UK-based esports organisation Fnatic has secured $17M USD in a funding round led by Japan’s Marubeni Corporation. 

Marubeni will also be supporting Fnatic’s expansion efforts in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, with the organisation relocating its Rainbow Six: Siege team to Japan. 

Regarding the news, Fnatic CEO Sam Mathews said: “We’re so excited to have the strategic know-how of Marubeni leading this funding round. Marubeni’s knowledge of Japan’s business landscape will be a huge asset to Fnatic as we expand our commitment to APAC.”

Fnatic now has 40 pro gamers around the world, playing across 8 titles, along with 100 staff in 6 offices, including one in Tokyo. In addition to competing in esports, the organisation also produces content and develops and sells video game and esports related performance gear and apparel. 

The Marubeni Corporation was founded in 1858 and incorporated in 1949, and today it is engaged in business activities including lifestyle, ICT, real estate, forest products, agri business, chemicals, energy, metals and mineral resources, infrastructure, aerospace, marine, finance, leasing, construction, industrial machinery, mobility, and investments. 

Global esports wagering products and tech provider, Esports Technologies, has launched a new app providing tournament prediction and trivia games for esports fans. 

Esports Games is now available on the Google Play store in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It provides two types of engagement games, focused on esports content: tournament predictions and trivia. 

Qualified players are expected to be able to enter and participate in the games for free. For trivia contests, players will answer questions to score points on a global leaderboard, while the prediction game will give players the chance to predict outcomes of live esports matches. 

Players who correctly predict the outcomes of games will be eligible to win prizes totalling the equivalent value of the prize pool of the actual events or tournaments they are predicting. 

Players can answer trivia and make predictions on League of Legends, Dota 2, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Rocket League, Call of Duty, and Valorant.

Bart Barden, COO, Esports Technologies, explained: “The esports market is a passionate, global community. Our goal with this app is to empower the community and provide an avenue for fans to immerse themselves and engage with major live events, like the International or MSI. Fans are now able to make real-time predictions as to what could happen next in the game, competing against fans across the globe. Simultaneously, fans may showcase their esports knowledge to rise to the top of a global leaderboard and earn great prizes while proving their knowledge and expertise.”

The Esports Games app was developed in collaboration with free-to-play platform Splash Tech. 

Staying with Esports Technologies, AYO.NEWS’ Simona Pinterova recently caught up with CEO Aaron Speach, to find out how the company is planning to create the world’s best esports betting platform. 

Global OTT streaming platform Netflix is reportedly planning to enter the video games space, withs its own Apple Arcade-style service. 

According to The Information, people familiar with the situation have said Netflix is trying to recruit a veteran video game industry executive to lead its expansion into video games. They also say the company is looking at offering some kind subscription service similar to Apple Arcade. 

Though Netflix has previously dabbled with video games based on the popular hits Stranger Things, La Casa de Papel, and To All the Boys, and has created interactive shows like Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and You v. Wild, launching a bundle-style video game subscription service would be a major move. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Considering Netflix had 207.64 million paid subscribers in the first quarter of 2021 (according to Statista), if the company manages to come up with a compelling offering, and makes it easy for existing subscribers to upgrade, it’s clearly got the potential to disrupt the market.

It will be interesting to see if Netflix does go down the Apple Arcade route, or if it sets its sights a bit higher and also includes a triple-A offering, like that offered by cloud gaming solution RemoteMyApp, or Blacknut – which could enable it to tempt some players away from PlayStation and Xbox. 

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.