Thousands Gather at NYC Video Game Festival to Crown 2026 Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs and NYC Collegiate Esports Champions

Battle of the Boroughs Elementary Division: PS 889 – Brooklyn

Battle of the Boroughs Middle School Division: New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math (NEST+) – Manhattan

Battle of the Boroughs High School Division: Tottenville – Staten Island 

League of Legends^Ⓡ NYC Collegiate Esports Circuit: The City College of New York

Valorant^Ⓡ NYC Collegiate Esports Circuit: Pace University

From esports competitions and indie game demos to drone soccer and retro arcade classics, the 2nd Annual NYC Video Game Festival (NYCVGF) brought together 2,000 New Yorkers on Saturday, May 9, for a full day celebrating the city’s rapidly growing gaming and digital entertainment community.  The event was hosted by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), and a full list of esports competitors, partners, developers and activations is available in the event program here.

MOME Commissioner Rafael Espinal and NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels were on site to celebrate the NYC gaming community, along with Gerard “HipHopGamer” Williams from HOT97 FM radio, for an event that included the Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs Esports Finals (BOTB), presented in partnership with NYC Public Schools. The 2025 defending champions in the Elementary division, team Hyper Pigmentation from Brooklyn’s PS 889, took first place once again while Manhattan’s NEST+ and Staten Island’s Tottenville won for Middle and High School. 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 Red Bull™ and proceeds from festival ticket sales. 

These student competitions showcase efforts by the City of NY to engage students from kindergarten through college with opportunities to enter the digital games industry. Through hands-on experiences, students are introduced to careers in video game design, coding, city planning, and related fields. 

Since its inception, the BOTB competition has engaged over 15,000 NYC Public School students, and 2026 set a new participation record, with 3,395 students from schools across all five boroughs, up from 1,200 in the first year in 2021. This year also saw a 44% increase in the number of high school submissions, and a total of 178 schools that have never competed before. These incredible achievements reflect the dedication and enthusiasm of educators, students, and school communities, who continue to make BOTB an unforgettable celebration of creativity, learning, and innovation. The NYCVGF featured a screening of Polygon’s new documentary about the Battle of the Boroughs, which can be viewed here.