Activision Blizzard has confirmed the regular season of its Call of Duty League 2021 will get underway on 11 February, following a special preseason event. 

As with 2020, 12 teams from the United States, Canada, and Europe will be participating in the league in 2021, with the season featuring home series events and 5 majors.

Prior to the regular season starting with the online Atlanta FaZe Home Series (11-14 Feb.), there will be a Call of Duty League Kickoff Classic pre-season event – for which fans will determine the matches played via online polling, on 23-24 January. 

In another interesting twist, teams will also be participating in a “unique snake draft to determine the first groups of the 2021 season.” Apparently, this format will “allow teams to select the team that will be placed in its next-ranked opponent’s group.”

The system will see Dallas Empire, the 2020 Call of Duty League Champions, at the top of Group Alpha, determining who 2020’s second-ranked Atlanta FaZe will have in its group, Bravo, before Atlanta then selects a team for Dallas’ group, and so on. 

If it sounds a little complicated, the league has put together a video to explain. 

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International esports organisation Gen.G has teamed up with fast food giant McDonald’s in Southern California. 

Gen. G, which is jointly based in California and South Korea, has partnered with McDonald’s franchises to organise a series of esports initiatives focused around Los Angeles, San Diego, and Palm Springs. Specific events will include a multi-week play-in tournament for employees, and a three-day NBA 2K21 All-Star tournament to try and find the best young players in SoCal. 

The six-week play-in McDonald’s Crew League gets underway today, with players able to compete in NBA 2K21, FIFA, Super Smash Bros, or Madden. The final will be streamed live on Twitch, and prizes awarded to the top players, while a trophy will be delivered to the franchise location of the winner. In total 38 franchise locations are participating.

The McDonald’s SoCal All-Stars starts on 30 January and will consist of a two-day play-in tournament with qualifying matches to find the top 12 players, who will then advance to the finals, which again will be streamed on Twitch. Each team will be captained by a Gen.G pro player or coach during the finals. 

Commenting on the initiative, Head of Revenue Operations at Gen.G, Jordan Sherman, said:

“Our initiative with McDonald’s really shows the power of gaming to connect communities in a whole new way.

“It’s become even more meaningful when you have a partner like McDonald’s who truly wants to innovate in this space to leverage gaming and esports to provide value and opportunity to their consumers and employees.”

While Chris Rowe, a McDonald’s Southern California franchisee and owner, added:

“We know many Southern California McDonald’s crew members are avid gamers at home, so we wanted to offer new ways for them to connect, have fun and show off their talents in what they’re passionate about.

“We’re doubling down on our commitment to enhancing the employee experience for our restaurant crew and couldn’t be more excited to partner with Gen.G on our first own esports initiative.”

AYO.NEWS says:

Anyone who’s ever done a stint at a major fast food chain as a teenager will know how lame ‘team building’ initiatives can be, so kudos to the McDonald’s franchises and Gen.G for cooking up this – we’re sure the staff and local gaming community will appreciate it, and it’s a fantastic way to empower staff while also promoting businesses. 

‘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, 2019-2021.

Reports suggest Riot Games and Bungie are joining forces to sue a cheating-software creator. 

Polygon says it has obtained a complaint, submitted to a US District Court in California, that shows lawyers for the publishers are accusing Cameron Santos of GatorCheats, and others, of trafficking in “a portfolio of malicious cheats and hacks” for video games including VALORANT and Destiny 2. 

Apparently, players can purchase products from GatorCheats through its website, email, Telegram, and Discord, with packages ranging from $90 per month to $500 for lifetime access to a cheat. The cheats include features like an “aimbot” to improve players’ aim, and various hacks that show details of the enemy. 

Although Bungie has already issued a cease and desist order to GatorCheats, and the company says it has stopped selling the cheats, Bungie says it has reason to believe cheats are still being sold covertly. 

Bungie and Riot Games are claiming the actions of GatorCheats have caused damage that possibly runs into the millions of dollars, and they want the operation shut down completely, plus punitive damages and court costs.  

AYO.NEWS says:

It’s not the first time developers and publishers have sued cheat creators, but this is an issue that is only going to get even more pressing as the legitimate ecosystem surrounding titles like VALORANT grows. Quite apart from the obvious esports implications, even when it comes to casual gaming, cheating undermines the trust and faith in communities, and can quickly create toxic atmospheres and push genuine players away. 

At the end of the day, the entire concept of cheats and hacks is fundamentally the antithesis of what gaming should be about, and anyone using them is really cheating themselves too.

Let’s hope the court takes this as seriously as it deserves to be.

‘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, 2019-2021.

International supermarket chain Lidl is the latest brand to enter esports, through a partnership with German organisation SK Gaming.

As SK Gaming’s official fresh food partner, the supermarket chain will supply the organisation’s facilities in Cologne and Berlin with fresh foods and products, with Lidl becoming a “cornerstone” of the organisation’s performance and nutrition strategy. 

Lidl branding will also feature on SK Gaming’s new 2021 team jersey, a range of joint activations are planned for the year, and a TV commercial is planned to air across several German stations, including Sport1. 

SK Gaming also has commercial partnerships in place with high-profile brands including AMD, EPOS, Krombacher, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, T Mobile, and Western Digital. The organisation competes in the League of Legends European Championship, Prime League, Clash Royale League, Brawl Stars Championship and the FIFA eWorld Cup among others.

Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Germany, Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, and currently operates around 11,200 stores in 29 countries worldwide. Though this deal marks Lidl’s first official foray into esports, it already sponsors the German national handball team, and is known to be looking to connect with a younger audience. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Though it was already becoming more attractive to non-endemic brands before the COVID-19 crisis, the events of the past year have clearly shown the marketing potential of esports to brands looking to connect with younger audiences. 

Staying with non-endemic brands making their esports debut, earlier today we reported that Cadillac has announced a partnership with TSM in the United States.

‘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, 2019-2021.

North American esports organisation TSM has named General Motors’ Cadillac brand as its exclusive automotive partner. 

The partnership will cover social media and video content, plus experiential events and activations at the TSM Performance Center. Cadillac’s logo will also feature on TSM’s new player jerseys. 

Regarding the news Senior Vice President of Sales at TSM, Ned Watkins, said:

“Cadillac has a century-long history, a commitment to innovation, and worldwide recognition that aligns perfectly with TSM’s performance and excellence pillars.

“We are humbled and excited to team up with Cadillac through their first esports partnership and add them to TSM’s existing family of stellar brand partners.”

While Manager of Emerging Media and Partnerships for GM, Bryan Steele, added:

“Cadillac is excited to enter the esports space as part of the TSM family. Whether on the road, or on the Rift, our organisations place an incredibly high value on innovation and craftsmanship.

“Given our shared values, and the pedigree of Cadillac and TSM, it was a natural fit to team up with one of the most decorated esports team in the world.”

Although automotive partnerships are common in esports, with companies like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, KIA, Honda, and Haval all sponsoring esports teams, events, or leagues, the TSM deal marks Cadillac’s first foray into the esports scene proper – though it has been courting the gaming community for some time with its #CadillacGamingClub. 

We asked for epic Escalade shots and the #CadillacGamingClub really delivered. Check out our favorite photos from the club this month! #NeverStopArriving #ForzaHorizon4 pic.twitter.com/4eYKcHAHBs

— Cadillac (@Cadillac) October 29, 2020

TSM currently competes in titles including League of Legends, PUBG, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, Apex Legends, Magic: The Gathering, VALORANT, and Teamfight Tactics.

In addition to Cadillac, TSM is also partnered with Logitech G, Legion by Lenovo, Twitch, GEICO, Grubhub, and MTN DEW® AMP® GAME FUEL®.

AYO.NEWS says:

Despite its indisputable prestige, Cadillac still has something of an “old person” image to many, and GM has been pushing hard to change this for a few years now. Given the success other car companies have had in using esports to engage younger audiences, it’s perhaps surprising it’s taken Cadillac this long to dip its toes into esports.

‘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, 2019-2021.

InGamePlay™ brand advertising platform, AdInMo, has announced two senior appointments, with Joanne Lacey joining as Chief Operating Officer, and Konstantine Rybnikov as VP Engineering.

As Chief Operating Officer (COO), Lacey will be responsible for driving awareness of the mobile adtech company and help deliver the company’s commitment to enabling a developer-first monetisation channel. She will also be leading AdInMo’s industry engagement programme, working with advertisers and other stakeholders to establish a scalable measurement of tested brand ads.

She is joining AdInMo from global trade body, Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF), where she spent eight years as COO and sat on their Global Board. During her time with MEF, she helped deliver numerous industry programmes, including Future of Messaging and Trust in Personal Data & Identity. After joining AdInMo, she will remain an advisor at MEF. 

Prior to her time with MEF, Lacey held various senior marketing and operations roles at mobile games technology and publishing companies, including deltaDNA, Player X, and I-play. 

Rybnikov has held senior development positions at several startups and digital advertising companies, including SoundFlow and ThoughtLeadr, delivering real-time ads based on OpenRTB and direct campaigns. He also co-founded Kyiv’s Functional Programming Community. 

At AdInMo, he will be working with the tech team alongside Chief Technology Officer, Chris Wright, who invested in the company after his game analytics company, deltaDNA, was acquired by Unity Technologies.

Welcoming Lacey and Rybnikov to the company, CEO of AdInMo, Kristan Rivers, said:

“We’re delighted that Joanne and Kon have joined our team at this key growth period for AdInMo.

“Joanne is someone I’ve been lucky enough to work with at both Player X and I-play and have always appreciated the strategic focus she brings to every role. AdInMo’s team ramped up significantly in Covid times and having a powerhouse of industry knowledge and a management team that’s worked together several times is a unique advantage.”

While Lacey herself added:

“I started in the mobile games industry 20 years ago and it’s wonderful to be back home. Being at the start of establishing a new tech category is always exciting and InGamePlay brand advertising is a channel with huge potential given the exponential growth of mobile games in recent years. AdInMo is at the forefront of a new shift in digital marketing and I’m excited to join the management team to help us achieve scale.”

Staying with AdInMo, as previously reported, at the end of 2020, UK-based hyper-casual game developer Kwalee selected the platform to integrate immersive brand ads into its latest title. 

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