New talent and management agency, EMERGE Esports, has officially launched in Singapore. 

According to the agency, it is aiming to “boost the growth of the esports ecosystem in Singapore by providing aspiring and existing esports talents with the tools and opportunity to succeed in the industry.”

Despite just launching, EMERGE Esports already boasts a roster of around 40 athletes and gaming personalities, including Singapore’s most popular cosplayer “XIAOYUKIKO“, top DOTA 2 streamer Dominik “Blackˆ” Reitmeier, and former captain of EVOS SG’s Mobile Legends squad, Robert “Oh Deer Bambi” Boon. 

The agency says it has also forged working relationships with brands including Embily, Partea, Redbull, Reubiks Academy, Royale Ergonomics, and SteelSeries.

EMERGE is also managing local esports organisation Kingsmen, which competes in Mobile Legends Bang Bang, PUBG Mobile, and VALORANT. 

Regarding the launch, Chief Gaming Officer at EMERGE Esports, Pang Xue Jie, said:

“We are excited to be part of this journey which will pave the path for many youngsters and gaming enthusiasts to pursue a career in the esports industry. We would like to establish an ecosystem that nurtures all budding talents in this field and not just the esports athletes.

“Esports is competing closely with traditional sports, garnering millions in revenue each year. Gaming has evolved beyond a hobby for many and we believe the launch has come at an opportune time. Given its accessibility and rising popularity, it will not be a surprise if esports surpasses traditional sports in revenue in near future.”

To establish EMERGE in the local Singaporean market, the agency has run an offline marketing campaign dubbed ‘EMERGE Against All Odds’, which references Singapore’s traditional “rag-and-bone men” or “Karang Guni” – who collect unwanted items for recycling. It saw the agency send out its own “Dream Collectors”, to speak with residents and workers about their dreams and life goals. 

AYO.NEWS says:

South East Asia has one of the most vibrant esports and gaming scenes, especially in terms of mobile, and given EMERGE’s already extensive talent roster and commercial links, there’s every reason to expect the business to thrive. We’re looking forward to seeing what happens next. 

‘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.

Jordanian organisation FATE Esports is set to launch a fan engagement app via Blocksport. 

The collaboration with the Swiss-based SportsTech company, will result in an app offering fans team-related games, discounts, experiences, and other exclusive benefits.

Though organisations from around the world have already launched engagement apps via Blocksport, including Russia’s Virtus.pro, and Brazils’ FURIA, FATE is the first esports organisation in the Middle East to embrace this kind of gamified fan engagement.

FATE Esports was founded in 2017, and is now active in team management, player scouting, event organisation, talent management, and live broadcasting. Currently, the organisation has commercial partnerships with HyperX and Orange, and fields rosters in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Tekken 7. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though it seemed Socios.com, from Malta-based Chiliz, was looking strongest in terms of its fan engagement platform for a while, with its tokenised voting offering, Blocksport really seems to be taking a lead when it comes to esports organisations now. 

Staying with Blocksport, last month the company announced the appointment of former IBM Vice President, Heinrich Zetlmayer, to its board of directors. 

‘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.

Simona has an inspirational chat with Clinton Sparks – entrepreneur, investor, author, music producer, songwriter, multi-platinum DJ, and CBDO and Co-owner of Boston-based esports and gaming organisation XSET.

Grammy-nominated Sparks is responsible for selling over 75 million records, is owner of Get Familiar Radio, and Co-founder and owner of Bootē, a state of the art women’s athleisure line. He has worked with some music’s biggest stars including Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Rick Ross, Diddy, Pitbull, Ludacris, Big Sean, Akon, 2 Chainz, Eminem, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Tyga, and The Clipse, and has become a force in esports and gaming, first with FaZe Clan, and now with XSET.

Find out what makes XSET different from other esports and gaming organisations and where its going, get invaluable tips for success in business, and lots of real, no BS advice for winning big in life.

Discover more about XSET here, and get your FREE copy of How to Win Big in the Music Business here.

Staying with XSET, just last week the organisation welcomed esports, music, and culture star Erin Ashley Simon to its ownership team, and announced BMX pro Nigel Sylvester had joined the crew.

British competitive gaming culture brand EXCEL ESPORTS has extended its partnership with Belong Gaming Arenas. 

Belong Gaming Arenas is the official arena supplier for EXCEL’s League of Legends teams, and the extension will see both parties continue to work together to provide tools and content to help educate and bring gamers together. 

In addition to providing experiential opportunities and giveaways, enabling gamers to take their skills to the next level, EXCEL and Belong Gaming Arenas will also be collaborating to promote Belong’s Arena Clash events – a series of competitions providing players from across the UK with a platform to start their own path into esports. 

EXCEL and Belong Gaming Arenas originally teamed up in June 2019, and have since worked on several community events at Insomnia Gaming Festival and Belong Oxford Street, where EXCEL’s League of Legends players took part in meet-and-greets and 1v1s.

Discussing the extended partnership Chief Commercial Officer at EXCEL, Robin McCammon, said:

“We’re extremely pleased to extend our partnership with Belong Gaming Arenas, an important organisation within the UK gaming space that supports the growth and development of esports at a grassroots level. 

“As EXCEL continues to evolve, it’s important we work with partners that align with our vision. This partnership will help us continue to nurture and showcase the best UK talent the space has to offer and we look forward to future activations where we can bring both our communities together.”

While Head of Belong UK, Andy Dopson, added:

“We are delighted to renew our partnership with EXCEL. Partnering with the EXCEL team allows us to bring their fans and our community together across our gaming network. 

“We will continue to offer exciting new events and content alongside EXCEL as well as offering safe, inclusive community spaces across the UK where casual and competitive gamers can compete in organised grassroots esports tournaments and socialise with others who share their passion for gaming.”

EXCEL’s League of Legends teams compete across two leagues; the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), and the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC). 2020 was a landmark year for EXCEL’s LEC team, who achieved their best results yet, and narrowly missed out on a spot in the playoffs. 

London-based EXCEL also competes in Fortnite, and is home to that title’s prodigy, Jaden “Wolfiez” Ashman, who hit the headlines as the youngest gamer to earn $1 million in esports. The organisation also has a multi-year partnership with telecoms giant BT, as the team’s Lead Partner. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite the name ‘EXCEL’ still conjuring up images of spreadsheets, the organisation definitely seems to have found a renewed energy, having just revealed a major brand update, complete with totally new visual identity and purposeful manifesto. Now, let’s hope the UK can just shake the curse of COVID, and live arena events can start rolling again. 

‘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 esports organisation Fnatic has entered a partnership with Anheuser-Busch beer brand Bud Light. 

The collaboration will include what is being described as a first-of-its-kind esports and beer promotion for the European market. Each promotional pack of beer will feature a code, giving customers the chance to win a money-can’t-buy gaming night with one of Fnatic’s pro players, or one of 100 Fnatic Reach headsets.

To launch the partnership, Fnatic FIFA player Harry Hesketh is starring in a video alongside Bud Light’s mascot, the Bud Knight. It will be featured on Fnatic and Bud Light’s social channels through December. 

Discussing the partnership COO at Fnatic, Glen Calvert, said:

“Esports is already loved by many around the world and we are thrilled to be partnering with a fun and light-hearted brand like Bud Light to help us raise awareness of this fantastic sport to the masses. The prizes on offer are really exciting for anyone who’s passionate about esports, or indeed anyone who is keen to get involved in this growing community of fans.”

While Senior Brand Manager at Bud Light, Martina Isella, added:

“This year we wanted to make sure we were reaching our target audience of 18 to 30-year-olds by modernising beer through culture and fun. We needed something that was more relevant than ever for this group, and esports is a growth phenomenon and one of the most rapidly growing passion points for this age bracket, which was accelerated by the pandemic.”

The partnership isn’t the first for Fnatic and Bud Light – last year they teamed up to throw a viewing party in London for the League of Legends World Championship. 

Staying with Fnatic, just last week the organisation revealed it had secured a $10M USD investment through an internal funding round led by VC and private equity firm Beringea. In the same week, Fnatic also announced a partnership with Italian coffee brand Lavazza. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Given Bud Light’s history of esports sponsorships, having previously partnered with Overwatch League, NBA 2K League, and Magic Gaming among others, we guess it’s safe to assume the brand is pleased with the results it’s getting as it tries to engage the critical 18-30 demographic. 

However, given restrictions surrounding alcohol marketing in other areas, like gambling for example, and the general shift towards ‘nanny state’ regimes in many countries, we do have to wonder how long it will be before certain politicians start calling for esports alcohol sponsorships to be restricted or banned.

‘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.

Statespace, the parent company of Aim Lab, has secured $29M USD in a Series B funding round led by Khosla Ventures. 

The latest investment comes just six months after the gaming performance analytics company raised $15M in a Series A round, also led by Khosla Ventures and attracting participation from existing investors FirstMark Capital, Expa, and Lux Capital, and new investor June Fund.

Founded by a team of neuroscientists from New York University, Statespace launched its first product, Aim Lab, in 2017. Aim Lab is a first-person shooter practice tool, running on Steam, which uses cognitive science and artificial intelligence to help players improve. 

In May the training platform said it had 2 million registered users and 500K monthly active users, but that has now grown to some 5 million registered users and 1.5 million monthly active users. 

A new product, The Academy, is also planned for launch. This will allow users to pay for courses and tuition from top streamers and players including KingGeorge (Rainbow Six Siege), Drift0r (Call of Duty), Launders (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive), SypherPK (Fortnite), and Valkia (Overwatch).

AYO.NEWS says:

Although Statespace is notching up incredible growth, as the video gaming industry booms, such a large investment hot on the heels of its May funding round is quite surprising. However, when you consider that Statespace’s technology also has medical applications, with the company having applied for a grant to work with several universities to investigate its use for stroke and cerebral palsy rehabilitation, such a big investment makes more sense. 

‘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.