize pool thanks to sponsor Red Bull and proceeds from festival ticket sales.

It’s worth noting Polygon has edited together a documentary about the Battle of the Boroughs, which you can watch in full below — but it’s about last year’s competition, not this year’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsQjV35y_U