04.15.24 - Esports Weekly Digest

?? Esports Weekly Digest - News Recap: 04.08.24 - 04.15.24

We saw a few impact-driven partnerships and initiatives around mental health awareness and women equality in the gaming space!?

1. French esports organization Team Vitality announced its first merchandise collection through its KARE project to support mental health initiative Twisten Foundation. Team vitality-led KARE is a project that seeks to raise awareness on the importance of mental wellbeing and support those who are struggling with mental health. All proceeds raised by the KARE collection will be donated to the Twisten Foundation, which was established in memory and by the family of Karel “Twisten” A?enbrener, the former VALORANT pro player who passed away suddenly last year. (Source)
2. Publicly traded esports organization Guild Gaming teamed up with long-time partner Sky Broadband for a series of tournaments aimed at empowering women in esports and driving equality in gaming. Two tournaments, the Sky Broadband RACERS ESERIES (4/26) and SOCCER ESERIES (TBD Date) will feed into a “First-of-its-kind” Sky Broadband Women’s Esports Finals.?
3. Gonna Need Milk, an initiative from the National Milk Processor Education Program has announced a major women’s Fortnite tournament series. The expanded tournament circuit features three majors, leading to an in-person grand finals LAN event with a groundbreaking payout of $250,000. The initiative aims to ‘fuel change within professional gaming’ by providing women with a platform and an opportunity to compete for the largest prize pool seen in a North American women’s Fortnite tournament.?

With the ladder two tournament announcements, there was an overarching insight that both are looking to address: Despite making up almost half of the gaming community, women gamers represent only 5% of professional gamers, with no women in the top 500 highest overall earners. Considering that 46% of gamers are women, and there are many talented women content creators that are massively popular, there’s a clear need for all parties in the gaming ecosystem (tournament organizers, publishers, orgs, and brands) to provide more opportunities for women to showcase their talent on the biggest stage.

See additional brand partnerships, tournament news, anime merch collaborations, and fascinating org/publisher news in the full newsletter below!

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?? Brand Partnerships and Collaborations:

Publicly traded esports organization Guild Gaming teamed up with long-time partner Sky Broadband for a series of tournaments aimed at empowering women in esports and driving equality in gaming. Two tournaments have been announced with a total prize pool of ￡50,000 split between them: the Sky Broadband RACERS ESERIES (4/26) and SOCCER ESERIES (TBD Date). Both competitions will feed into a “First-of-its-kind” Sky Broadband Women’s Esports Finals. This event shines a light on the significant gap where 47% of gamers are women, yet they represent only 5% of esports professionals. (Source)

• A partner since 2022, Sky launched a separate initiative focused on shining a light on women in gaming with Guild Esports known as the #NoRoomForAbuse campaign to raise awareness for the verbal abuse women gamers face.

In partnership with AT&T , Mobile gaming content collective Tribe Gaming ( Wasserman AOR) created a state-of-the-art retrofitted RV known as the Tribe Mobile Club House, presented by AT&T. The RV will serve as a hub for its creators and fans as it’ll be equipped with mobile devices provided by AT&T for fans and the organization’s content creators to compete in competitions. The RV will serve as a transportation vehicle for Tribe’s esports team and creators to events across the country such as VidCon , TwitchCon, SXSW and more in the coming months. (Source)

Carvana teamed up with North American esports organization NRG to give away a Tesla Model 3. The Carvana Presents: NRG x Musty Tesla Giveaway will see NRG-signed Rocket League player and content creator Musty “personally deliver” a Tesla Model 3 to one winner (runs through April 24). The contest is part of Carvana and NRG’s ongoing partnership, which began in 2023. (Source)

Esports tournament organizer ESL FACEIT Group - EFG announced a five-year partnership with Saudi Arabian entertainment and tourism megaproject Qiddiya | ?????? City. As a result of the deal, the two parties will collaborate to develop experiences within the city’s dedicated gaming and esports district. EFG stated the organizer will develop “immersive experiences, in-game missions, and stage takeovers during its circuit of global events to inspire fans, players, and partners to help define the future of play at the Qiddiya City Gaming & Esports District.” (Source)

The UK's national body for esports, British Esports Federation, joined forces with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to work together to address safeguarding children in esports. The partnership will see the creation of a parent’s guide to help adults understand the world of esports. There will also be the implementation of safeguarding initiatives, such as coaching guidance, streamer best practice and more. (Source)

Esports organisation GIANTX has renewed its partnership with car toy brand Hot Wheels. The partnership will see Hot Wheels logos appear on the sleeves of GIANTX players that compete nationally in Spain in 2024. Giants Gaming first partnered with Hot Wheels in 2021, when the toy car brand became the official partner of its Rocket League team. The partnership was expanded in the second year to the Superliga, Spain’s League of Legends league. The brand will continue? working with GIANTX as its partner in Spain even after the merger of Giants and EXCEL Esports last year. (Source)

Team Liquid has teamed up with manga publisher VIZ Media to launch a collection of merchandise themed around popular anime series Death Note. The collection was released on April 12 and included Death Note-inspired hoodies, t-shirts, hats, keycaps, and mouse mats.

• Team Liquid has a history working with anime platforms and series. In 2021, the organization released an apparel collaboration with Naruto Shippuden. Moreover, Team Liquid partnered with anime platform Crunchyroll in 2019. (Source)

Swiss esports organization Team BDS partnered with anime series My Hero Academia to launch a merchandise collection. The collection included T-shirts and hoodies in the first drop on April 10. Additionally, both parties will offer fans an immersive experience that allows them to make their own range of products and showcase the unique aesthetics of both brands. (Source)

?? Org and Publisher News

Games publisher 网易游戏 and Activision Blizzard announced that they have resumed their partnership to provide access to the company’s line-up of games in mainland China. As a result of this announcement, popular games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, and Overwatch 2 are making a return in China after the companies parted ways in January 2023 over a dispute on how much NetEase was being paid to operate the games. Why are both parties resuming its partnership??

• NetEase is already a partner for Microsoft (who acquired Activision Blizzard earlier this year) as the exclusive Chinese distributor of Minecraft.
• The departure of longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick likely eased tensions and open the table to re-negotiate. (Source)

ESL announced “ESL Featuring Fortnite”, a new competitive gaming experience developed in Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) in collaboration with development studio 404 Creative. EFG will create a competitive Fortnite universe featuring “custom islands, new game modes, and a team-based format.” The gameplay in ESL Featuring Fortnite will offer “classic FPS” style gameplay, with 4v4 teamplay and competitive game modes.?

• Rival Tournament organizer BLAST is the current operator for Epic Games FNCS esports circuit, so this endeavor is by no means endorsed by Epic Games and will be interesting to see if/how BLAST will react to this. Several professional esports teams such as Karmine Corp , Team Heretics , ZETA Division, and Dignitas are already committed to competing in ESL Featuring Fortnite.?
• Considering EFG’s ties with Savvy Games Group , one would assume that EFG’s is looking to find ways to weave their own experience into the Esports World Cup this summer. (Source)

Juventus Football Club partnered with North American gaming, entertainment and lifestyle brand OpTic Gaming . The partnership aims to unite two passionate global fanbases and bridge the gap between traditional sports and esports. As a result of the partnership, there will be collaborations on social media, periodic co-branded merchandise collections, as well as the creation of video content with events involving players and influencers from both organizations. The collaboration will be further enhanced by joint activations at live events in both the football and Esports worlds. (Source)

French esports organization Team Vitality announced a merchandise collection through its KARE project to support mental health initiative Twisten Foundation. Team vitality-led KARE is a project that seeks to raise awareness on the importance of mental wellbeing and support those who are struggling with mental health. All proceeds raised by the KARE collection will be donated to the French club’s partner, the Twisten Foundation, which is dedicated to providing essential support and advice for people experiencing mental health problems.?

• The foundation was established in memory and by the family of Karel “Twisten” A?enbrener, the former VALORANT pro player who passed away suddenly last year. The foundation provides a platform to aid young people suffering from mental health illnesses. (Source)

Valorant game publisher Riot Games revealed the most popular VCT Capsules in March for their respective international leagues. North American organization Sentinels topped the VCT Americas list, which included the likes of G2 Esports and Argentine team LEVIATAN . Meanwhile,? Paper Rex sold the most capsules for VCT Pacific. Details of how many collections have been sold have not been disclosed. (Source)

腾讯 ’s mobile game Honor of Kings announced a partnership with Danish jewelry brand Pandora. As a result of the deal, Pandora will provide select jewelry products inspired by Honor of Kings such as pendants and bracelets, which are already available for public purchase in Pandora’s Chinese e-commerce Taobao store. Pandora also announced this week that it has signed King Pro League (KPL) player Yang “Wuwei” Tao as a “friend of the brand” and has featured him in the official commercial and poster of “Honor of Kings X Pandora.” Tao’s image has also been used in Pandora’s Taobao store. This is the first time Pandora has partnered with a major gaming IP in China. (Source)

??? Tournament News

美国艺电公司 ' FPS Battle Royale title Apex Legends is the latest game to be announced as part of the Saudi Arabian government-backed esports and gaming festival the Esports World Cup. Details of whether the event will have a direct tie-in with the official league for Apex Legends, the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) were not disclosed. Apex Legends joins a growing list of high-profile titles that are now a part of the Esports World Cup from major publishers including Activision Blizzard, Riot Games, Tencent, Capcom, and many others.

• This is not too surprising since EA Sports FC 24 was already announced as a marquee title for the 2024 event. Also, there’s been an uptick in professional esports teams signing Apex Legends rosters over the last several months. This is relevant in this context because the Saudi government (via Esports World Cup Foundation ) is providing financial incentives for teams to sign rosters for games that are included in the Esports World Cup line-up. (Source)

Gonna Need Milk, an initiative from the National Milk Processor Education Program has announced a major women’s Fortnite tournament series. The expanded tournament circuit features three majors, leading to an in-person grand finals LAN event with a groundbreaking payout of $250,000. To promote community engagement, The Milk Cup will invite participants to compete as trios and is open to over 400 women gamers to extend the opportunity to as many gamers as possible

• The initiative aims to ‘fuel change within professional gaming’ by providing women with a platform and an opportunity to compete for the largest prize pool seen in a North American women’s Fortnite tournament. The prize pool intends to ‘address this pay gap’ between male and female esports players.
• Despite making up almost half of the gaming community, women gamers represent only 5% of professional gamers, with no women in the top 500 highest overall earners. In 2024, the top woman gamer made 1/20th of the top male gamer's pay after competing in over twice as many tournaments, according to Esports Earnings . (Source)