CYNOPSISeSPORTS & GAMING
10.27.16 It’s Thursday, October 27, 2016, and this is your weekly early morning eSports & Gaming brief.
It was a big week for Las Vegas in the eSports world as DreamHack, MLG and ELeague locked in dates for new events in the city, cementing its role as an eSports hub. DreamHack became the latest org to plant roots, announcing on Wednesday a continuation of its Masters series via a 16-team event taking place in the city from Feb. 15-19, 2017. This joins the MLG Las Vegas festivities just announced for Dec. 16-18, as well as the perennial EVO and a slate of other eSports events that call the city home.
DreamHack’s plans will dangle a $450,000 prize pool with the tournament taking place at the MGM Grand. The initial group stage will be held live on the casino floor from Feb 15-17, while the top eight teams will battle it out at the MGM Grand Garden Arena from Feb 18-19, with the top team taking home a cool $200,000 prize.
“Las Vegas is a hugely exciting destination, and we’re excited to in partnership with MGM Grand to make a huge splash,” said Marcus Lindmark, President & CEO of DreamHack AB. “Visitors can expect the best atmosphere possible, and we’ll be sure to capture all of this for the viewers online. CS:GO is best played live and on-stage, and that’s the experience we’re looking to focus on!”
Major League Gaming hits the city with a holiday play from Dec. 16-18, in Las Vegas, announcing MLG Las Vegas from Dec. 16-18. The event will serve as a festival and fan experience that takes place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. The event will play host to the first North American Regional of the Call of Duty World League as well as serve as an Overwatch Invitational. In addition, the festivities will include End Game, a celebration featuring interactive experiences, surprise musical performances and opportunities for content creators throughout the weekend.
The MLG event will shape a weekend in the Nevada city that also includes international eSports tournament Collegiate Colosseum: North America, which sees more than 100 universities battling for over $100,000 in scholarships and prizing across top titles including Overwatch, League of Legends, Hearthstone, Super Smash Brothers 4 & Super Smash Brothers Melee. The event takes place at the Rio Las Vegas that weekend, while the monthly Battle on the Strip will also take place that weekend at SLS Las Vegas, blending pro teams with amateurs.
"That weekend in December will be very exciting for an eSports fan, whether you like Call of Duty, Smash, Overwatch or games in general,” said JonMichael Bukocky, CEO and Founder of UltimateMedia Ventures, which launched the Battle on the Strip. “Fans will have so many choices to enjoy all up and down the strip, cementing Las Vegas as an eSports hub and we looks forward to continuing to help it grow.”
The very next month, Turner Sports is returns to CES 2017 in Las Vegas once again with its Sports Business Innovation at CES Presented by Turner Sports event on Jan. 5. ELeague will be heavily involved in the festivities, presenting a live studio show previewing the ELeague Major that will be held later in the month. In addition, as part of the overall Turner Sports footprint at CES, ELeague will partner with the FIA Formula E Championship for its Las Vegas eRace on Jan. 7. The virtual race, including a specially designed track incorporating the famous Las Vegas Strip, will feature all 20 Formula E drivers and 10 fans from across the world competing for a share of a $1 million dollar prize pool.
Blizzard is giving Hearthstone competition a tweak, unveiling changes in the prize pool, scheduling and adding new events to the 2017 lineup. Next year will see Blizzard double its cash to $2 million, which will be divided into $250,000 pots for each season championship with $1 million to be distributed at the World Championship. The company also detailed plans for the Hearthstone Global Games, a weekly league showcasing teams of players representing individual countries. Meanwhile, regional championships for each season will be eliminated, replaced with regional season playoffs that will see each of the four Hearthstone regions (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, China) host its own tournament
Speaking of Blizzard, Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotic dropped the news that the company was planning a pro Overwatch league during a speech at the Vanity Fair News Summit in San Francisco. "You will have the Overwatch League which will have a certain number of teams. Those teams will be a combination of professional sports teams as owners and endemic sports teams as owners," he told the audience.
Blizzard announced competitive changes to Heroes of the Storm for 2017, configuring the Heroes Global Championship 2017 with four regional divisions that will play two regular seasons in spring and summer, with two international tournaments in May and November as a replacement to the title’s tournament circuit. Competition is broken into four major regions (North America, Europe, China and Korea) and four minor regions (Latin America, Australia/New Zealand, Taiwan and Southeast Asia). Blizzard also set up a secondary league that is open to up-and-coming squads seeking to qualify for their region’s premier league, dubbed the HGC Open Division.
Super League Gaming announced that it had locked in $5 million in funding from Toba Capital and aXiomatic, the company led by Peter Guber and Ted Leonsis. The company operates recreational leagues at theaters in the US and Canada featuring weekly competitions and is currently in its fifth season. “Inspired by the world’s biggest eSports events, Super League Gaming’s mission is to make those experiences accessible to everyone who is passionate about their favorite games, strong-yet-supportive competition, and sense of community,” said Ann Hand, CEO Super League Gaming. “Founded in 2014 by parents looking for a way their children could enjoy video games like Minecraft in a social, face-to-face gameplay experience, Super League Gaming established itself through successful league seasons held in movie theaters all over North America. To date, Super League Gaming has hosted more than 9,000 kids in friendly competition in five league seasons of play.”
The opening telecast for Season 2 of ELeague on TBS on Friday which saw Cloud9 and Mousesports duke it out generated 300,000 average viewers to the program, according to Nielsen. That marks the second highest viewership of all time for the show.
After unveiling a partnership with ESL to launch Tournaments (see below), PlayStation execs stated that the first tournament will tip off with NBA 2K17, to celebrate the beginning of the NBA season. The Major Tournament spans Oct. 27-Nov. 26 with Major Cup rounds occurring every Saturday. Top 3 winners of the NBA 2K17 Major Tournament will receive a prize pack that includes items such as a DualShock 4 and PlayStation gear.
Activate gave a peek into consumer habits of 2020 in its Activate Tech and Media Outlook 2017 report, projecting almost 500 million eSports fans globally by 2020. Meanwhile, the company estimates that sponsorship revenues will hit $2.5 billion in 2020.
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Epsilon eSports locked in a partnership with Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, marking the latest partnership for teams in the French league. The soccer club named FIFA player Nathan “Sneaky” Nayagom as its ambassador for the Ligue 1 season. "We are excited regarding the opportunity we have to work with AS Monaco, a stand out performer in the sports field,” said Greg Champagne, Epsilon Esports CEO.”We are also proud that this historical club will be represented for the upcoming season on FIFA17 by an Epsilon Esports ambassador in the person of Nathan ‘Sneaky’ Nayagom. We are looking forward to working with this new partner to accomplish great things."
Meanwhile, former NBA point guard Stephon Marbury is looking to become the latest player to own an eSports team. The former Knick announced on his Weibo account (he is currently playing in China) that “I decided to march [into the] esports industry to build my own team and recruit players, from my fans, in no time” with more info coming soon.
Team Liquid appears to see a pro eSports future for the Civilization franchise. The team signed Civilization 6 player Stephen Takowsky, aka MrGameTheory, to serve as captain of its new team. In a post, Team Liquid owner Steve Arhancet stated that “The strategic depth required in Civilization is beyond compare. Many feel the game is simply too complicated to break into esports. However, as the gaming community evolves, we are witnessing the rise of elite gamers yearning to display the true level of their skill. Civilization provides the perfect platform for players to showcase their gaming intellect and we feel that Firaxis is on the cusp of bringing the franchise to a competitive esports level. It is inevitable that Civilization will take its place alongside the top esports in the world.”
Speaking of Team Liquid, Fuse is launching Gamer Gods: Team Liquid, a half-hour special following the heavyweight eSports franchise. The series will premiere at 10p on Nov. 14. “By partnering with Fuse, Gamer Gods: Team Liquid allows the Team Liquid community unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access to the team’s preparation and training,” said Steve Arhancet, Co-CEO of Team Liquid. “Giving viewers the opportunity to see the stress the players place on themselves to be successful and the sheer amount of effort that goes into competing at this level, is extremely compelling.”
ELeague’s sponsor list got a little sweeter with the addition of Snickers as the official chocolate bar for the eSports league’s second season. Snickers will reach audiences through a number of branding elements across television and digital, including sponsorship of the ELeague pregame show and “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Moments that will run post-game every week showcasing the biggest gaffes and bloopers from that week of gameplay. Additional ad spots will only air between breaks in the action alongside ELEAGUE’s “ad tracker,” a scrolling ticker highlighting stats and additional information about participating teams and players.
With ELeague back in action, Forge is offering CS:GO players a shot a playing on national television. The Forge app, which allows players to capture highlights and share them on social media, announced that entrants can select their favorite moments to tweet with their connected social media account with the hashtag #ELEAGUEForge with footage then considered for airplay during ELeague on TBS.
Research firm Newzoo is going deeper into eSports, announcing a partnership program for eSports teams, which will now be actively be involved in the further development of Newzoo’s Esports Audience and Revenue Model and the quarterly Global Esports Market Report. The first five teams to sign up for the partnership program are: Immortals, Fnatic, G2, Na’Vi, and LGD Gaming from China.
Microsoft is officially targeting Twitch, announcing new game streaming technology that pits the company again its Amazon-owned competitor. At a Windows Creator event today in New York City, the company unveiled new capabilities for Windows 10 and Xbox One that leverage technology from Beam that allows gamers to stream their gameplay to viewers with that click of a button on the new “Game Bar.” Meanwhile, Microsoft also detailed Arena, which allows players to create custom tournaments beginning with Killer Instinct.
With the Nintendo Switch officially in the open, CEO Tatsumi Kimishima noted that while details on price and specs for the console will come next year, that portable system was not designed to serve as a replacement for the 3DS. The system will debut in Match, with Kimishima telling analysts during the company’s earnings report that the company’s current financial guidance will assume shipments of 2 million Switch systems by the March end of the fiscal year.
ESL will integrate its competitive gaming systems and technology into the new Tournaments feature on PlayStation 4. The maneuver allows millions of PS4 owners to find and participate in league competitions, beginning with NBA 2K17 ahead of the new NBA season with Mortal Kombat X, Project Cars*1 and more coming down the road. , will be joining the ranks in the future. The integration is global, supporting 15 different languages to enhance competitive gaming on the over 40 million PS4 systems sold worldwide
AERNOW, “a global platform for rendering immersive live experiences,” is partnering with IDEAS+CARS for the launch of its eSports distribution platform to enable eSports gamers and creators to “seamlessly capture, create and publish immersive digital experiences.” "As demand in the market continues to grow, the AerNow platform is ideally suited to aggregate disparate pieces into a homogeneous, next generation entertainment-focused eSports experience," said Darren Cox, Chief Maverick Officer of IDEAS+CARS, a company focused on the intersection of motorsports and eSports. "AerNow’s services and their platform support our growth strategy and this will be a significant technology partnership."
Live streaming app and gamer community Mobcrush, Inc. announced that it has completed a $20 million Series B fundraising round led by Los Angeles-based Evolution Media. Founding CEO Royce Disini said the company will use the financing to continue building Mobcrush’s market-leading position in mobile-first game streaming, eSports and community, and continue to grow the platform’s one million active users.
Fresh off a high-profile win on national television for ELeague’s Overwatch Open Grand Finals, Team Misfits are now looking to capitalize on their recent success, both in tournaments as well as with partners. Cynopsis eSports & Gaming spoke with team owner Ben Spoont about the growth of the industry and its impact on the team, how the influx of large corporations as team owners will change the game and growing the core of professional players.
Spoont on the explosion of eSports: It is exciting to see, and ourselves contribute to, the growth of eSports literally week to week. I’m fortunate enough to always be able to rely on my outstanding staff and managers/coaches to help shape our future as new challenges and opportunities come up.
On if there were downsides to addition of high-profile owners: Not at all. We haven’t had any issues so far and I doubt it will get in the way of how we do business. We are fortunate enough to be very well capitalized.
On sponsors: We are currently holding productive talks. It’s certainly an educational process for the non-endemics and this takes time. We have mostly spoken with upper echelon sponsors so I can’t think of any mistakes.
On finding players: I believe we need to provide a solid foundation for the teams, so we have personally been highly selective in our choice of staff. I think it is clear that we are reaping the rewards from that and I expect us to carry on doing so. Being able to identify and nurture young talent into successful pros is something we take very seriously and continue to focus on as a foundation of our business.
Mixed-reality startup CastAR added Peter Dille, former head of marketing for the Sony PlayStation is the US, as its CMO. In addition to Dille, the company also added Mel Heydari to serve as its head of talent and Arnie Sen as VP of engineering.
SPYR added video game industry expert Mike Turner to the team as its VP of Strategic Partnerships where he will focus on the development of strategic partnerships for SPYR’s games in Asian markets and launch a new eSports division.
Nintendo gave fans its first look at the Nintendo Switch, the new gaming console formerly known as Nintendo NX. The device will serve as a console for both at home gaming as well as on the road, with the machine transforming when not being used in its original docking station. In the launch video, the company seemed to imply that the device would play a big role in the company’s upcoming eSports plans, showcasing sets of players preparing to faceoff in an arena. Click here to watch.
ON THIS DAY in 2008: Sony Computer Entertainment releases Little Big Planet for the PlayStation 3.
Trivia: Kratos is the name of the main character in which gaming franchise? (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company and city.)
Answer to Our Last Sports Trivia Question: Fallout 4 is set in which city? Answer: Most popular answer: DC. Correct answer: Boston/Commonweath. Kudos: Chris Davis-Virgin/London; Jacob Kuhn-J2K eSports and Technology/NY; Glen Ross/DC; Joey Olson/DC; Andy Pittman-TAMU/College Station; Tom Moore-Kalt Productions/LA; Elena Chavira-OMD/LA; David Westberg-SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union/Burbank.
Later — Chris
Chris Pursell for Cynopsis | eSports @VegasandVine
10.27.16
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