Formula 1® has announced that over 494k people attempted to qualify for this year’s 2021 F1® Esports Series – an increase of 108% from 2020.

There were more ways to qualify than ever before for this year’s F1® Esports Series, as drivers contested for spots in the event across the F1® Esports Series Challengers, the DHL Time Trial, the China Championship and the inaugural Women’s Wildcard.

The 2021 season officially starts with the Pro Exhibition, an online combine that will see the 30 drivers who progressed from these four qualification routes showcase their talents in a series of in-game assessments, testing their abilities for the life-changing opportunity to be potentially selected by one of the ten F1® Esports teams for their Pro Championship rosters. 

While the participants continue to compete on the official F1® 2020 video game developed by Codemasters, the new Pro Championship season, which begins in the autumn, will see drivers battle it out on the hugely anticipated 2021 version of the game, the first since EA acquired the long-time developers of the title, which will be released on Friday 16 July.

Highlights from the Pro Exhibition, hosted by F1® Esports regulars, Tom Deacon, Matt Gallagher and Nic Hamilton, will feature exclusive interviews from Romain Grosjean, F2 driver Guanyu Zhou and W Series driver Jessica Hawkins, and will be broadcast from the Gfinity Arena in London at 19:00 BST on Thursday 27 May on the official Formula 1® YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, and Huya (China) channels.

The Pro Exhibition kicks off the new era for the F1® Esports Series, with the Pro Championship, formerly known as the Pro Series, starting later this year. The F1® Esports Series is once again presented by Aramco, Global Energy Partner of F1®, who will remain Presenting Partner as part of an extended agreement following the success of last year’s F1® Esports Series, which achieved over 11m digital live views. 

DHL, a founding partner of the F1® Esports Series, has been renewed as Official Sponsor and will be a key part of the Pro Championship through the DHL Fastest Lap award and associated championship point, mirroring real world racing. Fanatec also continues to be a crucial partner to the F1® Esports Series, as it has been since 2018, and will supply hardware for all drivers in the Pro Championship once rosters are confirmed after the Pro Exhibition.

Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives and Esports at Formula 1®, said: “We’re delighted to see so many people enjoying and engaging with the F1 game, as The F1 Esports Series continues to shatter records, with nearly half a million qualifiers for this year’s campaign. We can’t wait to see the talent on show in the Pro Exhibition and look forward to the Pro Championship later in the year, which could be the most exciting yet! As ever, we are thankful for the continued support from our partners Aramco, DHL and Fanatec as we strive to make the F1 Esports Series bigger and better every year.”

Frank Sagnier, CEO at Codemasters, commented: “We continue to be overwhelmed and thrilled with the success of the F1 Esports Series. With more ways to qualify, as shown by the recent China Championship, our players are rising to the challenge in the hope of joining one of the 10 official F1 Esports teams. We’re incredibly proud to introduce the Women’s Wildcard, and we hope we will see a significant increase in women engaging with the F1 game at a grassroots level and challenging at the top of the leaderboard.”

John Clarke, CEO at Gfinity, said: “The Pro Exhibition is yet another fantastic example of how Formula 1 continues to innovate and expand, uniting the different F1 Esports Series qualification events in a way that hasn’t been done before. Gfinity is proud to continue our work with Formula 1, utilising our tech IP and world-class production to deepen engagement with existing and younger F1 fans around the globe.”

AYO.NEWS says:

What a great start to the 2021 F1® Esports Series! Though, considering the explosive growth of esports, especially sim racing, over the last year, it’s not surprising to see record numbers of participants trying to qualify. As we’ve noted before, few traditional sports cross over to the digital realm as smoothly as motorsports – with drivers, sponsors, broadcasters, and viewers finding the transition between real world racing and sim racing relatively frictionless. 

Semper Fortis Esports has named Manchester United player Harry Maguire as a brand ambassador. 

The company says its brand ambassadors will interact with online audiences via digital platforms and bring their experience from traditional sports to an esports organisation. 

As previously reported, theUK-based startup recently listed on the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE), with a valuation of around £4.15M GBP, and plans to form esports teams, commercial partnerships, offer B2B advisory services, and ink partnerships with pro footballers and influencers. 

Commenting on joining Semper Fortis, Harry Maguire said: “When I’m not on the pitch and training one of my favourite ways to relax is playing online against teammates and friends. It has been a great way to pass the time, particularly in lockdown. When I was approached by Semper Fortis to become one of its ambassadors I was really intrigued about what they are looking to achieve in gaming and esports. As an athlete I understand the pressures of a competitive environment and I am excited to share my experience of competing in the world’s biggest leagues with Semper Fortis. We already have lots of exciting projects in the pipeline for this year, so watch this space.”

Kevin Soltani, CEO of Semper Fortis Esports, added: “Harry, like Dominic, is one of the country’s highest regarded professional footballers, who represents the England national team and Manchester United. We are delighted to have brought both Harry, and last week Dominic, on board as ambassadors and will be spending time working with them in the short term to achieve our stated aims. We may in the medium term look to sign further brand ambassadors in line with the high standards that we have set ourselves with Dominic and Harry.”

According to the company, it will be remunerating Maguire in the form of warrants which entitle him to subscribe for ordinary shares in the company at an IPO exercise price of 1 pence per share. The five year warrants cannot be exercised within the first 12-month period post issue. 

With Krafton planning to release its rehashed PUBG Mobile-derived Battlegrounds Mobile India imminently, a prominent Indian politician has already called for it to be banned.

India banned PUBG Mobile in September 2020, along with over 100 other apps connected to China, citing serious security concerns. The move came as military tensions were running high between the two powers, and many suspected the move was primarily politically motivated. 

In response to losing one of PUBG Mobile’s biggest markets, Krafton established an Indian division, promised to store all Indian data within India itself, and began working with local companies like Nodwin Gaming to develop a spin-off called Battlegrounds India. 

However, with release of the new game likely just weeks away, and despite Krafton investing $22.5M USD in Nodwin in March, Arunachal Pradesh Member of Assembly (MLA) Ninong Ering has written to prime minister Modi, asking him to ban the game. 

Ering casts doubt on Krafton’s promises to prevent Chinese interference in India, pointing out that the company has hired former employees of Chinese entertainment giant Tencent. 

Requested @PMOIndia @narendramodi ji to not allow Chinese deception #BattlegroundsMobileIndia. It is a big threat to security of India & privacy of our citizens and a way to circumvent & disregard our laws.@AmitShah #IndiaBanBattlegrounds #NationFirst #AatmaNirbharBharat @ANI pic.twitter.com/H8nzUJ4aRk

— Ninong Ering (@ninong_erring) May 22, 2021

AYO.NEWS says:

Is Ering genuinely concerned about security issues, or is this just another case of politicians trying to create issues to distract the public from the disastrous way the Indian establishment has handled the COVID-19 crisis?

Staying with that theme, last month Krafton donated over $200K to help Indian COVID-19 relief efforts. 

International esports organisation Team Liquid has extended its analytics partnership with SAP.

Since 2018, SAP has supported Team Liquid by implementing and co-developing technologies that boost gameplay for the organisation’s Dota 2 team, and in 2019 the partnership was extended to include its League of Legends team. 

SAP’s esports development team works closely with Team Liquid to provide in-game analytics, with the SAP HANA platform using predictive and machine learning functionalities to help Team Liquid more quickly and efficiently analyse their opponent’s approaches. 

Team Liquid also fields rosters in other major titles including VALORANT, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, and Apex Legends.

In addition to SAP, the organisation also has partnerships in place with Alienware, Monster Energy, Honda, IMC Trading, Twitch, Jersey Mike’s Subs, HyperX, Huya, and Secretlab.

Staying with Team Liquid, last month the organisation signed Dutch DJ, producer and Twitch streamer, Ruben de Ronde, as a brand ambassador.

Private equity firm Supernova Capital has fully acquired Player1 Events (P1E) from UK-based video game retailer GAME. 

Following the acquisition, Craig Fletcher, founder of Multiplay and the Insomnia Gaming Festival, is returning to lead Insomnia operations. He will also be joining Supernova’s executive team to help drive its future plans for live events and esports. 

All currency P1E staff are being retained, and there are plans for an Insomnia event in 2021, and future events in both the UK and internationally in 2022, COVID regulations permitting. 

Craig Fletcher commented: “We’ve seen over the last year that the demand for events has been palpably growing, both as interest in esports has grown dramatically, but also people longing to return to the atmosphere of being at a live event. By relaunching Insomnia, we will take things to a new level, uniting gamers of all ages, and players of all levels to come together at inspiring live events. We hope to be in a position to make announcements on 2021 events soon.”

Paul Wedgwood, Co-Founder & CEO of Supernova, added: “Insomnia is an event with global appeal, and we’re excited about the impact Supernova and our partners can make. We’re in an excellent position to help brands develop their own events and communities post-COVID, following a transformative 12 months in the industry. We also look forward to continuing our close relationship with GAME and Belong as we develop new experiences for our own growing community.”

Kings Guard Gaming, the NBA 2K League team officially affiliated with the Sacramento Kings, has renewed its sponsorship deal with IOGEAR. 

The financial terms of the partnership with the gaming peripherals company have not been disclosed, but it is known that IOGEAR will be providing the Kings Guard Gaming team with Kaliber Gaming peripherals. 

Specifically, this will include the KeyMander 2 console controller adapter, HVER Pro X optical-mechanical keyboard, and SYMMETRE II mouse, along with live streaming equipment from its UpStream product line.

The partnership will also include activations and promotional giveaways, starting with the Ultimate Livestream Giveaway on 29 May, coinciding with the launch of the NBA 2K League regular season.

Sacramento Kings President of Business Operations, John Rinehart, commented: “IOGEAR’s innovative technology will further Kings Guard Gaming’s engagement efforts with the latest livestreaming and gaming technology to connect with our fans. We look to continue to grow the success of last year’s partnership on and off the virtual court.”

IOGEAR marketing manager, Mike Volpe, added: “Much like IOGEAR, Kings Guard Gaming is quickly building a solid reputation in esports, and we look forward to being a part of the team’s 2021 season. Working with Kings Guard Gaming allows us to not only back a competitive team that has the tenacity needed to compete for the championship title this year, but also provides IOGEAR a platform to build brand awareness among a growing audience of gamers.”