Cartersville Man Wins $1.3 Million Prize at Video Gaming Championship

Cartersville gamer John Salter and his team Cognitive Prime won the $1.3 million prize at the SMITE World Championship held last weekend at the Cobb Performing Arts Center.

Barraccudda, AKA John Salter, and his team defeated the European Titan 3-2 in a 5 game set of matches. Pursuing the total prize of over $2.5 million were: two North American teams, two European teams, one Brazilian, one Hispanic team and two Chinese teams.

Salter, 23, graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and health science and has been playing video games for 16 years. He is one of the best players in SMITE, known for taking advantage of his opponent’s mistakes and always looking for opportunities come out ahead. His team, Cognitive Prime, was founded in 2013 and dominated the North American Regional Championship competition, where they were undefeated for 8 straight weeks.

The SMITE World Championship is an intense video gaming competition for players and spectators alike. Teams battled for the grand prize, which consistently grew through crowd funding and reached over $2.5 million dollars. The SMITE World Championship was one of the biggest gaming events in history and by far the largest gaming event that has ever been hosted in Atlanta.

Alpharetta-based Hi-Rez Studios, a leader in global eSports, is the creator of SMITE, the popular mythology-themed third-person action game for the PC. SMITE is a new take on the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) genre, which allows players to have the third-person perspective into the thick of combat.

Photo: The Cognitive Prime team at the SMITE World Championship. Credit: Hi-Rez Studios