North American esports organisation Evil Geniuses (EG) has announced a partnership with smartphone brand Motorola. 

The news follows last month’s launch of the best-in-class 5G Motorola Edge+, and represents the company’s first collaborative partnership with an esports organisation, reinforcing its commitment to gaming audiences. 

Today EG will be returning to the League Championship Series (LGC) at the start of the Summer Split, with Motorola as a presenting partner and official smartphone of both Evil Geniuses’ LCS and Academy teams. 

Evil Geniuses will be showcasing the Motorola Edge+ throughout the Summer Split, and providing fans with post-match interviews powered by the Edge+. 

The partnership will also cover custom content spanning in-depth analysis and taking gamers inside signature plays throughout the season, and the bi-weekly LCS-themed podcast “Chaotic Neutral.” 

Discussing the news NA marketing director at Motorola, Majo Martin, said:

“Partnering with Evil Geniuses aligns two elite brands with a commitment to excellence, and is an important step in showcasing the awesome power of the Edge+ to the gaming community.”

While CEO of Evil Geniuses, Nicole LaPointe Jameson, added:

“Motorola is an iconic global brand that matches Evil Geniuses’ passion for innovation and performance. In our ongoing pursuit to support our players, it’s important that they have the best gear both on and off the stage to maintain competitive excellence.”

The Motorola Edge+ features a 108 MP camera (the highest ever resolution for a smartphone), 6K video capability, the largest battery of any 5G phone, Qualcomm® Snapdragon 865 platform with Elite Gaming™, and Motorola GameTime, plus a new toggleable mode that automatically blocks all incoming notifications and gives access to game-enhancing apps and toolsets. 

Since 2015 Motorola has been part of Lenovo, a US$50 billion Fortune Global 500 company, with 63,000 employees and operating in 180 markets around the world.

AYO.NEWS says:

Could this mark the resurgence of the Motorola brand? Getting involved with esports, and especially an organisation with the profile of Evil Geniuses, definitely seems like a good way to connect with the critical younger market. 

Staying with Evil Geniuses, last week the organisation announced a partnership with LG Electronics USA. 

‘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

Esports betting platform Unikrn has announced it will be working with Atari to integrate the upcoming Atari Token into its cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

The partnership will give Unikrn access to Atari’s catalogue of gaming classics like Centipede®, PONG®, and Asteroids®, while providing powerful crypto tech, skill-based wagering opportunities via Unikrn’s patent-pending UMode platform, and unique wagering experiences to Atari Casino & Atari Token. 

Commenting on the news Unikrn co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft Ventures, Rahul Sood, said:

“Unikrn and Atari are pioneers in the gaming industry, changing the world around us with creativity and innovation. We know the wagering will be an increasingly driving force in the game industry’s future development, and we can’t wait to get the benefits of this partnership to Unikrn’s community.”

While Atari CEO, Fred Chesnais, added:

“Today we have forged another essential partnership to support Atari’s journey into cryptocurrency and blockchain-based entertainment experiences.

“Unikrn’s thriving ecosystem will provide Atari Token holders with significant additional utility and value, while the addition of Atari’s classic arcade brands to that ecosystem will offer extensive familiar-yet-new gaming content to Unikrn’s community.”

The Atari Token is issued by Atari Chain, Ltd (Gibraltar), a company equally owned by Atari and the ICICB Group. Unikrn, named EGR’s 2019 Esports Bookmaker of the Year, operates one of the leading esports and casino-based crypto betting platforms. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Atari is really going all out with its upcoming token! Just last week the company announced plans to integrate it with Native Gaming’s upcoming MMORPG and online casino, and in May it partnered with global monetisation platform and multichain blockchain API and wallet provider Arkane Network. 

Interested in finding out more about Unikrn and the visionary behind it? Don’t miss our  exclusive interview with Rahul Sood, CEO and co-founder of Unikrn. 

‘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

Isle of Man-based esports betting operator Luckbox has raised over CAD $3.8 million (approx. €2.47M) in the first tranche of its latest funding round.

As we reported in May, Luckbox is planning to list on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange this summer, and has signed a letter of intent with capital pool company Elephant Hill. In the same week, the operator also announced a high-profile investment from Inter Miami goalkeeper Luis Robles.

The offering has been increased from the originally announced range of CAD $2M to $3M after attracting strong interest from investors. A second tranche has now been announced and will close on 15 June. Both offerings are being co-led by Gravitas Securities Inc and Beacon Securities Inc. 

Discussing developments CEO of Luckbox, Quentin Martin, said:

“It’s been a phenomenal first half of the year for us and that’s been reflected in the interest from investors. We’ve seen a 500% increase in betting volume since March. Turnover has risen to almost 13 times that seen in November 2019, while deposits are up 10-fold since then.

“Esports is one of the hottest sectors anywhere right now and investors are clearly seeing the opportunity, especially with many alternative forms of entertainment badly affected by the Coronavirus outbreak. We’ve been thrilled with the response so far and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who’s supported us so far – these are extremely exciting times.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite significant disruption of live esports events during the COVID-19 crisis, the industry as a whole has boomed thanks to the lockdowns. Esports betting particularly has seen significant growth, thanks to traditional sports fans looking for alternatives, and to casual gamers who’ve found themselves with spare time to discover new things. 

Find out more about how the COVID-19 crisis has affected esports betting by checking out the inside scoop from specialist esports betting operator LOOT.BET. 

‘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 LEC has announced Inygon, producers of LPLOL, as its new Portuguese broadcast partner. 

Inygon will be covering all the LEC action for the Portuguese community from Week 1 onwards, on a dedicated Twitch channel. 

Braga-based Inygon is extensively involved with the Portuguese gaming and esports scene, with many events, activations and tournaments in its growing portfolio, including Comic Con Portugal, Clickfiel Streamers Lounge, Gamergy Masters, Lisbon Games Week, LG Caster Challenge, Nissan GT Sports, Worten Game Ring, Red Bull Player One, 4Gamers Gondomar, and more. 

Staying with LEC news, yesterday a partnership was announced with LVP (MEDIAPRO Group) to launch LEC SuperFantasy, while earlier this week KitKat was confirmed as a main sponsor. 

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

London-based grassroots esports organisation LDN UTD has partnered with health and wellness company Bio-Synergy. 

As LDN UTD’s official nutrition partner Bio-Synergy will provide players with nutrition guidelines, fitness routines, and products. 

Discussing the partnership Co-founder and CEO of LDN UTD, Oliver Weingarten, said:

“As a grassroots esports organisation we aim to provide opportunity and accessibility to gamers of all backgrounds and give them the chance to further a career in gaming, whilst aligning with societal benefits. 

WFor us that means education on health and nutrition are of paramount importance. We are pleased to have Bio-Synergy join the LDN UTD family, to support our League of Legends team and drive them to success via the supply of products and expert tutelage.”

While Founder and CEO of Bio-Synergy, Daniel Herman, added:

“Having worked with [YouTuber turned boxer] KSI’s trainer in the past, we understand the importance of both mental and physical performance in esports. We look forward to working with LDN UTD and its community, and helping the League of Legends team to excel in the UKEL.”

LDN UTD recently held tryouts for a League of Legends team, and has also held tryouts for FIFA 20 and Apex Legends. 

Staying with nutrition, last month North American esports organisation Misfits Gaming announced a partnership with Destined 2 Dominate, in a deal that covers its American gaming teams and Call of Duty League franchise Florida Mutineers. 

Many other esports organisations including Cloud9, Gen.G Esports, and GamersOriginal have also entered wellness partnerships. 

AYO.NEWS says:

As esports gets ever more demanding on players, nutrition and well-being will only get more important. For professional organisations who have a lot of money invested in teams, it’s especially important to protect those investments and ensure they are performing optimally. Meanwhile, for nutrition and wellness companies, esports offers a fantastic opportunity to promote their products and services to a whole new market.

‘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

Joystick, a new dating site built specifically to help gamers find love and playmates, has gone live. 

Founded by David Minns, a “serial dating entrepreneur” who has won several awards, including at the UK Dating Awards, and Global Dating Insights, Joystick is a fully-featured dating site, claiming to offer first-class security and one of the best privacy policies in the industry. 

Open to every gender and sexuality, Joystick is signing-up members from all over the world, and is squarely aiming to cater for exactly what gamers want, including on the technology front – the site says a global search takes just 0.02 seconds, and a profile load is sub 400ms. 

Offering powerful search, private chat and pictures, gaming centric profiles, reporting and blocking features, and optimised for mobile, laptops and desktops, the site also offers the ability to easily delete your entire profile and make it “as if you never joined.” 

During launch, Joystick.dating is completely free.

AYO.NEWS says:

We’ve often commented on how gaming and esports are very much a total lifestyle for millions of people around the world (something that many traditional bookies, for example, continually fail to grasp), so Joystick clearly has potential if it can get some traction, and it’s easy to see how there’s vast scope for expansion beyond its core matchmaking service.

Of course, existing dating services haven’t been ignoring the gaming and esports community, with Tinder even sponsoring esports organisations, so Joystick will need to prove it offers something really special. 

‘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