Chewing gum brand Stimorol has been named sponsor of BLAST Premier’s Fall Final CS:GO competition in December. 

It’s not the first time the brand has partnered with the tournament organiser, having first teamed up for the BLAST Pro Series event in Copenhagen’s Royal Arena in November 2019 – which was won by FaZe Clan in front of a sold out 12K+ audience. 

Although, due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the upcoming BLAST Premier Fall Final won’t be taking place in the Royal Arena, BLAST and Stimorol will be creating campaigns, activations, and activities to engage, reward, and excite fans tuning in from around the world, and particularly local fans in Denmark itself. 

Stimorol’s branding will feature across BLAST’s CS:GO event, there will be branded content opportunities, giveaways, and a bespoke playable CS:GO map. To mark the launch of the partnership, BLAST and Stimorol have also created a three-part video series celebrating players’ quirks. 

Commenting on the partnership Commercial Director at BLAST, Leo Matlock, said:

“Stimorol are a renowned FMCG brand and we are delighted to partner with them again to engage BLAST fans, and bring their products closer to the world of esports. The Fall Final is one of the most highly anticipated events of our year where we expect millions of viewers to be tuning in, it’s great to have Stimorol on board ahead of December’s tournament.”

While Brand Manager for Mondelez International, Jesper Fruensgaard, added:

“We are very excited to connect and engage with the huge fan base of BLAST. Chewing gum is a highly relevant product for esports as it helps you concentrate. Studies suggest that chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer and improve concentration in visual memory tasks. Stimorol wants to help esports players enhance their concentration and ultimately improve performance. So come on guys – gumcentrate!”

Both BLAST and Stimorol were founded in Denmark, with the chewing gum brand founded way back in 1915. 

The Fall Final is set to run from 8-13 December, and will be BLAST Premier’s final event of 2020, with the world’s best CS:GO teams battling it out for $425,000 USD prize money and a place in January’s Global Final. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though it’s obviously disappointing that the Fall Final won’t be taking place as a live physical event, it’s great to see Stimorol is continuing to support BLAST through what are very difficult times, and we’re sure there’ll be plenty of creative flair employed to ensure things remain exciting. 

Staying with BLAST, last month China-based Nubia Technology was announced as the first ever mobile phone partner of the BLAST Premier Counter-Strike Fall Series. 

‘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 peripherals brand HyperX has signed 25 new influencers and esports names as brand ambassadors. 

The company, which is a subsidiary of California-based Kingston Technology Inc., launched its brand ambassador program, called ‘HyperX Heroes’, last year through its WE’RE ALL GAMERS campaign, which featured singer Post Malone, streamer Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys, and athletes Gordon Hayward and JuJu Smith-Schuster (who last month launched his own esports organisation, Team Diverge). 

The latest batch joining the company’s HyperX Heroes program includes talent from across Europe, North America, Latin American, Asia, and Oceania. They include YouTube Gaming streamer Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter, South Korean League of Legends Player Kim ‘Deft’ Hyuk-gyu, Aussie YouTuber ‘Lachlan,’ content creator Sebastien ‘AlphaCast’ Ferezis, hockey player ‘Filip Forsberg’, musician and streamer Nicolas ‘Oscurlod’ Sebastian Odetti, and pro NBA 2K player Artreyo ‘Dimez’ Boyd. 

Commenting on the news director of corporate marketing at HyperX, Daniel Kelley, said:

“What started out as the initial introduction of the WE’RE ALL GAMERS campaign has grown to become a worldwide HyperX Heroes programme, uniting popular streamers, content creators, celebrities, esports stars and well-known athletes through their passion for gaming.

“As gaming lifestyles and cultures collide with the worlds of sports, fashion, gaming, music and more, we continue to prove that HyperX is a champion of all gamers through our extensive HyperX Heroes roster.”

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see HyperX sign such a diverse range of talent, including gamers, streamers, content creators, athletes, and artists from all over the world. Given their combined reach and engagement, this is obviously going to help keep the HyperX brand highly visible, and we’re sure the program will continue to expand. 

‘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.

ESL has struck a deal with the DFL German Football League to further develop the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL). 

The partnership will see MTG-owned esports tournament organiser ESL take care of all media production for the national VBL competitions. The Grand Final tournament and Club Championship, which kick off next week, will also benefit from editorial support on ESL’s social media channels. 

As part of the deal, ESL has also been granted media rights to the VBL, which it intends to license to third-party distribution partners. The 26 clubs participating in the VBL Club Championship (up from 22 in previous seasons) will also be authorised to broadcast and report on their own games.

In 2012, the German Football League (DFL), which oversees the country’s top two football divisions, became the first pro football league to launch an eFootball competition with the VBL. Virtual Bundesliga competitions are organised by the DFL in partnership with game publisher Electronic Arts (EA). The VBL is divided into the VBL Open, VBL Club Championship, VBL Playoffs, and VBL Grand Final. 

Regarding the agreement Co-CEO of ESL, Ralf Reichert, said:

“EFootball has been an integral part of the esports community and ESL for many years. Together with the DFL, Germany’s most important sports league, we want to develop the VBL into a renowned sports league to take it to the next level.”

While EVP Digital Innovation at DFL, Andreas Heyden, added:

“The Virtual Bundesliga is already the most authentic representation of a soccer league in EA Sports FIFA. We would like to continue to establish it as a digital competition.

“With ESL, we have won a partner who has already proven that they can successfully set up esports competitions and communities worldwide – including in the field of soccer simulations. We want to make the VBL even more tangible and exciting and the ESL brings the necessary experience and passion to achieve exactly that.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Putting media production and development in the hands of ESL seems like a pretty safe bet on the part of the DFL, and should help catalyse the growth of the Virtual Bundesliga to entirely new levels. 

‘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.

Flashpoint, the global Counter Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament series from team-owned esports organization B Site, Inc., has announced that the teams have selected their initial draws for Group Play in Flashpoint 2. 

These teams will be competing for the largest CS:GO prize pool in 2020 of $1 million, with the champions taking $500,000 and the AK-47 Trophy. Group Play will take place Nov. 10-22, with the Playoffs on Nov. 30-Dec. 5 and the Grand Final on Dec. 6. 

The group draws are (with global rankings):

Group A: Fnatic (#11), c0ntact, Dignitas, MAD Lions

Group B: BIG (#6), Team Envy, forZe (#26), MIBR

Group C: OG (#7), Cloud9, Gen.G (#29), Virtus.Pro (#15)

Commenting on the draws Duncan “Thorin” Shields, Creative Director and On-Air Analyst of Flashpoint, said:

“Some compelling storylines leap off the page with Group C that looks to be the strongest with OG as a tournament favorite, Cloud9 as a dark horse and Virtus.pro as an emerging force online.

“Group B has BIG as a clear favorite, but there will be heavy competition for the second best team. Finally, Group A reignites a classic rivalry with f0rest and friberg with Dignitas facing the Fnatic duo of JW and flusha who have played in three early major finals and tangled many times over the years.”

Flashpoint 2’s format consists of a Group Stage where our 12 teams selected each other into three GSL Groups. The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the Playoffs, while the teams who finish 7th-10th will compete in Last Chance matches for the final two Playoff berths. Flashpoint’s Playoffs will consist of an 8 team, double-elimination bracket.

Earlier this week, B Site also confirmed the on-air talent that will be covering Flashpoint 2. Christopher “⁠MonteCristo⁠” Mykles and Duncan “⁠Thorin⁠” Shields return and will be joined by James “⁠BARDOLPH⁠” Bardolph, Anders “⁠Anders⁠” Blume, Christine “⁠potter⁠” Chi, Alex “⁠Mauisnake⁠” Ellenberg, Alex “hawka” Hawkins, Allan Hender, Auguste “⁠Semmler⁠” Massonnat, and Freya Spiers.

Flashpoint 2 Group Play Schedule

Tuesday, Nov 10 – Group A Upper Semi-Finals

13:00 (GMT) – Fnatic vs. c0ntact

16:00 (GMT) – Dignitas vs. MAD Lions

Wednesday, Nov 11 – Group B Upper Semi-Finals

13:00 (GMT) – Team Envy vs. forZe

16:00 (GMT) – BIG vs. MIBR

Thursday, Nov 12 – Group C Upper Semi-Finals

13:00 (GMT) – Cloud9 vs. Virtus.pro

16:00 (GMT) – OG vs. Gen.G

Friday, Nov 13  

13:00 (GMT) – Group A Upper Bracket Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group A Lower Bracket R1

Saturday, Nov 14

13:00 (GMT) –  Group B Upper Bracket Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group B Lower Bracket R1

Sunday, Nov 15

13:00 (GMT) – Group C Upper Bracket Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group C Lower Bracket R1

Thursday, Nov 19

13:00 (GMT) – Group A Lower Bracket Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group B Lower Bracket Final

Friday, Nov 20

13:00 (GMT) – Group C Lower Bracket Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group A Grand Final

Saturday, Nov 21

13:00 (GMT) – Group B Grand Final

16:00 (GMT) – Group C Grand Final

Sunday, Nov 22

13:00 (GMT) – Last Chance #1

16:00 (GMT) – Last Chance #2

Staying with Duncan ‘Thorin Shields’, last week the Counter-Strike expert confirmed he had been hired by London Stock Exchange-listed Guild Esports, which is part-owned by footballing legend David Beckham, to help put together a CS:GO roster.

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

Krafton, the parent company of PUBG Corporation and Bluehole, has announced a partnership with Microsoft. 

The deal will see South Korea-based Krafton deploy its products, including PUBG Corp’s global hit battle royale titles PUBG and PUBG Mobile, using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service. 

Announcing the partnership, Krafton said it will be “working with Microsoft to introduce a verification process to ensure that storage of personally identifiable information of its players follows all appropriate requirements in the territories where Krafton and its subsidiaries operated gaming services.” 

The partnership could play a pivotal role in getting PUBG Mobile legalised in India, where it was one of the most popular titles until the government banned it in September, amid escalating tensions with China – Chinese conglomerate Tencent owned publishing rights to the title at the time. 

Since the ban, Krafton has attempted to distance PUBG Mobile from China, with Tencent relinquishing rights to the title, and the company looking for Indian partners – and apparently talking with both Reliance Jio and Airtel. 

As reported last week, Krafton Inc. is currently preparing for what could be a record listing on the Korea Exchange (KRX), having appointed Mirae Asset Daewoo to lead the IPO, which is scheduled for 2021. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The speed with which Krafton has made changes, as it attempts to get its full offerings available in India again, reflects the commercial significance of the market for the company. With PUBG Mobile no longer being exposed to Chinese infrastructure, it’s going to be difficult for the Indian government to justify a continued ban on the grounds already given, though the fact Krafton is 13.2% owned by Tencent may still cause some politicians to argue against lifting it. 

‘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.

Simona talks esports and video gaming careers with Richard Huggan, Managing Director of Hitmarker – the world’s leading esports and video game jobs platform.

From where most opportunities are located and what skills employers are looking for, to the challenges facing students and education systems, and the exciting plans for Hitmarker as the platform looks to go truly global, you won’t want to miss this honest assessment from someone on the inside.

Check out all the latest esports and video game industry career opportunities at Hitmarker.