Simona is joined by Julian Tan, Ph.D, Head of Digital Business Initiatives & Esports at Formula 1, to find out how the iconic racing organisation has expanded its esports offering this year, and what the future has in store.

The COVID-19 crisis has seen the popularity of sim racing explode, pulling in new fans from real-world motorsport and opening up compelling new opportunities for gamers, teams, and commercial partners alike. Now, AYO.NEWS’ Simona Pinterova gets the inside take on F1’s approach to harnessing esports as a way to connect with the fans of the future.

Find out more about F1 esports here.

Julian was recently on the panel for the Perfect Partners session (sponsored by Neosurf) at SBC Betting on Sports Europe – Digital, along with Steven Salz, Co-founder and CEO of PMML Corp – the parent company of leading esports and sports betting site Rivalry. Don’t miss Simona’s chat with Steven here.

Russian esports organisation Virtus.pro has partnered with Blocksport to launch a new fan engagement app called ‘Bearloga.’

The app, which will be available on both Android and iOS, is slated for launch this month, and will give users access to exclusive content, direct chats with players, and other “money can’t buy” benefits. 

Discussing the news CEO of Virtus.pro, Sergey Glamazda, said:

“We are proud of our fans and try to be closer to those who support us in and out of the game. Such fan apps are pretty common among sport clubs, but we decided to further its range of functions and added a lot of things you can’t find in any other app. From now on our fans will not only get access to exclusive content, but also to making decisions regarding the club’s future together with management.”

While CEO of Blocksport, Vladimir Luilka, added:

“Trying to build an app without in-depth software development experience is like trying to build a sports car from scratch. We have all this required expertise and we’re extremely pleased to see that also one of the Top 10 Esports team shares this view and identified the added value of our platform.”

Last month, former IBM Vice President, Heinrich Zetlmayer, joined Blocksport’s board of directors, to support the business as it looks to grab a bigger share of the burgeoning fan engagement market. 

Staying with Virtus.pro, in summer the organisation entered a major partnership with Chinese car brand Haval – part of the Great Wall Motors group. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve previously noted, the battle for the fan engagement space is heating up, with both esports and traditional sports organisations and clubs now able to choose from several compelling offerings. Competing with Blocksport are platforms like Socios.com, from Malta-based Chiliz, which also offers benefits like voting rights, along with platforms offering NFT-based collectibles and games, like Sorare. 

‘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.

Games and esports analytics provider Newzoo has announced a partnership with Southeast Asian organisation EVOS Esports.

By collaborating with EVOS Esports, which currently operates over 15 pro teams across five countries, Newzoo will benefit from valuable insights into the rapidly growing Southeast Asian market. These insights will help it improve estimates featured in its Global Esports Market Report and on the Newzoo Platform. 

In return, EVOS Esports will benefit from market insights to help the organisation benchmark, identify promising opportunities, and access strategic insights. 

Talking about the partnership Newzoo Co-founder and CEO, Peter Warman, said:

“Southeast Asia is currently the most exciting region for the overall future growth of esports and gaming, both from a business and consumer engagement perspective. EVOS Esports is right at the center of this.

“Partnering with an ambitious and forward-thinking esports organization like EVOS Esports supports us in keeping up with this huge esports region to further strengthen our view on the global and local esports ecosystems.”

While co-founder and CEO of EVOS Esports, Ivan Yeo, added:

“We are excited to be the first esports organisation in Southeast Asia to form this partnership with Newzoo. With Newzoo’s market intelligence and expertise, it will assist us in making actionable data-driven decisions as we scale our business verticals across the region. With access to the tools and insights provided by Newzoo, we look forward to achieving continued success, especially when discussing with commercial partners.”

Staying with EVOS Esports, last month its parent company, Attention Holdings Pte. Ltd., secured $12M USD in a Series B funding round. 

EVOS Esports currently manages 160 gaming influencers, exclusively partners with more than 200 esport talents, boasts a total YouTube following of over 64M, and has an Instagram following of more than 62M.

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite the impressive amount of money flowing into esports organisations right now, with commercial pressures increasing, it’s critical that resources are directed to the right places so that they can generate a healthy return for investors – access to insights like that provided by Newzoo is key to achieving this.

‘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 Global Esports Federation has confirmed the inaugural Global Esports Games (GEG), has been scheduled for December 2021. 

Set to be an annual flagship event, the GEG will feature multiple esports competitions, “world-class” opening and closing ceremonies, the GEFcon thought-leadership convention, and GEFestival celebration of inclusive esports culture, highlighting music, art, technology, fashion, food, and more.

Regarding plans, President of the Global Esports Federation, Chris Chan, said:

“The Global Esports Games serves as a platform to showcase the world’s best athletes, players, industry partners, brands, innovations and the responsible use of technology in esports.

“In parallel, the GEF will stage GEFcon – a multi-platform conferencing showcase for dialogue on responsible gaming, technological advancement and shared learning – bringing people together for the celebration of esports.”

While Co-Chair, Coordination Commission, Global Esports Federation, Angela Ruggiero, added:

“I look forward to ensuring that esports athletes have the optimal conditions to shine. I am particularly interested in the vast potential and diverse opportunities esports can offer the world.

“I believe esports is delivering in new ways, leveraging on technology that can appeal to younger audiences and fans across the world. The Global Esports Games will be an exciting new frontier for the convergence of esports and traditional sports.”

The GEF claims to have received an “unprecedented response” to its global call for expressions of interest to host the Global Esports Games (though, considering its the first such call, this is hardly surprising). 

In an official statement, the GEF said it was “positioned to reset the bar and offer a new level for athletes and players and the entire esports community,” and claims the GEF will be “elevating the credibility, legitimacy and prestige of esports.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Blah blah blah. The only thing unprecedented about the GEF is the amount of waffle it spews out. If it wants to be taken seriously it should cut its ties with the Saudi royal family before it preaches about diversity and inclusion. And, guess what? The esports and video game community likely couldn’t care less about your Olympic-style obsession with pretentious committees and ceremonies. 

‘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.

FirstBlood Technologies has announced a partnership with MakerDAO to bring decentralised stablecoin integration to the FirstBlood Platform.

MakerDAO, the protocol behind the popular DeFi stablecoin Dai, will enhance accessibility for enthusiasts and professional gamers alike, by offering rewards in DAI to competitive gamers playing on FirstBlood. 

According to the company, this “signals an immense victory for gamers,” allowing for permissionless cross-border payments to be made in what is one of the most popular DeFi crypto tokens. 

Discussing the news Co-founder and CEO of FirstBlood, Joe Zhou, said:

“We aim to leverage the massive DAI community and facilitate blockchain adoption into the world of competitive gaming. With players competing from every continent, payments in cryptocurrencies will simplify barriers to entry for users, and provide a stable and secure environment for players to earn rewards for rising to the challenge.”

While CEO of Maker Foundation and co-founder of MakerDAO, Rune Christensen, added:

“The borderless, decentralized nature of Dai makes it the perfect stablecoin to use as in-game rewards for FirstBlood players. The stability, transparency and ease of use of Dai will let players spend more time focused on competing and less time sorting out how to manage their rewards.”

To celebrate the partnership, MakerDAO is offering 10,000 DAI in prizes to sign-up and compete on FirstBlood. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As anyone who’s familiar with this site will guess, we love it when esports and blockchain come together nicely like this! For gamers already using FirstBlood this will make things more convenient, and hopefully it will net the platform a fair few new sign-ups too. 

‘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.

Riot Games has agreed a major esports sponsorship deal with Brazilian telecoms company Oi. 

The agreement will see Oi sponsor the country’s First Strike Valorant tournament, the League of Legends (LoL) World Championship 2020 finals, and the Prêmio CBLoL – ceremony honoring the top players in the Brazilian Championship of League of Legends (CBLoL). Oil will also support the All Stars exhibition tournament. 

Oi is an active supporter of esports in Brazil, and recently renewed its sponsorship of the Prêmio Esports Brasil 2020, a local awards ceremony, for the third straight year.

Staying with Brazilian esports, earlier today we reported that Brazilian football star Casemiro, who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid, has launched his own esports organisation called CaseEsports, signing a complete Brazilian CS:GO team. 

AYO.NEWS says:

While it’s hardly a groundbreaking partnership, it’s great to see Riot has secured support for its first official Valorant tournament in Brazil, 

‘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.