Vancouver-based sports entertainment company FansUnite has announced a partnership with sportsbook service provider Pinnacle Solution. 

The strategic partnership will see Pinnacle Solution, the risk management division of Pinnacle, integrate its esports data and odds feed into FanUnite’s new Chameleon Gaming Platform. Thanks to Pinnacle’s partnership with GRID Esports, the integration will give Chameleon users direct access to GRID’s extensive contracts with esports leagues and tournaments. 

Discussing the news CEO of FansUnite, Scott Burton, said:

“We aim to partner with the leading companies in the industry to provide the best product and options to our customers using the Chameleon Platform. With Pinnacle’s addition and their relationship with GRID Esports, we continue to add the best esports betting data available with the most markets and the best odds. It’s exciting to be the first to offer Pinnacle Solution’ service, and we are honoured they chose to work with us.

“The next step is to effectively market the Chameleon Gaming Platform to sportsbooks. We want to ramp up our B2B segment and get a guaranteed licensing fee when sportsbooks use our services. In addition, we generate additional income as our partners grow as we share in a percentage of the net gaming revenue giving us unlimited upside revenue potential. Partnering with Pinnacle will help take our B2B esports solution to a new level.”

While CEO of Pinnacle, Paris Smith, added:

“Our B2B strategy is one that is built on laying solid foundations. Our continued growth, which includes deals like this, is a clear sign that we are working hard to build on our already impressive offering and keep leading the way for others to follow. Whether it’s the odds, the risk management, the data, we have the complete package as well as a best-in-class service to match.”

Vancouver-based Askott Entertainment, which originally developed the Chameleon Gaming Platform and had formed a strategic partnership with Pinnacle back in February 2020, was acquired by FansUnite in August. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Curacao-licensed Pinnacle stands out as one of the comparatively few traditional online sports betting operators that has successfully embraced esports, and has several partners including Abios, Flashpoint, FACEIT, and North. 

To find out more about why Pinnacle is a leader in esports betting, in April AYO.NEWS’ very own Simona Pinterova caught up with CEO Paris Smith. 

‘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

Major esports betting platform Luckbox has appointed Lachlan Thomson as Head of Performance Marketing. 

Thomson is joining the Isle of Man-based company from United States-based esports betting operator Unikrn, where he was Head of Brand Communications. In his seven years’ in the gambling industry, he has also worked at Tabcorp and Luxebet. 

With Luckbox, Thomson will be helping scale marketing efforts as the company aims to continue its exceptional growth in Q4 2020 and beyond. 

In July, Luckbox closed an oversubscribed funding round on $5M CAD, ahead of an expected listing on Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange. 

Commenting on his new appointment, Thomson said:

“I’m relishing the chance to work with such a young brand. Being able to shape the brand growth in a competitive world is something that I am looking forward to facing.

“I love how esports is ever-evolving and there is always something fresh and new coming on to the scene. It is developing in front of our very eyes and to be involved on the forefront of that world is such an exciting place to be.”

While Luckbox CEO, Quentin Martin, added:

“We’re thrilled to welcome Lachlan to Luckbox. He has a strong background in the egaming industry and brings highly relevant skills and knowledge to our team thanks to his time with Unikrn. 

“We have enjoyed phenomenal success in 2020 and we have made no secret of our plans to accelerate our growth aggressively for the remainder of the year and beyond and Lachlan will play an interesting role in doing so.”

AYO.NEWS says:

With the esports industry, including esports betting, undergoing phenomenal growth, recruiting talent with both business experience and esports knowledge is no mean feat, and we expect things will only get more competitive over the coming years. 

Want to find out more about Luckbox? In August AYO.NEWS’ very own Simona Pinterova caught up with CEO Quentin Martin, to find out how the company is taking esports betting to 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

The founders of Spanish esports organisation Giants Gaming, aka. Vodafone Giants, have announced the launch of Good Game Group. 

Spanning esports, media, and products, Good Game Group is said to be Spain’s biggest esports business, and its launch follows a recent €3M investment from the Sanchez Cozar Group, which has funded a new facility in Malaga. 

Good Game Group’s initial esports portfolio consist of the Vodafone Giants and the recently acquired x6tence, which compete in a total of thirteen esports titles. 

The new group’s media division consists of GGM Studios and BCN Fighters, which will review esports news, and another recent acquisition, Esportmaníacos, which is slated to start airing live broadcasts on Twitch next year. 

In terms of products, GG Gear will be offering peripherals and hardware aimed at professional and amateur gamers. Headphones, keyboards, mice, and mats have already been launched, and gaming chairs will be added in the near future. 

Discussing the new venture CEO of Good Game Group, José Ramón Díaz, said:

“The objective is to continue professionalising the company with our three current activity verticals: competition, entertainment, and development and marketing of hardware products, among which we already accumulated more than 25 million fans who generate more than 100 million monthly impacts.

“Our commitment to fans, to our investors and to the brands that support us has resulted in a solid and balanced group in economic terms. No other company in the industry in Europe has carried out such a movement.”

AYO.NEWS says:

As we’ve noted before, more esports organisations are realising that simply fielding talented teams is no longer enough, and in order to successfully monetise their brands they need to provide a full ecosystem for fans, including high quality media content and merchandise. It seems Giants Gaming got the memo, and we can’t wait to see how it pans out! 

‘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 announced a new official tournament system for its digital card game Legends of Runeterra. 

A seasonal tournament model will get underway on 14 October, with players able to qualify for end-of-season tournaments in one of two ways; through the game’s ranked ladder, or special ‘gauntlet’ events. A final ‘Last Chance Gauntlet’ will take place on 5 December, before the tournament begins on 6 December.

Prize pool and specific tournament structure details are yet to be revealed. 

Following last month’s announcement of First Strike, the first official VALORANT tournaments, the Legends of Runeterra development means all of Riot Games’ full-released titles now have official esports programs. 

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

FACEIT, the global online competitive gaming platform, and German esports organisation BIG have announced a new CS:GO program. 

The GoBIG League is intended to give players in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, a new and unique competitive experience, and the chance to join a level-based hub environment and play with like minded players in a closed and fully moderating environment. The highest tier of the new competition will be directly connected to the EU FPL circuit. 

Featuring four in-house leagues built on FACEIT Hubs, players of four different skill levels, from grassroots to professional, will compete in monthly competitions and win prizes. Each month, via the top league of the BIG program, the top eight players will get the chance to play into the qualifier for the FPL Challenger. 

Commenting on the new program Partnerships Manager at FACEIT, Cristian Duca, said:

“This partnership is a fantastic example of how brands and esports organisations can leverage the FACEIT platform tools to connect and engage more with players and fans by providing unique and fresh propositions based on PLAY.

“BIG is an organisation that has been particularly successful within the CS:GO ecosystem and we’re looking forward to working on this project together, fully aligned on bringing to the community something new and special.”

While Head of Partnerships at BIG, Christian Chmiel, added:

“For us at BIG, reinvesting in the DACH scene and helping nurture future talent has been part of our mission since our formation. Through the GoBIG League, we will be able to encourage proper and sustainable competition by investing in the platform and regularly giving away valuable incentives and prizes.”

Staying with FACEIT, last month the platform announced a partnership with the Unified Collegiate Esports Association, to host varsity Rocket League, CS:GO, and Overwatch leagues, in North America. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Anything strengthening the CS:GO ecosystem by giving grassroots players a ladder to develop their careers through the semi-pro and pro stages has to be a good thing, and both FACEIT and BIG know what they are doing, so this should be cool. 

‘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

Game streaming giant Twitch has announced two key hires for its Asia-Pacific team, in the shape of Sunil Yadav and Mandar Kambli. 

Based in Singapore, Yadav will take on the role of agency development lead, overseeing all partnership negotiations and relationships in the APAC region. 

Meanwhile, Kambli will be taking up position as programmatic enablement lead, focusing on revenue growth and programmatic in the APAC region. 

Founder of the Pixels2People marketing agency, Yadav has also spent 11 years with Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) APAC, most recently as president of Amplifi Asia. Prior to joining Dentsu, he also worked at Mindshare, Mediacom, and Starcom.

Kambli has also served with DAN APAC, has head of products and partnerships, spending three years with Amnet. More recently, he served as head of advertising platforms at mobile classifieds platform Carousell.

Twitch also recently appointed Steve Ford as vice president of sales for the APAC region, operating from the company’s Taiwan offices. Back in February 2020, former Spotify executive, Sunita Kaur, became Twitch’s first APAC managing director. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite all the doom and gloom in the global economy, the video gaming and esports sectors are booming, and streaming platforms are thriving. As we reported yesterday, despite a host of competitors, Twitch is still way out in front when it comes to video game streaming – racking up an incredible 4.7 billion hours watched in Q3 2020, compared to YouTube’s 1.7 billion (according to Stream Hatchet). 

‘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