SMART MOVE? LIQUIPEDIA TO INTEGRATE EEG’S VIE BETTING PLATFORM

VIE.bet, the esports betting platform operated by Esports Entertainment Group (EEG), has partnered with esports encyclopedia Liquipedia. 

The partnership between VIE.bet and Liquipedia, which is the world’s largest esports wiki and is affiliated with esports organisation Team Liquid, will see the betting platform integrated into the encyclopedia’s Dota 2 and CS:GO pages. 

Set to launch on 3 May, the collaboration is being billed as “the most community-centric and responsible betting integration in esports,” with betting content only being shown to Liquipedia users of legal age in the 150 jurisdictions globally where VIE operates. 

Gambling safety information, along with the option to disable betting content, will also be included. 

Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, said: “Esports communities have incredible passion and competitive drive, which makes for an exciting betting landscape. Unfortunately, that passion and drive are often taken advantage of, and there’s significant distrust towards betting platforms in the space.

“We believe there’s a better way forward in esports betting that comes from collaboration with trusted institutions. We’re proud to work with Liquipedia and VIE.bet on this new initiative, and we’re confident in VIE.bet’s ability to foster an active esports betting community by building a safe, trusted experience.”

Bux Syed, Director of VIE, added: “Liquipedia has been part of my daily life for at least 10 years. I use them to check the latest tournaments, upcoming matches and results. Me and 700 million other esports fans like me visit their platform each year. As a new esports betting brand, we’re aiming to grow our brand through community-based projects. 

“It’s a no brainer for us to partner with Liquipedia and its community to educate esports fans about safe and regulated gambling. My team and I are extremely excited to work with the Liquipedia team, and we’re looking forward to introducing VIE and engaging with its community.”

AYO.NEWS says:

While this seems like a promising opportunity in many ways, the words “red rag to a bull” also come to mind. Is a platform like Liquipedia, which has earned a certain special, trusted place in the esports community, really right for integrating a betting platform? We’d say this is a big gamble. 

Here at AYO.NEWS we appreciate it is possible to offer responsible gambling, but we are also very aware of the powerful anti-gambling movement, and how if operators put a foot wrong it can backfire spectacularly. If it goes well, it could be a commercial dream, but it’s easy to see how sizeable elements of the community could take a real dislike to this – in fact, a quick glance at the responses on reddit seems to confirm it’s already upset a lot of people. Here are just a few of the most popular comments so far:

“Hahahahahahhaha holy shit. Their solution is partnering with a gambling website. Actually fuck off.” – AnAnonymousAnomaly_

“The fucking GALL to post such a bald-faced ad and claim it’s for some great good LMAO. Fuck outta here with that horse shit. I genuinely cannot believe that this made it through however many people at Liquid and nobody went “Hey, this is a terrible idea”. – Fen_

“Just say that you got a new sponsor you need to promote and don’t sugarcoat it. I get it, you need money but only thing more morally despicable than getting betting money would be getting money from your local meth dealer.” – UninstructedPuppy

“We’re going to stop predatory gambling by shoving betting odds into peoples faces who are likely to succumb to predatory gambling” – Zaliacks