Excel is an e-Sport now: Unpacking the Excel World Championship

While many normal people enjoyed their Easter holidays with the pleasures of leisurely getaways, binge-watching Netflix or other interesting activities, I found myself intrigued by something quite unique. I took a detour down the less-traveled path of e-gaming—but not the usual kind of gaming like “Call of Duty” or “League of Legends.” Instead, I got hooked on something that resonates with my inner nerd and professional prowess alike: the Microsoft Excel World Championship, a far lesser-known form of e-gaming.

I swapped traditional Easter eggs for Excel spreadsheets, embarking on an intellectual quest akin to an egg hunt. Instead of seeking chocolates, I was seeking answers for complex, formula-driven puzzles in an unexpectedly intriguing eSport. It’s quite surprising that this hadn’t appeared on my radar earlier, especially considering how much of my web browsing involves Excel.

I got hooked immediately. It was like discovering a secret society. I spent the past few days, both day and night, watching this competition and trying to complete the case studies and puzzles used in the competition. Watching the contestants navigate through problems, learning their strategies and attempts was both captivating and informative. Their speed, the shortcuts they employ, and their puzzle-solving approaches are clear indicators of their dedication and skill.

What is the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC)?

It started as a financial modelling competition (Financial Modelling World Championship ie FMWC) in 2021. Microsoft’s subsequent sponsorship has elevated the competition, rebranding it as the Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC).

Competitors face off in rounds, tackling challenges like election result tabulation or hypothetical game projections, answering a series of questions under tight time constraints. The format of the games is entertaining. For instance certain game rounds take the form of innovative “American Ninja Warrior Style”.

The competition has evolved over time to secure its spot in some mainstream media channels such as ESPN. The 2023 finals took place in the Las Vegas HyperX eSports Arena last December with a prize pot of USD 10,000. Andrew Ngai from Sydney, Australia won the competition in 2023. And the 2024 competition is again planned to be held in the same venue in December 2024 with an increased prize bucket of $37,500. For more information, you can visit their website here.

What I loved about it

  • The competition format: The competition format is insanely engaging. Think “American Ninja Warrior” but with less jumping and more…typing. Instead of muscles, it’s your brain cells flexing on a virtual obstacle course. For an Excel nerd like me, it’s addictive. I’ve lost track of time on many nights, completely absorbed in the flow of solving sample case studies.
  • Witnessing Excel Excellence: Watching the world’s best Excel users, from keyboard wizards to mouse maestros, compete is awe-inspiring. And the commentators, Excel masters themselves, do a fantastic job breaking down the contestants’ techniques.
  • Real world application: Witnessing the real time application of some of the functions and approaches that you rarely get to use in your day-to-day corporate life. Eg. use of functions such as LAMBDA, TOCOL/TOROW, MAP, MMULT, BYROW, BYCOL
  • Hidden Gems: Learning new functions that I would have never come across like COMPLEX, MMULT
  • Out of the box thinking: Learning innovative and efficient approaches and strategies to resolve some common day-to-day excel problems. Eg. Use of complex numbers and Matrices to resolve problems
  • Thrill of solving the puzzles: Finally the most exciting part of it is solving the puzzles and sample cases myself.

What’s in it for you?

Participate/Compete in the event: If your brain thrives on numbers and logic, this is your playground. And some of you might even consider competing in it or attending it.

Watch the videos: You can watch their videos on their YouTube channel. Further you can watch more videos from some of the expert contestants who participated in the competition. Diarmuid Early, Andrew Ngai (2023 Winner), David Brown.

Try the case studies: I’ve gathered links to free cases below so you can dive in and experience the thrill at no cost. After trying them yourself, you can visit their YouTube channel to see how the contestants try them.

And if you have a boss with deep pockets, by all means, splurge on the premium cases. Consider it an investment in becoming the most entertaining person at the office party.

First published on LinkedIn.