VENN, the Video Game Entertainment and News Network, has unveiled Part Two of its slate, announcing new shows, talent, and partnerships. 

Adding to the previously announced lineup, the company says these hosts, presenters and anchors will be “the ambassadors for a laste of multi-genre entertainment, told through the lens of gaming and pop culture.”

Introducing Part Two of its slate, VENN Executive Creative Director, Viranda Tantula, said:

“VENN is a place where talent and creators can let their imaginations run wild. It’s our job to help them realize their vision.

“VENN was built to be a talent first network – a welcoming home for gamers, streamers, and creators of all genres, backgrounds, and passions. We’re inspired by a love of content, craft, and culture – a love we share with the talent who are joining us. We hope our audience feels that energy.”

THE DOWNLOAD –  daily news update for deep dives into gaming, pop culture, tech and more. Featuring a mix of gaming insiders and pundits, entertainment and pop-culture icon Emma Fyffe (Twitter: @EmmaFyffe), host and broadcaster Erin Ashley Simon (Twitter: @erinasimon), leading voice of the Overwatch League Matt Morello (Twitter: @MattMrX), actor, musician and star of the upcoming live-action Mulan motion picture Jimmy Wong (Twitter: @jfwong) and streamer and esports commentator Daniel Gonzales (Twitter: @dGon) comprise a panel that will cover the biggest stories each day, offering up their unfiltered opinions and engaging in lively debate.

VENN ARCADE LIVE – Joining the lineup for this previously announced for this daily variety show celebrating all things gaming and pop culture will be fashion maven and entrepreneur Emily Mei (Instagram: @emily.ghoul), artist, model and host Tehya Johns (Instagram: @tehyaplays) and Daniel Gonzales (Twitter: @dGon). 

PROXIMITY – VENN will be partnering with Proximity (YouTube: @Proximity), one of the largest EDM music collectives and distributors in the world, on a wide-reaching development deal. As part of this creative collaboration, Proximity will co-produce and develop original programming and music content to air exclusively on VENN featuring artists from within the Proximity community.

BERNIE SU – Emmy award-winning producer/director and Artificial Co-Creator Bernie Su (Twitter: @BernieSu) has signed a development deal to create interactive TV shows with VENN. Bernie Su’s body of work includes Artificial (the first web series to debut on Twitch), Sleeping with Friends for Facebook Watch, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries with Hank Green and more.

AYO.NEWS says:

The lineup for VENN just keeps getting better and better, and the visuals are stunning (hey, those colours, they look familiar…), so this is either going to be the biggest thing to hit pop culture for a decade, or it will be soooo good that no one will watch it. Only time will tell… 

‘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

OverActive Media, parent company of the Toronto Defiant, Toronto Ultra, and MAD Lions, has partnered with AcuityAds. 

The partnership will see AcuityAds, which is also based in Toronto, use its AI capabilities and audience segmentation techniques, delivered through its proprietary advertising technology platform, to help OverActive Media and its sponsors better target the online esports audience. 

OverActive Media (OAM) owns Overwatch League’s Toronto Defiant, Call of Duty League’s Toronto Ultra, and Spain-based MAD Lions which competes in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC). 

The company is also a founding equity partner in B Site Inc, with MAD Lions also competing in B Site’s Flashpoint Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league, and runs a live events division.

Discussing the collaboration Co-founder and CEO of AcuityAds, Tal Hayek, said:

“We are excited to partner with OverActive Media, establishing AcuityAds as the only programmatic company globally with direct access to such a wide-reaching esports audience. 

“Esports is a dynamic and fast-growing industry that continues to develop unique connections to engage its growing fan base, and we are thrilled to be working alongside a leading global industry brand like OverActive Media.”

While President and CEO of OverActive Media, Chris Overholt, added:

“Our collaboration with AcuityAds gives us access to industry-leading technology adding more value to our current and prospective partners, and their efforts to reach a changing sport and entertainment audience. In the past two years, we have built meaningful audiences of esports fans that continue to grow as the industry matures and broadens its appeal across demographics.”

According to AcuityAds the esports industry is currently worth $1 billion and is one of the fastest growing entertainment segments globally, and is predicted to grow another 60 percent to $1.6 billion in the next three years alone. Esports viewership is currency at around 500 million, and is expected to reach one billion by 2022. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite the phenomenal growth of esports, many organisations are still finding it tough to monetise their reach and satisfy advertisers. As we constantly argue here at AYO.NEWS, the key today is reaching the right audience, not just ever increasing numbers.

‘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 competition organiser ESL has appointed Craig Levine as Co-CEO, replacing David Neichel, who is transitioning to a senior advisory role. 

Levine has been with the company since 2014, and was formerly Chief Strategy Officer, and prior to that served as CEO of ESL North America. He will now be leading the company alongside CO-CEO and ESL Founder Ralf Reichert. 

Commenting on the promotion Reichert said:

“I could not be more excited to have Craig step into this role alongside me. Craig has been part of the ESL and broader esports family for many years, has been a key leader in shaping our growth and developing the organization globally. 

“He loves ESL and esports as much as I do and it is a natural step to appoint him to help us continue driving our vision given his industry expertise, passion for our team and deep understanding of our strategy, products and fans.”

Neichel will now be focusing on regional business development, long-term development, and investment cases, in his role as a senior advisor to ESL’s leaders. 

In June ESL also appointed former ProSiebenSat.1 executive Stefan Beitz as its new Chief Financial Officer. 

ESL is a subsidiary of the Modern Times Group. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s a pivotal moment for the esports industry, with the COVID-19 crisis dramatically increasing its mainstream profile, so it’s a fantastic opportunity for Levine to revitalise ESL and keep the company on top of the esports competition scene. 

‘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 and gaming media group Dexerto has appointed Matt Hatrick as Brand Agency Director, and Ken Olsen as Director of Creative Strategy. 

At London-based Dexerto Hatrick, who was previously with online media publisher JOE Media, will be tasked with strengthening the salesforce, and growing its portfolio of clients.

Commenting on his appointment Hatrick said:

“After almost two years at JOE, it was clear to me that Esports, Gaming and Entertainment were areas where lots of brands were gravitating towards. The guys at Dexerto demonstrated incredible knowledge and passion, which explains why Dexerto is growing so rapidly, especially at a time where a lot of businesses are moving in the opposite direction. I am very excited to help build out the commercial proposition for Dexerto.”

While co-founder and CEO of Dexerto, Joshua Nino De Guzman, added:

“Matt comes to Dexerto with a wealth of experience in Brand Agency partnerships and will help expand our already substantial offering. Dexerto is enjoying a record year, both in terms of volume of traffic and commercially, and Matt represents the expansion of our sales strategy, enabling more non-endemic clients to reach our audience through exciting campaigns that offer great value to our fans and partners alike. 2020 will be another landmark year for Dexerto and we expect Matt to play a huge part in that.”

Olsen, who was formerly senior director for espots marketing agency REV/XP, will be focusing on expanding client activations and building business. 

Regarding his new role, Olsen said:

“Dexerto’s leadership understands the unique needs of each sponsor and it is my goal to ensure that my team’s efforts make activations as turnkey and effortless as possible while driving true value for all of our partners, whether it is a league, a publisher, or a brand.”

Dexerto claims to own and operate the world’s largest esports and gaming news hub and social media network, and in addition to its London HQ, has “multiple outposts” in the United States and content creators in six countries. The company claims over 20 million monthly unique website users and 7 million social media followers, reaching 300 million gaming fans.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the company says it has experienced a 34% growth in website users since March, and is enjoying a record commercial quarter, having been a key partner in campaigns with brands including Chipotle, LG, and Kaspersky. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Again we’re seeing the esports and video gaming industry buck the trend and continue to recruit even as most sectors start announcing record redundancies. If ever there was a time for the industry to scale up, it’s now. 

‘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

Ubisoft has announced the Ubisoft Collegiate Esports, their first ever proprietary collegiate esports league. 

Premiering with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Siege, the league is launching this month in partnership with online competitive gaming platform FACEIT. The league’s premier sponsor is CORSAIR, with CORSAIR’s Origin PC subsidiary also lending its support. 

The program will feature a user-friendly online platform allowing registered school clubs (no online schools) to register themselves and start competing in a variety of local and cross-continent programs. 

In addition to the online platform, schools will also be able to nominate one team each to take part in the Rainbow Six Collegiate Championship – which will see all contending schools face off for a chance to win part of a $30K prize pool and hardware from Origin PC and CORSAIR. 

The championship pre-season starts in October 2020, with the full season commencing in January 2021. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see Ubisoft, FACEIT, and CORSAIR supporting the growth of grassroots collegiate esports. While leagues like this might not be as headline grabbing as the big money events, they are vital to ensure the long-term success of esports as a whole, helping provide a pathway into professional competitive esports for young talent.

‘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

Live esports odds and statistics provider PandaScore has announced partnerships with Betcris and Pixel.bet.

PandaScore, which has offices in Paris and Malta, uses proprietary artificial intelligence technology to provide real-time esports odds and data to betting operators.

The company says it has now integrated its services with Latin American sportsbook Betcris, and has launched its innovative esports stats widgets through an integration with esports bookmaker Pixel.bet. 

PandaScore says its new widgets, which cover the most popular esports titles like CS:GO, League of Legends, and Dota 2, are designed to give esports bettors all the information they need to bet confidently, giving data on recent wins and losses, head-to-head records, and in-game performance statistics at the touch of a button. 

Commenting on the news COO at Plannatech/Betcris, Adam Bjorn, said:

“We’re delighted to have access to PandaScore’s abundance of real time esports odds and data. They have feeds for every in-play market we need across all esports and thanks to their efficient collaboration with our development team, we completed the integration in no time.”

While CEO at Pixel.bet, Eirik Kristiansen, added:

“We were very impressed with the content capabilities of PandaScore’s esports Widgets and I’m excited that Pixel.bet is the first esports betting operator in the world to offer such an innovative data delivery tool to our players”.

And, Founder & CEO at PandaScore, Flavien Guillocheau, explained:

“Successful esports betting is a matter of good luck and good judgement and whilst PandaScore can’t help with the former, the latter can be greatly enhanced through the data provided to players and our new esports Widgets. We’re delighted to launch this new innovation with leading esports betting operator Pixel.bet and to be providing esports data to a brand as well regarded as Betcris. We look forward to integrating with more leading operators in the near future”.

AYO.NEWS says:

PandaScore is another company that has found itself perfectly positioned to scale as the demand for esports betting has rocketed during the COVID-19 crisis, due to disruption to the traditional sporting calendar. 

The question now is, with lockdowns returning in many areas, and the threat of second wave of infections hanging over other regions, will we see more disruption to traditional sports and a further acceleration of esports betting?

‘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