Tag: eSports

Gamelynx Raises $1.2M for Development of Mobile Esports Game

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Santa Monica-based mobile developer Gamelynx is has announced that it has raised $1.2 million in venture funding. The company intends to use the funds to create more mobile Esports titles that will be primarily tuned to the needs of hardcore gamers. This model is similar to something that Tencent did when it launched Arena of Valor, a multiplayer online battle arena game on mobile. In addition to this, the mobile developer will be creating team-based competitive games on mobile – the idea is to make Esports titles more accessible and global.

Gamelnx’s venture has received a lot of support from investors who include Y Combinator, M Ventures, Riot Games and Skycatcher Fund, Everblue Esports Ventures, Lyfe Fong, Leaf Ventures, Gamers.com, and Lithium. With that huge number of star power backing it, Gamelynx is certainly well on its way to achieving its goal of diversifying the offerings for competitive players.

“As the line between mobile and PC/console continues to blur, the portability and accessibility of mobile create an even brighter future for competitive gaming and esports,” Alexander Mistakidis, CEO of Gamelynx, said in an interview with GamesBeat. “At the same time, it creates a desire for less of the same. Many have tried to build a mobile competitive multiplayer game, but very few have made a game that was differentiated from what was already available to watch or play on PC/console.”

The CEO also pointed out that the company has been leveraging cutting-edge networking technology to enable fast-paced competitive multiplayer gameplay on mobile while maintaining optimal responsiveness and data usage. Gamelynx, which is set to launch its first title by the end of the year, will be merging their technology with applied technology in order to design a new combination of gameplay and watching experience.

The Esports market has bloomed and continues to offer more opportunities with many companies beginning to carve out their own dominance. Still, it is going to be nice to have some fresh entrants with fresh ideas and approaches to the gaming and watching experience.

Mammoth Acquires Sin Gaming, Partners with ROAM Esports

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Despite being a fairly new entrant into the Esports industry, Mammoth Esports Enterprises, otherwise known as team MAMMOTH, has had quite an impact on the Australian Esports Market. The global Esports organization has been making tremendous efforts towards becoming an Esports powerhouse and so far everything is going great for the organization.

MAMMOTH has recently acquired Sin Gaming from ROAM Esports, which it has also partnered with – ROAM Esports acquired Sin Gaming in late 2016 and as per the terms of the partnership with MAMMOTH, it will keep providing managerial supports to Sin Gaming, including for the incoming recruits that team MAMMOTH is yet to announce.

Dion Appel, Mammoth Esports Enterprises president has an extensive background in marketing and he has had his eyes set on a number of lucrative Esports investments since last year. He points out that talent was a crucial factor during his time in extreme sports and it will just be as crucial in team MAMMOTH’s investments in various Esports teams.

ROAM Esports and Sin Gaming posted some pretty huge results last year – the team went from being considered as an inferior team in 2016 to taking third place in the OPL 2017 Split 1 Playoffs. After that, the team was invited to the 2017 Rift Rivals series as OPL representatives.

“I loved my time at Sin Gaming, it was special, it was something I created in my living room as a kid with dreams and aspirations,” says Brandon ‘Juves’ Defina, Sin’s team captain. “I was lucky enough to come across ROAM who helped the kid with a dream actually achieve them… I am SUPER excited to be able to work with Dion and his team. One chapter has ended with Sin Gaming but I am beyond excited to help make MAMMOTH one of the best and biggest Esports names in Australia.”

Juves and his team are facing an even brighter future with the major acquisition by MAMMOTH which happens to be headed by someone with some pretty serious business chops.

“We’re thrilled with our partnership with Dion Appel and his team to build MAMMOTH and also with the continued opportunity of working with a roster of players and staff that we have an incredible history and relationship with,” Ahilleas Papantos, Director from ROAM Esports commented on the company’s partnership with team MAMMOTH. “Sin Gaming did the impossible, proving many wrong time & time again, now MAMMOTH is here to win.”

GLMS Partners with ESIC to Safeguard the Integrity of Sports

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Esports is particularly vulnerable to match-fixing and we have seen a number of such cases especially due to the global rise of Esports. The world is still on a course headed for a technological singularity which makes many things very easy – since it is so simple to place a bet, rigging can, in turn, be just as easy.

Keeping this in mind, the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have signed a partnership deal that will see them working together towards ensuring integrity by identifying and reporting any irregularities or suspicious betting patterns.

“Betting on Esports has been growing consistently in the last few years and the global appeal among millennial’s on digital entertainment is the driving force behind it. Esports and in-play Mobile Betting are a perfect combination of social entertainment and interaction. GLMS has been monitoring the phenomenon over the last 3 years now and we consider Esports an area to dedicate specific efforts and commitment given the impact on young citizens and society as a whole. We are very excited to support ESIC in its mission to tackle the integrity challenges within the Esports arena. Thanks to our growing network which guarantees local expertise and global reach, I am convinced that we can make a difference in the domain of Esports as well,” said Ludovico Calvi, the president of GLMS.

The GLMS was spawned from the minds of like-minded people who were keen on ensuring that integrity as a core value of sporting systems was maintained. The organization has since grown immensely and boasts of a number of hubs in Hong Kong and Denmark as well as 27 partners in several different parts of the globe.

“ESIC being the main integrity player in the field of esports is pleased to welcome GLMS into its network of partners. GLMS, thanks to its experience on monitoring betting patterns, as well as its global operations with hubs in Copenhagen and Hong Kong will for sure be a great asset in the pursuit of our mission. The expertise of GLMS in managing intelligence and integrity matters as well as its local presence in almost 30 countries across the world will also help us enhance our education and prevention activities,” said Ian Smith, the ESIC Commissioner.

The partnership is, however, not the first time that both organizations have worked together – they have already been part of a fruitful unofficial cooperation and information exchange that spans three or more years. Their new partnership will go beyond the monitoring of betting patterns as both organizations have also agreed to work towards educational programs tailored to raise awareness about the risks that come with betting on Esports competitions.

76ers Gaming Club Win Inaugural NBA 2K League Tournament

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The NBA 2K League’s “THE TIPOFF” tournament came to an end on May 5th with the 76ers Gaming Club having secured the $35,000 grand prize and championship banner by beating the previously undefeated Blazer5 Gaming squad 75-65 in the final. THE TIPOFF tournament consisted of pool play from May 1 to May 4 with the top eight teams advancing to the May 5 playoff rounds.

The tournament gave Esports lovers a week of exciting matchups that ended with both the 76ers and Blazer5 Gaming proving that they are the best teams in the league – well, at least for the initial stage of the season. There is still more action ahead as the season progresses.

It became apparent that the 76ers would triumph when they began shining at the knockout round. Majority of the matchups were close save those that featured teams from Philadelphia – the 76ers beat Mavs Gaming by 26 in the quarterfinals, Pistons Gaming Team by 18 in the semifinals and overcame Balzer5 by 10 in the final.

As far as technique goes, the 76ers utilized a balanced scoring approach and perimeter shooting. Both techniques are unique in the current 2K Meta – most of the teams in the league usually bank on the one star that can finish the paint. A typical example is Brandon “Hood” Caicedo, Cavs Gaming point forward that made scoring 40 points look easy.

Leading the 76ers was star guard Ethan “ITZ_Radiant” White who came through with 14 assists in the final. Still, all the members of the gaming club hit threes as the teak shot a collective nine for 17 from deep. As it turns out, Blazer5 was overwhelmed by the strong play and on-court leadership that Radiant brought to the game. This is despite the fact that he was only the 14th out of the 17 total first-round picks in the draft.

Here is a summary of all the playoff match results:

Quarterfinals

Cavs Legion GC 71, Jazz Gaming 70

Blazer5 Gaming 66, Pacers Gaming 46

Pistons GT 61, Warriors Gaming Squad 47

76ers Gaming Club 83, Mavs Gaming 56

Semifinals

Blazer5 Gaming 69, Pistons GT 48

76ers Gaming Club 66, Cavs Legion GC 64

Finals

76ers Gaming Club 75, Blazer5 Gaming 65

To sum it up it all up, the tournament was an outstanding kick-off of the NBA 2K League’s first season. Nonetheless, the NBA 2K League has a long to go before it is considered a major Esports league. The tournament’s Twitch channel had a little under 10,000 viewers during the group stages. This number, however, plunged to less than 6,000 viewers for most of Saturday’s playoffs. The implication here is that the league will have to grow further before it can be able to draw as many viewers as the leading Esports titles such as CS:GO and League of Legends do.

The regular season for NBA 2K begins on May 11, so do keep an eye out for that.

Saudi Arabia Debuts Its First Professional Esports League

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In October 2017, the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic and Intellectual Sports (SAFEIS) was initiated and since then, it has already been able to hold two major Esports events. Now, the federation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation that will see to the development of the first Electronic Saudi Professional League (ESPL).

“Here in the Kingdom we have great talent, and our duty toward (it) is providing these platforms where the best come to shine. We are also on a mission to grow the eSports economy and industry,” Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan, the SAFEIS president said. “This is a major step toward positioning the Kingdom as a major eSports hub in the Middle East and the world.”

“My message to all the gamers: Today you might be an amateur, but if you work hard and compete you can become an athlete,” he added. “Here in the Kingdom we have great talent, and our duty toward is providing these platforms where the best come to shine. We are also on a mission to grow the eSports economy and industry.”

According to Arab News, the partnership which was signed by the SAFEIS and the Football Federation presidents – Prince Faisal and Adel Ezzat respectively – came on the final day of the GSA FIFA 18 Tournament. The eight finalists in this tournament were competing for one of the seats of the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier.

The partnership between the federations has been lauded by the vice president of the General Sports Authority, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal who went ahead to point out that it was certainly a major leap for country’s Esports industry. In addition to this, he promised to offer his sport to both federations as they move forward with their plans.

Belgium Gambling Laws Declare Video Game Loot Boxes Illegal

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Loot boxes have had a pretty rough time in the past couple of months and the troubles are not likely to go away anytime soon. Just recently, the Netherlands declared that loot boxes constituted gambling and were therefore illegal and now Belgium has made a similar move.

Following an investigation that the Belgian Gaming Commission had been conducting on some popular video game titles including FIFA 18, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Belgian minister of justice, Koen Geens, on April 25 announced the results. Of the four video games, only Stars Wars Battlefront 2 was not in violation of the Belgian gambling legislation but this is only because EA, the company that develops Star Wars, removed loot boxes from the game after some debacles when it was launched.

OverWatch, CS:GO and FIFA 28, on the other hand, still had loot boxes which under Belgian gambling law are considered to be games of chance. As such, so long as they contained the loot boxes the games were illegal and they are forced to remove the loot boxes or “risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros.” The penalties could be doubled in cases where minors are involved.

“Mixing games and gambling, especially at a young age, is dangerous for mental health,” Geens said. “We must ensure that children and adults are not presented with games of chance when they are looking for fun in a video game.”

Loot boxes are by no means a new concept in mobile gaming applications but the recent upsurge in their inclusion in console-based video games have become a huge concern for parents as well as many other responsible parties. Furthermore, the gaming community has been very welcoming to initiatives that seek to have the insidious inventions removed from their games.

While regions like the US and the UK have Okayed the use of loot boxes, the declaration that they are illegal in the Netherlands and Belgium has presented what can be referred to as a dramatic turn for the video game loot box issue. If anything is to go by, game developers in the whole of Europe may be forced to make significant changes to the way the games they develop work, especially because more countries in the continent could launch similar initiatives.

Unlike the case in the Netherlands, Belgium has not imposed a deadline for the implementation of the necessary changes. Geens hopes to approach this is in a different way and this will involve dialogue between the country’s gaming commission and the affected video game developers.

Unikrn Acquires Esports Tournament Platform ChallengeMe.GG

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Renowned Esports betting operator Unikrn has acquired peer-to-peer Esports platform ChallengeMe.GG as part of its grand plan of launching “full-blown skill-based betting” to its customers. Scheduled to be launched in May, the Esports betting platform will be launched on Unikrn and will allow the customers to enter Esports betting platforms using UnikoinGold, Unikrn’s in-house virtual currency.

The German-based ChallengeMe.GG has been working closely with Unikrn for quite some time now making the acquisition not much of surprise. ChallengeMe.GG’s management team will be retained under Unikrn’s ownership. Also, the company will keep acting as the matchmaking platform that will be linking players of similar skill levels in leagues, tournaments as well as peer-to-peer challenges. Once it is fully integrated into Unikrn’s platform, ChallengeMe.GG will be able to offer buy-in tournaments using UnikoinGold.

The integration will also involve the inclusion of the Dota 2 events in the ChallengeMe platform. In addition to this, the integration will introduce a raffle system whereby players can earn tickets by completing daily, weekly, and monthly draw missions with the players being awarded cash prizes and gifts from sponsors.

“Joining forces with Unikrn was the ideal match for us. Instead of doing our own initial coin offering (ICO), we can take advantage of the best gaming crypto has to offer: UKG’s ecosystem and technology. Combining the brand-power of Unikrn and UnikoinGold with our world-class tournament & matchmaking platform will provide esports enthusiasts from casual to pro a place to enjoy, compete and be rewarded for playing their favorite Esports titles,” said Simon Seefeldt, the ChallengeMe.GG chief executive.

Unikrn’s acquisition of ChallengMe.GG points to a number of great opportunities for both the company and Esports enthusiasts. For instance, Unikrn will now be offering tournament betting across Europe and North America using its blockchain technology.

“Last October, Unikrn launched the first-ever community CS:GO tournament with a crypto (UnikoinGold) prize pool on ChallengeMe.GG CME,” explained Rahul Sood, Unikrn’s founder and chief executive. “Since then, we’ve been running weekly events, ladders, and challenges with our partners at CME. After that success, we immediately began the months-long process of acquiring them. As we got through the legal process of making this happen, we’ve been strategizing on how Unikrn + CME could be even better. How can we bring unprecedented merger of crypto and gaming and give players around the world revolutionary experiences? Now the acquisition is complete.”

“CME’s platform is beyond its competition, and with their technology and Unikrn’s userbase, endemic reach, brand partnerships, and existing product lines — as well as UnikoinGold, the largest token in esports and gaming history — users are about to see a digital casual-competitive landscape well beyond anything to date conceived,” he added.

There are a plethora of features that will be introduced along the way but generally speaking, this development is a truly promising sign for Esports as a whole as well as the role of the business aspects Esports betting and tournament platforms such as Unikrn.

Microsoft Store Teams Up with ESL to Open Esports Academy

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Microsoft has hopped on the Esports bandwagon by teaming up with Electronic Sports League (ESL) to launch a sports academy at one of Microsoft’s stores in Sydney, Australia. This initiative gives Sydney based Esports enthusiasts an opportunity to learn about the industry by signing up for the Esports Academy that will run from Monday, April 16 to Sunday, April 22.

The Esports Academy will help students who wish pursue careers in Esports to realize this dream by imparting them knowledge about actual Esports gaming as well as the nitty-gritty details of the business element of Esports. There will be appearances from a number of Esports players from Australia’s thriving Esports scene – they will teach the academy’s students all that they need to know about the Esports ecosystem.

“We see a lot of excitement and engagement around video games at the Microsoft Store, from casual gamers to some of the players that attend our regular tournaments and competitions,” said the Microsoft Store’s Gaming Community Manager, Max Ferfoglia. “This event is all about bringing the gaming community at Microsoft Store together with some of the top talent in Australia so people can learn more about Esports, how to improve their game and also hear about the pathways that exist to get into the industry.”

“We wanted to give the gamers the kind of opportunities we never had when we were trying to go pro.”

Even though it will only run for a week, the Esports Academy will give the participants the required knowledge which is much more important in the competitive electronic gaming scene. The three-hour sessions will include lessons on understanding networking, the various roles available in Esports as well as an open pitching session and a Q&A session. At the end of the session, the attendees will be required to plan a hypothetical tournament to any scale they wish.

This program is, of course, not even close to formalized education but it will go a long way in imparting valuable networking opportunities for the students. Hopefully, since it is a pilot project, it will be successful enough to spawn more similar initiatives in Sydney and many other parts of the globe. Meanwhile, interested Esports lovers in Sydney can sign up here.

Rivalry Academy Launched to Educate Esports Bettors

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Since it was launched earlier this year in February, Rivalry.gg has proven to be a formidable force in the Esports gambling arena thanks to its holistic approach in offering services that have made it a one-stop-shop for Esports bettors. In addition to this, the operator has a number of new, exciting and engaging developments in the pipeline.

One of these developments is ‘Rivalry Academy,’ the betting platform’s in-house tool that bettors can use to learn and tone their understanding of Esports gambling. This is certainly a noble move for the relatively young company and thus it may be quite helpful to the company’s overall business.

Creating Guidelines for Bettors

The Rivalry.gg team realized that betting is often intimidating for new and uninitiated – the lengthy spread of odds are sometimes overwhelming and may even be compounded by sub-par bookmarker experience. The team’s solution to this problem was creating their own betting guidelines from scratch.

“It’s terrifying depositing money into something you barely understand. It takes a fair amount of research for non-bettors to be comfortable enough to bet. We created the Rivalry Academy to help with that process. We want to provide clear and concise guidance so that customers are comfortable with betting and how it all works,” Kevin Wimer, Chief Marketing Officer at Rivalry.gg told Esports Insider.

Just like Rivalry.gg, the Rival Academy website features a nicely polished user interface as well as a plethora of other user-friendly qualities. This goes directly in line with what the site’s major focus is: to help bettors understand the parameters of betting and help improve their chances of winning.

Navigating as you progress through the various stages of learning is also quite easy as the guides are broken down into neat segments in both written and video formats each of which is accompanied with real examples. This definitely hits the operator’s target of being clear and concise. However, the stand-out traits of the educational offering are brevity and effectiveness – the language used possesses a friendly that gives learners the feeling that they are learning from seasoned bettors who happen to be their close friends.

“We’re esports fans that have created a betting site. We had to learn all of this ourselves not too long ago. This has resulted in the Rivalry Academy being very authentic and conversational,” Wimmer added. “For people brand new to betting, the Rivalry Academy helps to give a basic foundation and understanding of how betting works. We also have a few videos aimed towards people that know their way around but are looking to learn some more advanced techniques to help give them the edge.”

As the Esports betting market and the Esports industry as a whole keep expanding there have been concerns pertaining to betting education. As such, Rivalry has made itself a champion for its customers by serving as a complete bedrock for betting as well as a proactive participant in betting education.

Paul Chaloner Calls for Better Esports Betting Education

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Renowned broadcaster and Esports veteran Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner is calling for better Esports betting education as the industry is now at a critical stage of its growth. The Esports industry is no newcomer to controversial scandals one of the most prominent being underage betting.

Chalone who recently joined new Esports betting platform, Luckbox, as an advisor believes that there is mostly lack of understanding in the Esports community pertaining to the risks of gambling. As part of his new role in the yet-to-be-launched Esports betting platform, he hopes to contribute to changing this.

“We can educate them along the way – that’s the key part for me. I don’t want to see underage gambling and I don’t want to see irresponsible gambling. I want people to be educated so they understand what they’re doing and the risks involved. And I think we can do that together with Luckbox,” he said.

Luckbox will be launching primarily with the intention complying with the highest level of gambling jurisdiction which will set it apart from all the other gambling operators.

Already a Billion-Dollar Gambling Industry

The past couple of years have seen the rapid of growth of Esports with a number of professional sports leagues, players and businessmen have backed and bought into competitive gaming teams around the globe. Naturally, Esports betting was bound to follow and with the likes of Mark Cuban at the helm, it certainly has a long way to go.

Currently, the major Esports leagues are projected to be worth $906 million – a figure that encompasses advertising, media rights, merchandise, game publisher fees, sponsorships and tickets. Unbeknown to most people, especially outsiders and newcomers, the gambling market around these Esports leagues has also risen meteorically and can be said to be quite robust.

According to a recent report by software analytics company Narus and research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, excluding the vast majority of the United States where sports betting is still illegal, global figures for Esports betting have been projected to be somewhere close to $6.7 billion. From here on out, the sky is the limit.