ONE Esports has teamed up with Chinese game developer Moonton, to create the Mobile Legends Professional League Invitational (MPLI). 

The event will feature 20 teams from across Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Singapore, to fight it out on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang to win a share of a $100K prize pool. The tournament will be livestreamed in five languages; Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Burmese, English, and Filipino. 

Discussing the news CEO of ONE Esports, Carlos Alimurung, said:

“I’m proud of how the ONE Esports and Moonton relationship has blossomed to now include this unique competition, which, for the first time, will enable the best teams from each of the four Mobile Legends Professional Leagues to compete in an online tournament.”

While Moonton Esports Managing Director, Lucas Mao, added:

“The MPL Invitational is an event that can give the opportunity for our teams from different MPL countries to play in a professional setting so as to gauge each region’s level of play against one another.”

And, Minister of Tourism & Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia, Wishnutama Kusubandio, noted:

“I highly appreciate and support ONE Esports’ 2020 Mobile Legends Professional League Invitational as a virtual sports tourism event that will create compelling and engaging travel experience content to encourage domestic tourism travel in Indonesia, while adhering to health protocols.”

ONE Esports is the esports division of sports media company ONE Championship.

Moonton was founded in 2014, and has since developed three popular titles; Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Mobile Legends: Adventure, and Magic Rush. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The mobile esports ecosystem in Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing and most exciting in the world, so it’s great to see ONE Esports and Moonton create more opportunities for teams from the region. 

‘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. 

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English Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) has entered the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS). 

Wolves already fields rosters in FIFA 21, FIFA Online 4, PUBG, Identity V, and Pop Kart Racing, and is the first Premier League club to enter the RLCS. 

Discussing the news Wolves General Manager for Marketing and Commercial Growth, Russell Jones, said:

“Gaming and esports remain a crucial part of our brand growth strategy and signing such talented and ambitious players to represent our Rocket League esports team is another step forward in our journey to build stories outside of football and widen the appeal of the Wolves brand across the world.

“We have spent the last six months scouting teams and players and are delighted to welcome Rix, Luis and Ole, who will become Wolves Esports for the remainder of the current RLCS season X and beyond. We will be offering the team our full support as they compete in the winter split.

“I’d also like to thank the University of Wolverhampton who continue to be an exceptionally supportive partner of the Wolves Esports programme.”

While Team Captain of Wolves Esports Rocket League, Rix Ronday, added:

“It is a real honour to captain the first-ever Wolves Esports Rocket League team. I’m confident that we have recruited two of Rocket League’s most exciting talents in Ole and Luis and we are working hard behind the scenes to prepare for the RLCSX Winter Split kick-off.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Wolves have already demonstrated their enthusiasm for esports, using it to strengthen what is now a powerful global brand – for example, way back in February 2019, it became the first Premier League club to enter Chinese esports, through a partnership with Weibo eSports Club.

And, given the very real possibility of COVID-19 causing further disruption to football, diversifying the brand into multiple esports seems like a smart way to ensure fan engagement can continue, come what may.

‘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. 

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Krafton Inc., owner of PUBG Corporation, has hired Mirae Asset Daewoo to lead its initial public offering (IPO), scheduled for 2021. 

In addition to PUBG Corp., developer of battle royale hit PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the South Korea-based game publisher also operates Delusion Studio, Bluehole, En Mass Entertainment, and mobile game studios Pnix and Redsahara. 

Krafton is planning to use Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. as underwriters, for the IPO led by Mirae Asset Daewoo – South Korea’s largest investment banking and stock brokerage firm – on the Korea Exchange (KRX). 

Given the global popularity of video games and Krafton’s impressive portfolio, there is speculation that the IPO may be South Korea’s largest ever, with estimates putting its value at around $26B USD, and the expectation of around $9B in stock being sold.

Last month, South Korea’s Kakao Games Corp., went public and saw its value rise over 300% in the first two days of trading. 

Krafton’s largest shareholder is Chairman Chang Byung-gyu, who controls 17.4% of the company, while Tencent Holdings, the Chinese entertainment conglomerate, owns 13.2% of Krafton via its Hong Kong subsidiary Image Frame Investment. Other stakeholders include IMM Investment with 6.9%, KNET Investment Partners with 5.7%, and Altos Ventures. 

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Freaks 4U Gaming has teamed up with marketing, media, and production agency Infront to launch Valorant hub Agent’s Range.

Aimed at the growing German-speaking Valorant community, the hub will feature game news, original editorial and video content, and broadcast DACH region events, including the inaugural Kingdom Calling tournament, and BLAST’s upcoming Spike Nation. 

Agent’s Range will also be exclusive German broadcast partner for the First Strike Finals in December – the first official Riot Games sanctioned Valorant competition series. 

Set to take place tomorrow, Kingdom Calling is Agent’s Range first tournament, and will feature influencers and teams including eXiLe Esports and Wave Esports. The event is being sponsored by AMD, Red Bull, and Samsung, and will be streamed on Twitch.

Discussing the new platform Freaks 4U Gaming Vice President – Commercial, Marco Niemann, said:

“With Agent’s Range we are going to build the go-to-platform for VALORANT fans in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, offering brands a unique opportunity to get involved in one of the most hyped games in esports in recent years. 

“With Infront we have found the perfect partner to commercialise our vision and look forward to creating high-quality and beneficial brand integrations for our partners.”

While Head of Gaming & Esports at Infront, André Fläckel, added:

“Joining forces with Freaks 4U Gaming is the next logical step to accelerate our ambitions in esports. The interest in VALORANT is rapidly increasing, both from a player and viewership perspective.

“Building Agent’s Range together with Freaks 4U Gaming from scratch is a huge opportunity and will open various fantastic avenues for Infront and its clients. Welcoming partners like Samsung, Red Bull and AMD as part of our launch tournament is even more exciting and shows we are heading in the right direction.”

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s great to see the regional ecosystem for Valorant is taking shape, and Freaks 4U Gaming and Infront have pulled things together impressively quickly, securing major sponsors and major exclusive broadcast rights. The trick now will be getting the still forming DACH Valorant fan community onboard. 

‘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 EA SPORTS™ FIFA 21 Challenge has smashed the viewership record, with an Average Minute Audience of over 250K. 

A one-day esports tournament that paired top global professional footballers with the world’s best FIFA players, the EA SPORTS™ FIFA 21 Challenge drew an average minute audience (AMA) of 254,057 with a total watch time of 1,024,696 hours, making the event the most-watched EA operated esports broadcast in history. 

In fact, the broadcast more than doubled the viewership metric set by the next most-watched EA operated FIFA event, the FIFA Global Series FUT Champions Cup: Barcelona, which took place over multiple days in January 2018 and registered an AMA of 92,678.

During the competition, four esports players paired with four professional footballers from international clubs Liverpool, West Ham United, Inter Milan, and Borussia Dortmund, clashed on October 29 for the EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Challenge. 

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Fnatic’s Tekkz took home the trophy and won $20,000 on behalf of their selected charities

In addition to incorporating celebrity participation to reach non-traditional gaming audiences, the EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Challenge was the first event to utilize FIFA Global Series Viewership Rewards, creating an interactive broadcast for viewers with in-game benefits for watching to further drive engagement and subsequent play time.

Reflecting on the event EA SPORTS FIFA Commissioner, Brent Koning, said:

“EA SPORTS FIFA is woven into the fabric of football culture. Bringing professional footballers and our esports pros together creates entertainment that sets our tournaments apart.

“The success of the FIFA 21 Challenge reinforces our strategy and vision for broadening the esports audience, creating content for our fans, and underscores the value of entertainment-driven events that branch outside of traditional esports.”

The FIFA 21 Challenge was a part of a series of EA SPORTS FIFA 21 Global Series pre-season invitationals, featuring notable influencers, footballers, and FIFA pros, in partnership with the interactive entertainment world’s biggest video streaming and content platforms.

It’s a nod to EA’s renewed competitive gaming strategy, which leverages the convergence of traditional sports, competitive gaming, and pop culture to create new, engaging, and accessible broadcasts for diverse audiences.

AYO.NEWS says:

Viewership figures like this illustrate just how integrated esports, especially FIFA, is becoming in mainstream football culture, and the growth looks set to continue, and reflects well on EA’s competitive gaming strategy. Last month, EA announced improvements and a bigger prize pool for the upcoming esports season. 

‘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.

Singapore-based esports organisation Team SMG has partnered with sports and entertainment agency SPORTFIVE. 

The agency, which will act as Team SMG’s commercial sales representative, will leverage its global network and expertise to develop sponsorship packages for both endemic and non-endemic brands. 

Discussing the collaboration General Manager of Team SMG, Orrin Xu, said:

“We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far with our teams, and are ready to take the next step to carve out a niche for ourselves in the esports world and build our presence beyond South East Asia. 

“Partnering with SPORTFIVE will allow us to access greater commercial opportunities while optimising the growth potential of Team SMG, and we look forward to exciting collaborations with brands that will bring value to our fans.”

While Managing Director – South East Asia at SPORTFIVE, Malcolm Thorpe, added:

“With esports showing a clear rise in audience, reach and commercialisation, it is clear that esports is a global industry that is here to stay. 

“Our expansion into esports has delivered partnerships for both endemic and non-endemic brands, allowing them to connect with the world of gaming and its massive and highly engaged audience. We are confident that our track record and global network will help bring Team SMG to the next level.”

Team SMG (Still Moving Under Gunfire), rose to prominence after winning the 2017 Arena of Valor International Championship. In February this year, the organisation acquired Malaysian Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) team, Makan Cendol, while over the last few months it has found success with Riot Games’ Valorant – winning two back-to-back titles. 

The organisation already has commercial partnerships in place with well-established brands including Under Armour, Nescafé, and U Mobile. 

SPORTFIVE (previously Lagardère Sports and Entertainment) has 50 years of experience in traditional and access to over 60,000 rights holders, brands, hospitality clients, and broadcasters globally. 

The agency is now investing in its esports services, and has partnered with leading publishers, event organisers, and teams – including Riot Games, RFRSH Entertainment, T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1), and PUBG – and its esports portfolio includes sales and strategic consulting for major brands including Nike, BMW, SAP, Shell, and Foot Locker. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With esports now firmly in the mainstream, and investors looking for organisations to more effectively monetise, it’s only natural that more attention is being paid to commercial sponsorships and merchandising – and agencies like SPORTFIVE, with their extensive contacts, will be key to turning non-endemic brands into big spenders in the esports space. 

‘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.