Recently formed Boston-based esports organisation XSET has named rapper Swae Lee as its first investor from the music industry. 

XSET, which was formed in July 2020 by former FaZe Clan executives Greg Selkoe, Wil Eddins, and Clinton Sparks, along with Marco Merue, says Lee, who is a member of duo Rae Sremmurd with his brother Slim Jxmmi, has invested an undisclosed amount in the organisation. 

Apparently, Lee was enticed to get involved in XSET by Clinton Sparks, the luminary record producer and entrepreneur, who was also responsible for attracting a Lee and a host of other artists, including Offset, to FaZe Clan.

Regarding his investment in XSET, Lee spoke with Rolling Stone, saying: 

“I always wanted to be on what’s next. There’s a network of people like myself who want to bring simple access for fans.

“XSET, FaZe, they have fans who like to do the same things I like to do: sit at home on a game and be lazy. I want to help make a huge network for all the kids to enjoy gaming, talk about life, talk smack to each other, get merch, and have first-person access to rappers.”

Despite Lee initially telling Rolling Stone that it was an “eight figure” investment, Lee promptly rephrased, saying it was merely in the “big figures.” XSET has also confirmed it was not an eight figure investment. 

Though details of any activations involving Lee have not been officially revealed, he suggested they could include things like sharing music via streams with XSET players, and even allowing fans to decide his styling and wardrobe for gigs. 

XSET, which already claims to be “the world’s most diverse, innovative, socially conscious pop-gaming and esports “SET” ever assembled”has said it is currently pursuing partnerships with more artists and athletes, and will announce further deals in the coming months. 

The organisation now fields teams in Valorant, Rocket League, Fortnite, Call of Duty Warzone, PUBG Mobile, COD Mobile, and Madden. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With Sparks involved, it was only a matter of time before high-profile artists started joining XSET. Of course, although any big name investors will give valuable publicity in the short-term, the trick will be getting them genuinely involved with content and engagement – something Lee seems keen to dive into. We’re keen to see where this goes…

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

The Game Awards, billed as the world’s biggest celebration of video game culture, has significantly expanded its live distribution plans in India. 

On Thursday 10 December 2020, the gala event will be broadcast live on MTV India, in addition to streaming live and free across OTT platforms including Disney+/Hotstar, Viacom’s VOOT, Reliance’s JioTV, Airtel and MX Player.

The Game Awards will also be available free on platforms including Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, and YouTube, where an exclusive Hindi co-stream will air in partnership with Indian esports organisation NODWIN Gaming. 

In total, The Game Awards, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo, will be carried by more than 45 global digital networks around the world, and more distribution partners are set to be announced in the coming weeks. 

Commenting on the news creator of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, said:

“We’re thrilled to grow our distribution in India with an incredible group of partners that share our view that gaming is a universal language that challenges, inspires, entertains and ultimately unites cultures.”

While co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming, Akshat Rathee, added:

“The Game Awards have always been the epitome of our industry. A true celebration of our art form. This COVID year, we all know that gaming has done well and NODWIN is proud to bring The Game Awards back to India. 

“With the strong backing of MTV on linear TV and Airtel Xstream, Hotstar, Jio, Voot and MXPlayer, we can positively say that this will be the first time that The Game Awards will reach more than 100 million Indians on their most preferred TV channels and OTT platforms. We look forward to celebrating our love for gaming with everyone across the country”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve often said, India really is one of the countries to watch when it comes to esports and the wider video game industry. With gaming-capable mobile devices proliferating at a rapid rate, and a burgeoning tech savvy middle class, the size of the potential market is truly enormous. Couple that with the widespread use of English, and a deeply ingrained competitive and aspirational mindset, and it’s easy to see why a lot of eyes are turning to India. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Red Bull is teaming up with a bunch of esports celebs and talent to make League of Legends Worlds more accessible with a simplified stream.

League of Legends Worlds Simplified is set to air on Saturday 31 October on Twitch, and aims to “demystify” the League of Legends World Championship event. 

Well-known League of Legends players and personalities, including Marc “Caedrel” Lamont, and Ciernan “Excoundrel” Lowe, Joseph “Munchables” Fenny, Luciana “AngelArcher” Nadrag, and others will feature on the stream, which will be hosted by Frankie Ward and Tom Deacon, and broadcast from the Gfinity Arena in London. 

Introducing the new stream, Red Bull said:

“With millions of viewers tuning in online, the World Finals is the highlight of the global esports calendar.

“Red Bull Worlds Simplified will help newcomers understand the thrill of every baron and dragon play, and the tactical mind games behind the champion draft. Alongside the star studded host of broadcast talent, the stream will also feature high profile guests from around the world of gaming.”

The League of Legends World Championship is hugely popular, with last years’ finals registering an incredible 21.8M global average-minute-audience (AMA), and hitting 44M  concurrent viewers. And, judging from this years’ LCS  Summer split, which saw a 25% growth in AMA, and the LEC which witnessed a surge of 70% in viewership for the Summer Finals, this years’ Worlds’ figures are going to be significantly higher. 

However, despite this, the complexity of League of Legends now risks putting off newcomers – which is something League of Legends Worlds Simplified hopes to address. 

AYO.NEWS says:

This is a very welcome initiative from Red Bull from a commercial point-of-view. After all, although League of Legends is out in front as one of the most popular esports right now, its ability to maintain that popularity in the long term, and grow its appeal to brands and commercial partners, is utterly dependent on it continuing to attract a steady flow of new fans. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Gaming engagement platform and marketplace Shotcall has secured $2.2M in a seed funding round.

Shotcall says the capital raised in the round, which was led by Initial Capital and New Stack and closed by Lerer Hippeau, will be used to grow its marketplace platform, integrate with more game publishers, and expand hosting opportunities with celebrities and artists. 

Co-founder of Initial Capital, Ken Lamb, has also been appointed to Shotcall’s board of directors. 

Explaining what makes Shotcall such a unique platform, co-founder and CEO Thomas Gentle, said:

“If you have a fan base and you game, you should be on Shotcall. There are dozens of different sites for coaching, hosting tournaments, streaming, and other events, but Shotcall is the only platform that houses all of these interactions under one roof, and not while having to be on the sidelines.

“Shotcall is a two-fold solution for the gaming community. It allows fans to actually play their favourite games with the hosts they admire, while also creating important monetisation opportunities for creators who are resistant to asking their community for direct financial support. Shotcall is a community where both the fan and creator have an incredible return on their investment.”

Atlanta-based Shotcall was founded in 2018 by Gordon Li, Riley Austin, and Thomas Gentle, and has developed a marketplace to allow users like streamers to increase engagement and monetisation through any type of community event, including tournaments, coaching sessions, Q&As, queue lines, charity events, one-on-one competitions, and more. 

Staying in Atlanta, as we reported last week, following its acquisition by a group of investors led by Andrew Steinberg and Todd Harris, Ghost Gaming has relocated from Irvine, California, to Atlanta, Georgia. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Effective engagement with monetisation is the Holy Grail all content creators and players are looking for, so it’s not surprising to see Shotcall is generating a buzz. Of course, with this kind of platform, a lot is going to depend on it being able to entice and keep high-profile streamers and celebrities. Whatever happens, having an extra $2.2M in the bank is going to help. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Esports tournament organiser ESL has expanded its partnership with  German TV broadcaster SPORT1. 

From 3 November, major ESL and DreamHack tournaments will be broadcast on eSportsONE – the dedicated DACH esports channel that was launched in January 2019. 

Specifically, the channel will be an exclusive linear TV partner for all ESL Dota 2 tournaments – including ESL One Birmingham, ESL One Hamburg, and ESL One Los Angeles – plus the StarCraft II and WarCraft III ESL Pro Tour in Germany. NBA 2K and Rocket League will also be covered by the expanded agreement. 

Discussing the news Senior Vice President of Global Media at ESL, Frank Uddo, said:

“Having seen the success of eSPORTS1 in German-speaking countries, we are excited to join forces with long-term partner SPORT1 for the rollout of the linear channel eSportsONE across Europe. ESL aims to serve the esports community all across Europe, and eSportsONE’s comprehensive and versatile portfolio makes it a great option to view premium esports content.”

While CEO of Sport1 Medien AG and Chairman of the Management Board of Sport1 GmbH, Olaf Schröder, added: 

“We are pioneers and trailblazers in the growth market esports with its great opportunities: At the beginning of 2019, we launched the first esports channel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with eSPORTS1 – an important milestone with which we have further expanded our positioning as a leading medium in the German-speaking esports community.

“Now we continue our esports success story internationally and are launching a new, ground-breaking project with eSportsONE as a pan-European eSports broadcaster. Our goal: We want to make esports even bigger in Europe in the future beyond the young core target group and to anchor it even more sustainably in society.“

Staying with ESL and Germany, earlier this month Bitburger 0.0% was named an official partner of ESL One Germany and all ESL Dota 2 esports in the country. And, at the start of the month, MTG announced DreamHack and ESL had merged under one corporation, ESL Gaming. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though television may be rapidly losing market share to streaming platforms, it nevertheless remains a significant media format, at least in the short to medium term, so the expansion of this partnership is a pretty big deal, especially as eSportsONE rolls out across new markets. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Moscow-based Epic Esports Events has announced the second season of its EPIC League Dota 2 online tournament will commence on Thursday. 

Replacing the second season of the OMEGA League, which was announced earlier this year, the tournament will see teams from Europe and the CIS battle it out. Open qualifiers will be running from 29-30 October on FACEIT, while closed qualifiers will be held from 3-11 November, with participants announced later. 

First division play, which will include Alliance, Natus Vincere, Nigma, Team Liquid, Team Secret, Vikin.gg, and Virtus.pro, will run from 12 November to 5 December, with the playoff stage taking place from 8-12 December. The prize pool for the first division is set at $500K USD. 

The second division will see 10 teams duke it out from 11 November to 1 December, with the playoff stage happening from 8-13 December. The prize pool for the second division is set at $50K. 

The OMEGA League was introduced in July by Epic Esports Events and WePlay! in an attempt to boost the Dota 2 pro events calendar, which has been badly hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite signing up Parimatch as a sponsor, and announcing plans for a second season last month, WePlay! Esports pulled out of the initiative.

AYO.NEWS says:

With the COVID-19 crisis looking likely to drag on well into 2021, and maybe beyond, it’s good to see the organisers like Epic are trying to keep the Dota 2 pro scene alive. Hopefully, this latest incarnation will prove more long lived than the OMEGA League! 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.