Ultimate Gaming Championship has established a new scholastic arm called UGC EDU. 

The Illinois-based company says UGC EDU will focus on producing live and online tournaments across various esports titles, for high school and college students. 

To launch the new initiative, UGC EDU has teamed up with Acer, Intel, LG Electronics, and SHI Int’l Corp, to hold a Valorant and Rocket League series called ‘Battle Academy.’ Slated to go live on 9 November, the event will be awarding $25K USD worth of scholarships, and a range of partner products. 

Horizon AVL and Learn2Esport will also be supporting Battle Academy. 

Welcome to Battle Academy, the first official @UGCedu tournament series, in partnership with @LGUS, @intel, @Acer, and @SHI_Intl.

📆 Nov 9 – Dec 12
🎮 VALORANT + Rocket League
💰 $25,000+ In Scholarships & Prizes
🌎 US High Schools & Colleges

Registerhttps://t.co/bzooslsDWw pic.twitter.com/Wt87ZcuAOR

— UGC (@UGCevents) October 14, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

High school and college level esports is crucial to helping build a long-term sustainable esports industry, providing opportunities for gaming talent and business development, in addition to raising the profile of esports among the public, so it’s fantastic to see UGC launch a dedicated scholastic division.

Right now, North America is clearly out there in front when it comes to scholastic and collegiate esports, but there is also progress being made elsewhere. For example, only yesterday we reported that Riot Games had announced extensive plans for Valorant esports, including collegiate esports, across Southeast Asia. 

‘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.

Electronic Arts, publisher of FIFA 21, in partnership with FIFA, has announced improvements and a bigger prize pool for the upcoming esports season.

The soccer franchise will now boast a prize pool of over $4.3M USD, and FIFAe will be focusing on three divisions for the upcoming season.

Competitors will get the chance to represent their favourite club in the FIFAe Club Series, their country in the FIFAe Nation Series, or “create their own legacy in the EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Global Series on the Road to the FIFAe World Cup.” Each will provide new qualification opportunities, and feature stand-alone events that feed into the “FIFA pinnacle event.” 

FIFAe World Cup and FIFAe Nations Series will feature a $500K prize pool, while the FIFAe Club Series will have a $350K prize pool. An additional $3M prize pool will cover qualifiers, regional playoffs, the eChampions League, and CONMEBOL eLibertadores as part of the FIFA 21 Global Series. 

Registration for the FIFAe Club Series is open now, with the series set to start in November, and the best teams will go on to the FIFAe Club World Cup next year. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With real life sports now facing the very real threat of more disruption for many months, if not years, as COVID-19 lockdowns return, we’re expecting sim sports like FIFA to boom – in terms of player participation, viewership, and betting.

Staying with sim sports, earlier today we reported that DreamHack Sports Games, which focuses on sports simulation including the European eTour, eSuperliga, eDivisie, and eAllsvenskan, had announced the appointment of Roger Lodewick as new CEO. 

‘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. 

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Attention Holdings Pte. Ltd. (ATTN), parent company of EVOS Esports, has raised $12M USD in a Series B funding round.

The round was led by Korea Investment Partners, and also saw participation from Mirae Asset Ventures, Woowa Brothers, Indogen Capital, and several family offices across Southeast Asia and Japan. Existing investor, Insignia Ventures Partners, also participated. 

ATTN’s live streaming arm has seen revenue double since the start of 2020, with overall revenue surpassing 2019 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The company’s esports arm, EVOS Esports, has also established itself as a market leader in the region, and is now the world’s 6th largest esports brand. 

Discussing the news Executive Director of Korea Investment Partners, Sang-Ho Park (who will also be joining ATTN’s board of directors), said:

“Esports is currently one of the fastest growing industries, and ATTN has managed to establish themselves as the most advanced esports platform across Asia. Ivan and his team have shown us that they have a clear roadmap moving forward and that we believe they are on track to building the largest esports ecosystem in Asia.”

While Chief Executive Officer of ATTN, Ivan Yeo, added:

“Korea Investments Partners are the leading investors in the esports and gaming space, and we are excited that they have decided to join us on our journey. With their global portfolio and in-depth experience in this industry, we believe that we have secured the right partners to bring our company to the next level.

“Global esports revenue is projected to grow at 15% CAGR, with our region showing the highest growth rate at 24% CAGR. As the countries we are operating in are still largely untapped, we intend to maximise this opportunity and are well positioned to launch the region’s first ever esports platform.”

Staying with EVOS Esports, in September the organisation entered a partnership with global payments giant Visa. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With the world still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, and lockdowns returning to many countries, esports is one of the very few industries still attracting significant investment globally – and, as anyone following the industry knows, we’re still at the very start of the journey. 

‘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.

Former DreamHack Co-CEO Roger Lodewick has been appointed CEO of DreamHack Sports Games, taking over from Peter Nørrelund.

Owned by MTG, and now operating under the ESL Gaming umbrella, DreamHack Sports Games focuses on sports simulation including the European eTour, eSuperliga, eDivisie, and eAllsvenskan, which harness titles like FIFA. 

Before joining DreamHack, Lodewick served as CEO of Zoomin, CCO of Comosa, and a Senior Media Rights Sales Executive at TEAM Marketing. While with TEAM he oversaw the sale of UEFA Champions League and Europe League media rights. 

Commenting on his new appointment, Lodewick said:

“I’m excited to join DreamHack Sports Games as we provide a unique combination in this field of esports. 

“We have already proven to be able to a convert traditional sports brands into relevant and meaningful media esports products enabling both sports IP holders and broadcasters the opportunity to extend, retain and regain the young demographics. I’m thrilled to be part of innovating and growing the esports Sports Gaming industry.”

While President and CEO of MTG, Maria Redin, who took up the role in September, added:

“I’m pleased that Roger Lodewick has agreed to head up DreamHack Sports Games. He brings a wealth of experience, a vast network in sport and a proven track record of working with both traditional sports IPs as well as the esports industry and is therefore a perfect match for DreamHack Sports Games.”

As previously reported, at the start of this month MTG merged its DreamHack and ESL divisions under the ESL Gaming corporation, in an attempt to improve efficiencies – though both DreamHack and ESL will continue to be independent brands.

AYO.NEWS says:

There’s been a lot of changes at MTG in the last few months, as the group adjusts to the reality that live in-person events probably aren’t going to be viable for many months, if not years. 

‘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.

California-based digital fundraising platform Tiltify has raised $6.5M USD in a Series A funding round led by Pace Capital. 

Tiltify collaborates with celebrities and gaming content creators to raise money for good causes, enabling them through their live streaming on platforms including Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Live, and Twitter. The platform is set to smash $100M raised for charity by the end of 2020. 

The new investment means Tiltify is now funded to the tune of $9M, and the company says it plans to use the new capital to “further fuel Tiltify’s ability to go beyond traditional fundraising, serving the next generation of socially-conscious consumers.”

Specifically, this will include new features and gamifications, including “polls, rewards, milestones, visual overlays, and animations.”

Pace Capital General Partner, Chris Paik, will also be joining Tiltify’s board of directors. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Streamers are taking over the world, so it’s good to know many of them are raising money for charities as they do it! In all seriousness though, it’s fantastic to see a business that is centred around fundraising attract significant investment itself – maybe the corporate world isn’t so cynical after all?

‘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 in Turkey has teamed up with tournament platform FACEIT to launch a collegiate CS:GO league in Turkey. 

The new Collegiate Esports League Turkey is slated to launch with the autumn semester, and will help catalyse the rapidly growing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive scene in the country. Universities and colleges are already putting together squads and building communities on FACEIT’s platform. 

Gaming Turkey, a popular media hub and esports agency, has also said it plans to add collegiate competitions for both League of Legends and Valorant next year. 

Discussing the plans Head of Esports at Gaming in Turkey, and Commissioner at IESF’s Esports Education and Youth Leadership Program, Serhat Bekdemir, said:

“Our progress was impactful in recent years for the collegiate space in Turkey. Yet we were not able to unify the efforts under one platform.

“FACEIT is giving us the best opportunity to bring the student-gamers under one platform and create solid opportunities to become professionals, both in the game and in the industry.”

While Head of Collegiate Esports at FACEIT, Duran Kamgar-Parsi, added:

“Collegiate leagues are vital for the esports ecosystem. Providing opportunities in a professional environment for new talent is incredibly important. Our ambition is to create opportunities for the grassroots scene on a global scale, so it’s great to find like-minded regional partners such as Gaming in Turkey who are equally committed to growing local communities.”

Earlier this year, Esports Charts announced a partnership with Gaming in Turkey, with a view to increase its coverage of the Turkish and MENA region. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As the on-ramp for professional esports (in terms of players, and those on the production and business side of things), a strong collegiate esports infrastructure is crucial to ensure a sustainable long-term growth of the esports industry. 

Being in Turkey makes it even more noteworthy, as most of the collegiate efforts seen so far tend to be in North America. Though, earlier today, we did report that Riot Games has announced plans for Southeast Asian Valorant esports in 2021, including a comprehensive collegiate program. 

‘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.