Good morning! This is your weekly Esports Brief.

Riot Games reports that viewership numbers for its first international VALORANT tournament, Masters Reykjavik, hit seven figures. The final match between Sentinels and Fnatic garnered more than one million concurrent viewers, with an average minute audience of over eight hundred thousand, according to Stream Hatchet. This viewership sets a new record for VALORANT esports with the Masters Reykjavik broadcast distributed in more than 15 different languages. “From the beginning, we believed VALORANT had the potential to be one of the largest esports in the world, and the best in its genre. Masters Reykjavik showcased that potential, delivering nail-biting action to millions of fans – stoking regional rivalries while introducing the next generation of superstars,” said Whalen Rozelle, Sr. Director of Esports at Riot Games. “We’ve been eagerly awaiting our first international competition, and the fan reception across the globe to Masters reaffirms our commitment to investing in the future of this esport.”

Meanwhile, Garena saw the Free Fire World Series break the record for Peak Live Viewers for an esports event, according to Esports Charts, which writes that the event was watched by 5.4 million people, thereby breaking the record held by the 2019 League of Legend World Championship. In addition, the Hindi broadcast stream of the tournament had 1.9 million Peak Live Viewers.

Riot Games tied up a deal with BMG to become the official music partner for the LCS. Over the 2021 Summer Split and into 2022, the LCS will spotlight BMG artists and songs in multiple sections during the league’s live broadcast. In addition, the duo will offer special performances and other content. “We are delighted to team up with LCS and create a unique convergence between music and esports,” said Marian Wolf, BMG’s VP head of global writer services. “Our partnership opens the doors to endless possibilities for our artists and songwriters to highlight their exciting new releases and showcase BMG’s extensive music catalog on the digital platforms of one of the leading companies in esports.”

Electronic Arts revealed that the Apex Legends Global Series Championship prize pool has now hit $2.58 million, with the bulk of the money coming from sales of limited edition in-game skins and an additional $1 million coming from EA. The maximum potential prize pool would be capped around $3 million.

Gamers from across the globe will once again fight against COVID-19 as charity esports and gaming festival Gamers Without Borders returns with the theme of No One Left Behind. Created by the Saudi Esports Federation, the event kicks off on June 7, with ESL Gaming serving as the event’s technical partner, producing the event’s esports competitions and supporting live-stream shows. The second edition of Gamers Without Borders will feature titles that include Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League and PUBG MOBILE as well as one other title TBA. The charity fund is set up in partnership with multiple international humanitarian aid organizations, such as UNICEF, Gavi and Direct Relief.

The Tempests are back! Don’t miss the industry’s top business awards show, with new categories and honoring the production, talent, venues, leagues, teams, activations, and more that went into making the past year so unique. Entries are due before July 15 so get ‘em in by clicking here!

Sony announced plans to launch open-format fighting tournaments ahead of Evo 2021, titled the Evo Community Series. The announcement dubs the event as “a global celebration of the fighting game community,” and will run from June 10-August 3 with over 120 tournaments around the world. Three PlayStation-hosted tournaments will also take place during the ECS, starting with the PlayStation Tournaments FGC Arcade: Evo Edition

Epic Games will reportedly not host any in-person LAN events until the second quarter of 2022, according to the GM of Elite Esports, who apparently leaked the decision from the Fortnite publisher. “Today, Epic Games notified us that they will not allow any in-person events to take place due to the pandemic… until Q2 2022, or when the global impact from COVID-19 has diminished”, according to the announcement.

Team Liquid and Garena, one of the leading global online games developers and publishers, announced the first U.S. community Free Fire tournament: The Liquid Free Fire Series, an open qualifier 24-team tournament, with the goal of introducing U.S. esports fans to Free Fire, one of the world’s most popular and fast-paced esports. June 5-6 will see open qualifiers, with continued events running until June 26-27 where a champ will be crowned. All regular season and Finals matches will be live streamed at twitch.tv/teamliquid.

Amateur esports platform PlayVS and Nintendo are partnering up in a move that will make Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 new titles for PlayVS High School Leagues in the US and Canada, where the games will become official varsity esports at PlayVS-partnered high schools. Mario Kart 8 tournaments will also enter the mix in early 2022.

In celebration of Muthead’s 100th Friday Night Football tournament, Fandom partnered with Gamers Outreach to provide two GO Karts to a children’s hospital in Hawaii. This donation also marks the completion of a major benchmark for Gamers Outreach programs – bringing the organization’s presence to all 50 states. The 100th episode will stream on Friday at 8p.

Stream Hatchet is thrilled to release the “Brands Leading in Gaming and Esports” report. Major brands like G FUEL, Tampax, and State Farm are shifting away from traditional marketing outlets to utilize live streaming platforms. Video game streamers provide massive opportunities for brands to reach audiences as sponsored video game live streaming has increased 98% since 2020. In the report, Stream Hatchet analyzes six examples of brands successfully activating within the video game and esports industry. Here are some key insights from the report:
· Charity streams are becoming the ideal partnership to showcase brand’s values. In 2021 so far, Stream Hatchet identified 53,000 unique charity streams.
· DrLupo and State Farm set the model for charity stream partnerships, generating 3,200 mentions of State Farm on DrLupo’s Twitch channel and 30,000 peak viewers.
· DrLupo has shown success hosting other charitable events as well. Last year, he raised over 2 million dollars for St. Jude Children Hospital during his annual Build Against Cancer charity event.

For more on how Stream Hatchet can help marketers keep ahead of trends within the video game and esports industries, visit us online at: www.StreamHatchet.com.

Overwatch League champion San Francisco Shock announced that the team has locked in McDonald’s as its newest partner. Details of the partnership were not announced at press time but the brand had previously partnered with league franchise Atlanta Reign for a local promotion.

KitKat is extending and expanding their partnership with the League of Legends European Championship, European Masters competition, and European Regional Leagues that will see the candy brand continue to be a Main Partner of the LEC and EU Masters through to 2023. KitKat is also extending this partnership to become a Main Partner for the League of Legends Continental League (LCL) and 12 ERLs for the 2021 Summer Season. “It’s a pleasure to be working with a team that is truly passionate about esports. KitKat pursues a clear esports strategy in which the community is approached in a media-appropriate and authentic style on all relevant channels,” says Georg Fischer, Marketing Manager for KitKat Europe.

eNASCAR and ASUS renewed their partnership for the remainder of the 2021 season for NASCAR’s sim-racing esports series, the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series. As part of the agreement, ASUS will continue as the “Official PC and Monitor of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series” for a second consecutive year. ASUS will market its Republic of Gamers product line during in-race broadcasts and on social media. This season, ASUS will also be introducing an ROG-themed paint scheme that will be featured on sim-racing vehicles.

Allied Esports introduced ViewSonic, a global provider of visual solutions, as the Official Gaming Monitor and Official Streamer Room Partner of its flagship esports venue, HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas. Per the multiyear agreement, ViewSonic will outfit all HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas gaming stations, including in the main arena and front lobby, with 27-inch ViewSonic ELITE XG270 monitors, and provide two 50-inch ViewSonic CDE5010 4K Ultra HD displays for the recently renovated Streamer Room at the venue’s front entrance. ViewSonic will also provide ELITE XG270 monitors for the Allied Esports Truck in North America.

Esports Media, the multimedia company behind Esports.gg, continued to lock in partnerships, this time cementing a deal with Rogue Energy. “Rogue Energy has done amazing work establishing their brand in gaming. This is a great opportunity for us to work with them and continue supporting esports,” said Christian Bishop, Esports Media Inc.’s Founder.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and cryptocurrency infrastructure company Mercuryo will team up for the BLAST Premier Spring Finals. The activation will see, among other things, a video content series of three episodes that focusing on how Mercuryo can boost performance and the similarities between gaming and the crypto sphere.

PLATFORMS

Skillz entered into an agreement to acquire Aarki, a technology-driven marketing platform in a move to “broaden Skillz’s footprint across the rapidly expanding mobile gaming industry by combining its competitive platform with Aarki’s advanced advertising capabilities.” “Aarki’s proven machine learning will pair with Skillz’s robust first-party data to create an unrivaled value proposition for game developers,” said Skillz CEO Andrew Paradise. “The integrated ecosystem will unlock new points of connectivity between consumers, developers, and brands, pairing the right impression with the right user at the right time, all while delivering a superior user experience.”

Comscore is partnering with Spiketrap in a move to expand Comscore’s Predictive Audiences cookieless targeting solution specifically for gaming audiences. The partnership introduces gaming-oriented audience segments into Predictive Audiences for advertisers seeking to engage with gaming audiences in a privacy-forward, cookie-free manner. “Mainstream interest in gaming is on the rise, but as advertisers seek to engage with their targets, they need to realize that existing brand safety concerns coupled with the deprecation of cookies will only constrict the already limited gaming audience targeting options,” said Rachel Gantz, General Manager, Activation Services, Comscore. “That’s where brands benefits from the power of Comscore’s solutions, especially gaming-specific Predictive Audiences. As advertisers seek to lock in their cookie-free tactics, our solution through our collaboration with Spiketrap provides a better mechanism to reach granular gaming audiences in a cookie-free manner at scale.”

Esports Entertainment Group inked a multi-year deal with the Los Angeles Football Club to become the franchise’s esports tournament platform provider. The company will leverage its events organizing brand Esports Gaming League to manage and operate the tournaments.

Blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Binance and WePlay Esports announced the release of the Storyline collection of WePlay Collectibles on the Binance NFT marketplace. The tokens will be auctioned on the platform as part of the “100 creators” campaign, timed to coincide with the launch of the Binance NFT marketplace. Esports fans will be able to purchase digital memorabilia tied to their favorite tournaments from the media holding company in NFT format.

FlyQuest revealed a brand refresh, unveiling a new logo and visual look for the brand, designed to reflect its position as an environmental thought leader in the esports space, according to the announcement, which noted that “FlyQuest’s visuals better match its wholesome spirit of showcasing greatness and interest in environmental causes with this refresh.” In addition, the team revealed a new quest for the Summer Split, titled. #SunnyQuest and designed bring the Climate Change conversation to the forefront of the esports ecosystem.

FaZe Clan is teaming with DC for the “Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point x FaZe Clan Deathrun” event that will see a custom made, Deathrun map inside Fortnite’s Creative Mode created by JDuth to celebrate the release of the Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point six-issue limited comic book series. The week-long event consists of a speedrun contest where Fortnite players can upload videos of themselves completing the deathrun.

Misfits Gaming Group and The Misfits Agency signed Jake ‘Jake the Viking’ Franklin, a former college football player, turned content creator who became popular through appearances on the Mr. Beast YouTube channel through vlogs and challenges. Jake will be signed under The Misfits Agency, a newly launched content and influencer agency within Misfits Gaming Group and work with Jake on campaigns that will elevate and grow his brand.

Hornets Venom GT, the official NBA 2K League affiliate of the Charlotte Hornets, is launching its first-ever NFT in conjunction with the start of the 2021 NBA 2K League regular season, becoming the first team in the league to release an NFT. The launch comes two weeks after the organization debuted the first-ever Hornets commemorative NFT on May 13 during the team’s final home game of the 2020-21 NBA regular season.

HP announced the completion of its acquisition of HyperX, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company. “We are delighted to officially welcome the incredible people of HyperX to HP. HyperX has built a loyal following among gamers and we look forward to further strengthening the HyperX brand,” said Alex Cho, president, Personal Systems, HP Inc. “This acquisition further advances our ability to create the compute experiences of the future, expand into valuable adjacencies, and unlock new sources of growth.”

Riot Games announced an average of more than 14 million PC players from around the world log on each month to play VALORANT, Riot’s free-to-play FPS video game and now the publisher is preparing to expand the franchise, starting with VALORANT Mobile. “One of our top goals this first year was to earn the trust and respect of the global FPS community, and to prove to them that VALORANT will always uphold the fundamentals of a truly worthwhile competitive tac-shooter,” said Anna Donlon, Executive Producer of VALORANT at Riot Games. “To see our growing player community recognize and appreciate what we’re trying to do with VALORANT is beyond what we could’ve expected and we’re thrilled to soon offer the same competitive VALORANT experience to even more global players.”

The four-day live E3 2021 broadcast that begins on June 12 will see editors from IGN, GameSpot, PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, IGN China and GameBonfire determine the winners for the Official E3 2021 Awards Show. Results will be announced during the last day of the broadcast on June 15. “For this year’s event, we are collaborating with editors at some of the world’s leading video game media outlets to create the Official E3 2021 Awards Show, recognizing the show’s most anticipated games,” said Stanley Pierre-Louis, President & CEO of the ESA. “The broadcast is going to be packed with exciting announcements and reveals, and celebrating innovative publishers and developers is an ideal way to close E3 2021.”

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