UK-based esports organisation Tundra has announced partnerships with TikTok and Kappa. 

Tundra has rebranded and is attempting to build a first-class international roster ahead of the release of FIFA 21. As the organisation’s principal partner, TikTok is featured on the front of the new team jersey – which is produced by the Tundra’s new ‘Official Sportive Teamwear’ provider, Italian sportswear brand Kappa. 

Discussing the news Head of Brand and Partnerships Marketing at TikTok Europe, Jana Ulaite, said: 

“Esports has found a natural home on TikTok, with gaming content already proving to be hugely popular in our community. Our users love to share their winning gameplays, rituals and triumphs, while also watching the best in the business go head to head in international tournaments. We’re delighted to be partnering with Tundra to bring even more esports content onto TikTok.”

While UK Sales Manager for Kappa, Dave Bandell, added:

“Kappa is delighted to sign as technical partner with such a global brand as Tundra. Esports is very much at the forefront of our strategy going forward and we believe the global appeal of Tundra is very much aligned with our own.”

Earlier this year, TikTok entered esports with the TikTop Cup, while Kappa has been steadily growing its esports partnership portfolio, especially in the UK. 

Just last month, Kappa announced a deal with Audacity Esports, and a partnership with the ESL Premiership. While in July, Kappa entered a 3-year partnership with Demise, in April it teamed up with Diabolus, and in 2019 it established a relationship with Vexed Gaming. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Getting the backing of a company as big as TikTok ahead of their new campaign must be a huge boost, both in terms of finances and morale, for Tundra. Meanwhile, we think it’s fair to say that Kappa is on a mission to become a major force in UK esports apparel! 

‘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

A trial date of 3 May 2021 has been confirmed for the Epic Games v. Apple antitrust lawsuit. 

US District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had previously suggested the trial might not get underway until as late as July 2021 due to a busy docket. 

The case is the result of Apple’s removal of Epic Games’ popular Fortnite game from the app store for iOS devices, and attempt to revoke Epic’s developer program states for Unreal Engine. Apple made the controversial move after Epic enabled consumers to buy the game directly, allowing it to avoid paying Apple’s hefty 30% commission. 

Hearings in September upheld Apple’s right to remove Fortnite from the app store, but blocked its attempts to revoke Epic’s Unreal Engine license – something that would have affected thousands of other app developers and games. 

Epic is arguing that Apple is effectively acting like a monopoly, pointing out that although Google levies similar charges for apps sold through Google Play for Android, unlike the iOS ecosystem, other stores are allowed to exist and provide competition. Saying that, it hasn’t stopped Epic also launching a separate lawsuit against Google.

As reported last week, Epic Games, Spotify, Basecamp, Blix, Blockchain.com, Deezer, European Publishers Council, Match, News Media Europe, PrePear, Protonmail, SkyDemon, and Tile, have joined together to launch the Coalition for App Fairness. The new organsiation has vowed to take on Apple, and encourage both legal and regulatory action against the company. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s hard to overstate the implications of this trial. If Apple loses it will open the floodgates for other developers to offer alternatives to its app store, and could set the company’s revenue tumbling. However, if Epic loses, it’s clearly going to embolden Apple to take even more liberties. Only one thing is certain – its going to be VERY expensive for someone. 

‘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

EPIC Risk Management has appointed Jonathan Peniket as its Online Gaming and Esports consultant.

The UK-based independent gambling harm minimisation consultancy has tasked Peniket with expanding its work in minimising gambling-related harm in the esports and gaming landscape, with particular focus on the company’s education and professional sports pillars in the UK, Europe, and US. 

Looking ahead, Peniket said:

“I am proud and excited to be joining this team as a Gaming and eSports consultant. EPIC contacted me after I told my story about loot box addiction on the BBC earlier this year. I feel that it is helping me to make a real difference in educating on the very real dangers of gambling within video games. 

“Though gaming may be a slightly new angle for EPIC, it is one that the company takes seriously, and I am grateful to be able to use my expertise to help it to tackle issues within gaming.”

While CEO of EPIC Risk Management, Paul Buck, added:

“We’re delighted to bring Jonathan into EPIC Risk Management. Jonathan brings to EPIC his own Lived Experience and is a passionate advocate for educating younger people and their significant others of the potential dangers of online gaming and loot-boxes.

“The eSports and gaming landscape is an area that is receiving more and more scrutiny and the recent House of Lords Gambling Committee calls for evidence and discussions concerning video game loot boxes in a real signifier of that. We feel that with Jonathan on-board, added to a new advisory board of leading experts to be announced in the coming days, we have someone who can help shape our approach and help connect with an extremely important demographic.”

EPIC Risk Management currently works with businesses and organisations across the gambling industry, professional sports, education, financial services, armed forces, forensic services, and criminal justice system to protect them from gambling-related harm. 

The consultancy’s clients include GVC Holdings, EFL, Sky Betting & Gaming, Chelsea Football Club, Boarding Schools’ Association, Kindred, Rugby Players Association, HMC, Barclays, the British Army, 888 Holdings, Manchester City FC, Eton College, Arsenal FC, Rugby Players Ireland, and Hiscox. 

AYO.NEWS says:

This is interesting in that EPIC Risk Management has appointed someone young, with direct experience of loot box addiction, to advise on the esports and online gaming space. And, with loot boxes becoming an ever more pressing issue, we’re sure they’ll find plenty of demand for their services. 

‘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

UK-based university esports organiser The NUEL (National University Esports League) has partnered with iconic US clothing brand Levi’s. 

The partnership will see Levi’s act as the main sponsor for The NUEL’s upcoming Winter 2020 season, and will cover branding across the organisation’s website, social media channels, and broadcasts. More collaborations, presumably including content creation, are hinted at, though no specific details have yet been released. 

Commenting on the news Founder and Managing Director of The NUEL, Josh Williams, said:

“This is quite a watershed moment in many ways. Partnerships like this will only help elevate university esports further, and we’re delighted to have the opportunity to work with Levi’s.”

The NUEL also has partnerships in place with streaming giant Twitch, and Amazon – with the organisation having helped launch Amazon University Esports in the UK, Italy, and Spain earlier this year. 

In July, Levi’s launched its “Esports Collective supported by Levi’s’ program, aimed at giving the esports community “a voice”, and partnered with the DACH region’s official League of Legends competition, Prime League. 

Staying with The NUEL, in July the organisation announced a partnership with UK-based esports jobs platform Hitmarker, to help university students enter the video game and esports industries. 

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see another iconic non-endemic brand expanding its involvement with esports, and the support of such a high profile global brand is a big boost for THE NUEL. Of course, we hope the partnership does extend beyond simple branding to include some original content, or else after the partnership, Levi’s might not know whether to stay or go 😉

‘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

Swedish esports company G-Loot has raised SEK 500M (€47.7M) in its latest funding round. 

G-Loot is the parent company of online esports tournament platform Global Loot League, which hosts online and offline tournaments. Since being founded in 2015, the company has partnered with some of the biggest names in the business like Electronic Arts, PUBG Corporation, and Tencent. 

The new capital is earmarked for expanding operations in North America and gearing the platform up for its entry into console gaming. 

Discussing the latest investment CEO of G-Loot, Patrick Nybladh, said:

“We’re very excited to be taking this next step. In the coming months we’ll be focussing on growing our player base, optimizing our service, and securing G-Loot as a strong and reliable brand in North America and worldwide. Work has already begun on expanding to new platforms which brings us closer to our mission of bringing an extra layer of excitement to every gaming experience.

“There are currently over 2.6 billion active gamers worldwide but the esports scene is open to just a tiny percentage. G-Loot’s PC app not only lets users play challenges online whenever they want, its micro-tournament and challenge model is more inclusive and accessible than traditional tournaments, even to casual players.”

The transaction was supported by all major shareholders, including Swedbank Robur, Norron, CNI, Inbox Capital, and Celox. Carnegie and Goldman Sachs International acted as placing agents. 

AYO.NEWS says:

We think it’s fair to say this is a pretty impressive result for G-Loot, and further underlines the incredible health of the esports industry at a time when much of the global economy is struggling. 

Staying with northern European esports investments, just last week UK-based Guild Esports completed a £41.2M (€45.1M) listing on the London Stock Exchange. 

‘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

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