Slovakia-based social game developer Pixel Federation has announced a new environment-focused Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. 

In 2020, Pixel Federation generated €47.8M in revenue and had 120M players across international markets, making it Slovakia’s biggest games development company. Its portfolio of popular free-to-play games includes Diggy’s Adventure, Seaport, Trainstation 2, and Trainstation. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company pivoted its CSR strategy to support its home city of Bratislava by fundraising for frontline workers. Together with a number of other parties, the company launched a nationwide fundraising campaign, attracting the support of tech giant Amazon, ČSOB Foundation and many others, and raising over €1.4M. 

Now, with the COVID pandemic subsiding, the company is refocusing its upcoming CSR strategy towards a number of environmental projects. 

Pixel Federation Co-Founder, CSR Strategy lead and CLO, Lucia Šickova, said: “Education, the environment, culture and sport are still only an appendix on the edge of many Slovakians’ understanding of life skills. It’s a long-term and unchanged situation in non-strength sectors as they don’t have a quick return on investment. We want to ensure that the Slovakia we leave behind is better than the one we were born into.

“Our CSR strategy has always been a combination of long-term, consistent support for the projects we believe in, as well as one-time support for efforts we see as an urgent need. In recent years, we have also supported the Kramáre Hospital, the well-known Red Nose initiative, and focused our efforts to fundraise for frontline workers when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Slovakia.”

Pixel Federation Co-Founder and former CEO, Šimon Šicko, added: “I see this activity as a partnership with the city. Our motivation is not personal or corporate PR, our motivation is impact and something that will outlive all of us.”

One initiative the company is already engaged with is planting trees in partnership with Bratislava city authorities. The first 12 trees, out of a planned 10,000, have already been planted on Šancova Street in the city.

Additionally, the Pixel Federation is also planning to work closely with BROZ (Bratislava Regional Conservation Association), which brings together professional conservationists dedicated to the protection and restoration of rare habitats in the Little Carpathians mountain range. 

Image credit: Pixel Federation

Investing in the Future through Education

The company hasn’t just made an impact with its environmental and COVID relief efforts either. Pixel Federation’s charitable ventures originally focused on raising awareness of gaming and providing opportunities for young people in a field that the country’s education system was neglecting. 

Pixel’s first educational project was the Butterfly Effect, which brought together successful Slovak digital companies including Sygic, Leaf, HubHub, and Pixel Federation, in an effort to share knowledge with young people. More than 130 program graduates successfully created 22 products and four startups as a result. 

With long-term financial support from Pixel Federation, the dedicated people behind Edulienka were able to create a standardized education system that focuses on innovative and comprehensive development of 21st century skills in socially disadvantaged children. 

Distributed among a number of schools in Slovakia, Pixel’s time and funds supported this project to ensure the expansion of the first school from 15 to 100 pupils and enabled those from socially disadvantaged families to study.

English Championship football club, Reading FC, is launching a dedicated esports platform for its supporters. 

The platform is being created by New York-based gaming solutions company Rival, and will be used to host various FIFA 21 tournaments, the first of which is slated for 17 June. 

Commenting on the news, Head of Commercial at Reading FC, Tim Kilpatrick, said: “As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of our club this season and celebrate our rich history, we are really pleased to also be looking to the future and announcing the launch of our gaming community on the Rival platform. We’ll be offering fresh content, experiences and activities that will engage and build on the popularity and connection of esports and football with the gaming community.”

Rival CMO, Dan Parise, added: “Rival is thrilled to partner with Reading to launch Royals Esports in its milestone season to connect with the global gaming audience. We look forward to working with the club to innovate with new programming and revenue opportunities, and to provide ways to integrate Reading’s sponsors into the platform.”

Reading FC is Rival’s third English football club partner, joining Premier League sides Watford and Aston Villa, and will join a roster of more than 20 clients across sports and brands, including clubs in the MLS, NFL, NHL, and NBA. 

Kingston’s new FURY high-performance components brand has become an official partner of Russia-based esports organisation Virtus.pro. 

The partnership will involve various social media promotions, large-scale marketing integrations, and other collaborations. 

Kingston’s new FURY brand offers high performance components including RAM modules, SSDs, and flash drives.  

Sergey Glamazda, Virtus.pro General Manager, said: “Virtus.pro and Kingston FURY have a lot in common: the desire to be the best in their field and to help gamers achieve their goals. Every training session, match-winner, and championship is influenced by the hardware effectiveness, and we are glad that the Kingston FURY brand is now our partner. We are sure that our fans will appreciate this cooperation.”

Craig Tilmont, Senior Marketing Director at Kingston, added: “We are very proud to introduce the new Kingston FURY brand, which will combine the most productive RAM modules for PC enthusiasts and gamers. Kingston is pleased to partner with one of the most decorated esports clubs in Eastern Europe. We are sure that the Virtus.pro fans will also appreciate our new solutions, and will participate in our joint activities with their favorite club.”

Staying with Kingston Technology, earlier this month, HP completed the $425M USD acquisition of its gaming peripheral brand, HyperX.

US-based lifestyle gaming organisation, XSET, has announced a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), aimed at bringing the excitement and passion of gaming to a new generation.

BBBSA is America’s most experienced mentoring organisation, creating and supporting one-to-one mentoring relationships across the country. Each volunteer (called a Big Brother or Big Sister) spends time with their mentee (called Little Brother or Little Sister) enjoying free or low-cost activities. 

The partnership with XSET will provide Littles with the chance to not only enjoy the fun of gaming, but also connect with experts to learn about potential career opportunities in the industry. 

XSET pro gamers will also be promoting BBBSA by wearing the logo on their jerseys, and Big Brothers Big Sisters will be featured during live streaming events, social media activations, and other marketing activities. 

Additionally, $5 USD from every purchase of BBBS/XSET co-branded merchandise will go to BBBSA. 

Regarding Marco Mereu, COO and co-founder of XSET, said: “Partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters is such an exciting milestone for us. XSET’s mission of diversity and inclusion aligns perfectly with their work. We are here to bring gaming to a new generation and want to show kids – and the world – that gaming is for all.”

Big Brothers Big Sisters, said Adam Vasallo, Chief Marketing Officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, added: “Mentoring opens doors of possibilities for young people, and by connecting with partners like XSET, it allows our Littles to learn first-hand about this growing industry. We also appreciate the financial support, which will allow our agencies across the country the opportunity to reach more Littles who are waiting to be matched with a Big.”

Wichita-based esports tournament and events operator, Unified, has acquired North American amateur esports platform Challengers Uprising.

Founded in June 2020, by Jordan Trabue, Chris Harris and Glenn Chin, Challengers Uprising is partnered with Riot Games, and its amateur League of Legends tournaments are integrated into the publisher’s qualification system for the LCS Proving Ground. 

Financial details of the acquisition have not been released, but it is known that the Challengers Uprising management team will join the Unified team. 

Ramsey Jamoul, Unified’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “I am very excited to add the Challengers Uprising team with Chris Harris, Jordan Trabue, Glenn Chin (Challengers Uprising’s Co-founders), and everyone else who’s supported and brought so much amazing content to the stage to Unified. We’re welcoming you guys in with open arms as we continue to build out the amateur space.”

Glenn Chin, Co-Founder, President and Chief Brand Officer, Challengers Uprising, added: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining Ramsey and the Unified team. Our goal in creating Challengers Uprising has always been creating a true ‘Path to Pro’ for esports competitors, casters, producers, broadcasting, and front office talent. Unified has a similar mission, and by joining forces, we can better serve esports talent, teams, and sponsors.”

The first physical esports event of 2021 for the newly united Challengers Uprising and Unified, is scheduled for the 9-10 July in Kansas City, Kansas. 

Esports Technologies has launched its international consumer platform, Gogawi, in Brazil, following successful launches in Japan and Thailand. 

Esports bettors in the country can watch and bet on games including League of Legends, CS:GO, Dota 2, FIFA 21, and Call of Duty, on Gogawi. 

Brazil was chosen for Gogawi’s Latin American debut by virtue of having the region’s biggest population and rapidly growing esports fan base. According to PwC’s 19th Global Entertainment Survey, Brazil is Latin America’s leading gaming market, ranked 13th in the world.

Throughout the pandemic the nation’s esports sector has skyrocketed and is expected to continue growing rapidly with total gaming revenue predicted to reach $1.17 billion dollars by 2023. Additionally, as the country moves towards regulation and licensing of igaming, the igaming industry in Brazil could become a $101 billion industry by 2024, according to BtoBet.

Aaron Speach, Esports Technologies CEO, said: “Brazil is on the precipice of becoming an esports betting giant, and as such I am delighted to see Gogawi available to Brazilian esports fans and bettors. Brazilian esports has taken off, with a record-breaking number of people viewing major tournaments and competitions, like the Brazilian League of Legends Championship. With this increase in esports popularity and engagement from fans we are excited to bring an innovative and dynamic layer of engagement to esports competitions in Brazil, giving fans a chance to win big.”

Esports Technologies relaunched Gogawi in March 2021. One of many key upgrades to the platform is its partnering with the payment services solutions Apcopay, Astropay, and CoinDirect, all which aim to provide more deposit and withdrawal options and aim for faster settlement times.

AYO.NEWS says:

Brazil isn’t just one of the biggest esports markets, but also one of the most vibrant and culturally influential, so if Esports Technologies can establish a strong foothold there, they’ll be well on the way. Staying with Esports Technologies, earlier this month the company appointed gaming industry veteran Mark Thorne as its new Chief Marketing Officer. 

Recently, AYO.NEWS’ Simona Pinterova caught up with Esports Technologies CEO, Aaron Speach, to find out how the company is planning to create the world’s best esports betting platform. Check it out below.