Excel World Championship: Outdoor Duel Ends in Victory as Champion Defends Title in Landmark Battle

The Microsoft Excel World Championship (MEWC) introduced a groundbreaking competition format called the “Landmark Battle,” which took place outdoors. Four top competitors were stationed at iconic landmarks around the world, where they faced challenging tasks under harsh conditions, including unstable network connections, unpredictable weather, and the gaze of curious passersby. Reigning champion Diarmuid Early emerged triumphant in this grueling contest.

According to a report by Brandon Vigliarolo from The Register, this one-off event was made possible through sponsorship by hardware manufacturer ASUS. The competitors were placed near four global landmarks: the Statue of Liberty in New York (Diarmuid Early), Big Ben in London (Jack Kennedy), the Eiffel Tower in Paris (Nicola Miko), and Sydney Harbour (Andrew Guy). Using laptops and wireless secondary screens, they tackled complex assignments in real-time.

Competition Overview

The MEWC Landmark Battle was structured around a seven-part puzzle inspired by Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Competitors worked within Microsoft Excel to calculate the fastest travel route for a spreadsheet-based character recreating Phileas Fogg’s journey. With a time limit of 30 minutes, Early scored 1,060 points, narrowly defeating Guy, who scored 1,020 points, by a margin of 40 points.

Early employed his signature strategy, “Core First, Bonus Later”—focusing on solving core tasks first before tackling bonus questions—to secure a come-from-behind victory in the final moments. This strategy had also led to his triumph at the 2025 World Championship held in Las Vegas.

Equipment and Environment

As a sponsor, ASUS provided competitors with ExpertBook Ultra laptops and portable wireless secondary displays. According to MEWC organizers, the competition format was inspired by the realities of modern remote work, where many professionals now operate in diverse environments such as client sites, airports, cafés, coworking spaces, and remote locations rather than traditional office settings.

The harsh conditions of the competition were highlighted by the organizers, who noted that participants had to contend with “weather, unstable internet connections, and, most challengingly, interactions with members of the public curious about what they were doing.” Each competitor was accompanied by a single cameraman and received no other support.

Growth and Evolution of Competitive Excel

MEWC was launched in 2021 and gained widespread recognition in 2022 when it was broadcast on ESPN. The 2022 broadcast featured innovative tasks such as “Modelario,” a platformer game built within a spreadsheet, yacht races, and slot machine-style challenges.

The 2025 World Championship in Las Vegas showcased even more complex challenges, such as solving jigsaw puzzles using Excel. Early defeated Guy to claim the championship trophy. The Landmark Battle marks a shift from traditional indoor competitions to testing performance in real-world settings, a development that has been widely praised.

Participants in competitive Excel are tasked with solving intricate problems designed by Excel specialists within a limited timeframe. The competition goes beyond mere speed in using spreadsheet software, requiring mastery of functions, macros, and deep data modeling skills.

Editorial Opinion

In the short term, the Landmark Battle has the potential to attract a new audience to competitive Excel. In today’s world, where remote work has become the norm, a format that tests one’s ability to perform under unstable conditions resonates with many business professionals. Notably, ASUS hardware demonstrated its capability to perform well outdoors, serving as effective promotion for mobile work-oriented products.

From a long-term perspective, this competition format could evolve into an eSports-style entertainment phenomenon. With prior broadcasting experience on ESPN, MEWC is already well-suited for television. However, the challenge lies in maintaining a balance between competitive rigor and entertainment value. The decision to develop this as a standalone event or as part of a sustained league system will be crucial.

One key issue worth examining is the underlying skillset that enables Excel to function as a competitive tool. Advanced spreadsheet techniques are closely tied to foundational skills in business intelligence and data analysis. It is worth watching whether this competition serves merely as entertainment or contributes meaningfully to raising awareness about practical workplace skills.

References

• “Excel competition goes extreme, makes spreadsheet geeks compete from the street”, by Brandon Vigliarolo — The Register, 2026-07-13T20:18:09.000Z (ARR)
• Source URL: https://www.theregister.com/offbeat/2026/07/13/excel-competition-goes-extreme-makes-spreadsheet-geeks-compete-from-the-street/5270709