The Kairos Lowdown: Gaming and esports 18/10/2021 - 24/10/2021
Yes, we are back again for your weekly dose of gaming and esports updates. Read on to find out more of the biggest news stories across the gaming and esports landscape, covering recent announcements from partnerships and finance to mergers and acquisitions.
Top stories:
League of Legends world finals to be shown in cinemas across Europe
The League of Legends (LoL) World Championship is well underway, and the finals are fast approaching.
Game developer of the popular title Riot Games, have announced that the Finals of the 2021 LoL championships will be broadcasted live in cinemas across Europe, after they was forced to move this year's tournament to Iceland, after original plans to host the event in China were scrapped following the ongoing global pandemic.
As part of the announcement, it was confirmed through the help of distribution company Piece of Magic and American Theatre company National Amusements, that 70 cinemas across Europe will premier the finals on November 6th. With tickets already available on the official website for fans to purchase. As with every year, the finals will still be available to stream across all major platforms.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen theatre companies, an industry that has been severely impacted by the pandemic, partner with esports brands in the past. Most notably American-based theatre company, Cinemark, and esports firm, Mission Control, partnered to bring esports events broadcasting to cinemas across the United states. As well as this, in 2018 a range of cinemas based in the UK hosted showings of the IEM Katowice finals between London-based esports org Fnatic and FaZe Clan.
This is certainly a positive move, which will give fans the chance to be immersed with other like-minded fans during the livestream to experience the finals like no other and undoubtedly give a boost to a struggling industry. Could the cinema industry be on to something? Only.time will tell.
Watching esports events on a big screen certainly isn’t better than watching events live in a stadium with thousands of like-minded fans around you. However, the initiative does provide a suitable replacement given the global restriction. With over 70 cinemas showcasing the finals across Europe it provides an opportunity to bring fans of gaming and esports together. While it might not attract a lot of new fans, there is certainly an opportunity to scale the initiative moving forward. Could the cinema industry become the go-to place for esports watch parties as physical alternatives to in person events? We've all dreamt of how it would be to play our favourite games on a cinema screen, so it’s definitely possible.
Mercedes-Benz unveiled the LoL World Championship Ring.
Sticking with the LoL World Championship theme, as part of a new collaboration between Riot Games and luxury automotive partner Mercedes-Benz, it was unveiled that the winning team of the League of Legends World championship, which is arguably the biggest esports event in the calendar year, will receive a bespoke championship ring alongside the Summoner’s Cup this year.
As part of the unveiling it was announced that each player of the winning organisation will receive a personalised, custom-fitting championship ring, which will include the players summoner name and team name displayed on the piece. It will also feature the iconic colours of the Summoner’s Cup
In addition, the ring which is made from 18-karat white gold will feature the Mercedes-Benz star logo on the sides of the ring, alongside a custom-cute sapphire jewel which is diamond encased within the worlds logo. The stunning piece was co-created by design teams from both Mercedes-Benz and Riot games which is said to ‘represent the highest level of achievement and prestige in esports’
This comes a year into the Riot Games’ global partnership with Mercedes-Benz, which was announced last year, seeing the automotive giants serving as the presenting sponsor at the trophy ceremonies at key international events at within the League of Legends esports scene, including; LoL World Championships, Mid-Season Invitational, and the All-Star Event.
No doubt this is a very existing unveiling, with LoL being one of the biggest esports events in the world, which is notorious for courting blue-chip and non-endemic brands such as Louis Vuitton in the past. It showcases how Riot Games have been able to forge support from major brands off the back of the success it has built with its events and finding unique ways to integrate them into the events and its communities.
While I think this is a very cool integration, and certainly will highlight the Mercedes-Benz brand and the winning team players,. I feel it is missing something tangible for fans. I question how this integration benefits fans and consumers given that there isn’t a range of products or messaging. While it’s refreshing to see Mercedes-Benz not trying to directly push products onto its fans, does making a championship ring resonate with the audience and directly tie in with the fans and consumers or is it simply scratching the surface?
Juked mobile app enters alpha stage
Following the announcement of Juked.GG partnership with nonprofit organisation queer women in esports, Juked.GG have announced that its upcoming mobile app has entered its alpha test phase.
As part of the soft launch Juked.GG have invited select users to test social media features such as a feed of user-generated content and the ability to comment, upvote and follow other users. Its newsfeed and content will be reportedly curated to user preferences.
With the mobile app aiming to create a toxicity-free environment for esports fans, the mobile app has introduced phone authentication to register and allow users to post on the platform, something the community has long called out for as a measure to hold people accountable and reduce the amount of abuse online. It aspires to be a go-to guide for everything esports related including news, scores and upcoming schedules.
Within the initial alpha phase the first 100 users on the platform will supposedly build the foundations for the Juked.GG community, while showcasing the platform’s values of diversity and inclusivity as per the release, marking the brands first steps in bringing members of the gaming esports scene onto the platform.
In order to set the app up for the best possible success, Juked’s alpha have launched with a limited number of games in the initial stages including CS:GO, Call of Duty, VALORANT and Overwatch with more titles expected to be strategically rolled out after the mobile app’s full launch later in 2022.
Overall, this is an exciting project and something we are all keeping a close eye on here at Kairos. The goal of creating a diverse, inclusive and toxicity-free environment for gaming and esports fans is admirable and something we highly encourage and support. It certainly feels that a platform like Juked.GG t is going in the right direction and is actively taking steps towards achieving this goal.
Partnerships Lowdown
ESL Gaming x Norton
Gaming tournament platform ESL Gaming have announced a partnership with cybersecurity software company Norton, as the brands official cyber safety partner for StarCraft II and Warcraft III ESL Pro Tour. Ss part of the collaboration, will see Norton work alongside ESL Gaming on brand integrations, custom streams via a Norton Gaming dedicated Twitch channel, which will include special giveaways during broadcasts as well as across social media.
French Nike Licensee Ekinsport X Nicecactus
European-based esports company Nicecactus, have announced their partnership with French Nike licensee Ekinsport which will see the brands collaborate on an array of upcoming esports projects. As part of the partnerships, both entities will launch the EkinAreana, a series of tournaments which will include a range of titles such as FIFA 22, TrackMania, League of Legends, Super Smash Bros, Rocket League and Fortnite.
This is a very exciting announcement which marks Nike’s first time entering the French esports scene, which has largely been dominated by direct competitors Adidas through their high-profile partnership with esports organisation, Vitality. This move will certainly grow the brands reputation within gaming and esports in the local markets. Nike will certainly be one to keep an eye out for future partnerships for French esports teams.
Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions lowdown
Spin Master X Nordlight Games
Canadian global toy and entertainment company Spin Master has announced a new $100 million investment program which will invest in key markets across North-America and Europe within the toys, entertainment, and digital games. As part of the new initiative Spin Masters have made a minority investment in Swedish-based game studio, Nordlight Game.
Scopely acquires GSN Games
LA-based mobile game publisher Scoely have announced the acquisition of GSN Games for a reported $1billion in cash and preferred stock from Sony Pictures Entertainment. This deal comes after Sony have made a string of high profile game studio acquisitions this past year. As part of the deal Sony Pictures Entertainment will take a minority stake in Scopely, which will now acquire GSN’s portfolio of free-to-play games including hits such as solitaire, TriPeaks and Bingo Bash.
Image Source: