Author: Nik Ranger

Register Sign in Login to enable dark mode. Sign up for free to unlock exclusive perks: See fewer ads An Ad-lite experience on articles. Dark Mode Customize your Dexerto experience, choose between dark or light. Great deals with our monthly newsletter Recommendations for unmissable entertainment. Save money with the best online deals in Gaming, TV and Movies, and Tech. Already have a Dexerto Media Group account? Login Register Gaming Entertainment TV & Movies Esports Tech Connect With Us Twitter Twitch YouTube More Archive About Us Advertise With Us All News Call of Duty CS2 League of Legends Apex Legends Valorant All esports Esports news, interviews, and analysis, plus live tournament coverage All News Call of Duty CS2 League of Legends Apex Legends Valorant Sign up free now Sign in Esports All News Call of Duty CS2 League of Legends Apex Legends Valorant Esports Call of Duty Esports Call of Duty Esports | All All Call of Duty World Series of Warzone 2024: Teams, schedule, prize pool, more Jacob Hale Call of Duty World Series of Warzone 2024: Teams, schedule, prize pool, more Jacob Hale Call of Duty Call of Duty League 2025 rostermania tracker: All team leaks & rumors Ryan Lemay Call of Duty CoD pro received “two strikes” for teabagging at Esports World Cup Declan Mclaughlin Call of Duty Atlanta FaZe dominate MW3 Esports World Cup: Recap, schedule, prize pool & more Ryan Lemay Esports Sources: Oxygen Esports to cease operations and lay off all staff Jacob Hale Articles Call of Duty Top 20 highest earning Call of Duty pros of all time Jacob Hale Call of Duty Boston Breach signs top Challengers stars for MW3 Esports World Cup roster Jacob Hale Call of Duty OpTic wins Call of Duty Championship 2024: Final results Jacob Hale Call of Duty All Call of Duty Champions with multiple rings Daniel Appleford Call of Duty OpTic Texas win first Call of Duty Championship since 2017 Daniel Appleford Call of Duty Sources: Top 4 CDL Challengers teams to get MW3 Esports World Cup invite Jacob Hale Call of Duty How to get CDL Championship 2024 drops: All viewership rewards & cosmetics Jeremy Gan Call of Duty Sources: LA Guerrillas to reject CDL Esports World Cup invite to MW3 tournament Jacob Hale Call of Duty OpTic Gaming’s Formal reveals plans to play Black Ops 6 professionally Daniel Appleford Call of Duty World Series of Warzone player admits to hacking after failing to qualify Jacob Hale 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 View Archive

YouTube’s Head of Gaming Fwiz leaves Google for Web3 & NFT venture Twitter: FwizYouTube’s Head of Gaming, Ryan ‘Fwiz’ Wyatt, has announced his impending departure from the company after over seven years with the company, as he moves into a role in the blockchain and Web3 world. Fwiz’s history in gaming spans far further than his work with YouTube. Prior to joining the Google-owned company, he was heavily involved in esports, working predominantly in Call of Duty and with the historic OpTic Gaming brand. On January 25, 2022, Fwiz made the announcement that he was vacating his role as Head of Gaming at YouTube, saying: “I came to YouTube almost eight years ago to help give gamers a voice and represent the gamer’s needs every day. “I am proud knowing that YouTube Gaming serves over 250m logged-in users every single day, and drives hundreds of billions of hours of gaming watch time each year.” https://twitter.com/Fwiz/status/1486020750607740928 Fwiz went on to thank CEO Susan Wojcicki and CBO Robert Kyncl for taking him on in the first place, before revealing his next steps. Read More: Top 10 most expensive NFTs ever sold – “I am fascinated by blockchain app development and am beyond thrilled to enter the Web3 space,” he said. “I am elated to be joining Polygon Technology as their CEO of Polygon Studios. “I will be focused on growing the developer ecosystem through investment, marketing and developer support and bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3. I’ll be leading the Polygon Studios organization across gaming, entertainment, fashion, news, sports, and more.” Polygon aims to support developers by offering “a wide range of secure, fast, affordable and energy-efficient Ethereum scaling solutions.” How Fwiz helps progress the company going forward will be interesting to see. February is his last month at YouTube, and a successor has not yet been named.

Xbox confirm $7.5b deal for Skyrim & Fallout creators Bethesda XboxMicrosoft has announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of game developers Bethesda Softworks who’ve made games like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM, and more. With the console wars once again reignited ahead of both Microsoft and Sony’s next-gen offerings in the coming months, Team Xbox have announced a major move that will see them become owners of one of the most recognizable game developers in the world, welcoming them in a press release on Monday, September 21. That means Microsoft and Xbox are now in control of some of gaming’s most popular and legendary franchises, such as The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, and have dealt a big blow to Sony and PlayStation, especially should they choose to make those games exclusive to their platform. Unsurprisingly, the deal won’t come cheap for Xbox, with Bethesda confirming in their press release that Microsoft are paying $7.5 billion cash to complete the acquisition of ZeniMax, with the deal including all of the company’s publishing offices and development studios across the globe, and all of their best-selling franchises including The Elder Scrolls, Quake, Wolfenstein, and more. “Bethesda’s games have always had a special place on Xbox, and in the hearts of millions of gamers around the world,” writes Xbox head Phil Spencer. “Our teams have a close and storied history working together, just as they took the bold first steps to bring The Elder Scrolls franchise to the original Xbox, we will be adding Bethesda’s iconic franchises to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC.” “One of the things that has me most excited is seeing the roadmap with Bethesda’s future games, some announced and many unannounced, to Xbox console and PC including Starfield. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been excited to share more details on important elements of a plan we’ve been building towards for years. A plan that is the fulfillment of a promise, to you the Xbox player, to deliver the most performant, immersive, and compatible next-generation gaming experiences, and the freedom to play blockbuster games with your friends anytime, anywhere.” Whether or not Bethesda releases will become exclusive to Xbox Series X, S, and PCs following this deal remains to be seen, but it’s likely that players on the Microsoft-owned platform will receive DLC and possibly new titles ahead of their Sony brethren, although has yet to be confirmed by either Microsoft of the developers themselves. The deal is by far one of the biggest Microsoft have ever undertaken, paying three times as much as they did for Minecraft creators Mojang. Bethesda already has a deal with Sony to release Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo on PlayStation 5 first.

Xbox boss “deeply disturbed” by Activision’s handling of Bobby Kotick allegations Microsoft / Activision BlizzardXbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed his team is disturbed by the latest allegations against Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and said that “all aspects” of their working partnership will be evaluated. An email from Spencer to his Xbox staff was reviewed by Bloomberg, which revealed the company’s current stance on the video game publisher. This comes on the heels of a damning report that said Kotick knew about sexual misconduct within Activision for years without disclosing it to the company. The allegations left the Xbox head and his team “deeply disturbed,” he said in the email. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are two of the biggest entities in the video game industry and have a long-standing relationship, with multiple Blizzard games available on Xbox. However, Spencer has signaled his intent to make proactive changes in regard to Xbox’s relationship with Kotick’s company. “This type of behavior has no place in our industry,” Spencer told his staff. Xbox is “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments,” he said. The longtime Xbox head and Microsoft’s gaming leadership were left “disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions.” Kotick released a statement calling the allegations presented in a Wallstreet Journal report “misleading.” Activision’s Board of Directors would later defend its CEO and said they were “confident that Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention.” After the report came to light, Activision Blizzard shareholders to a signed petition from over 500 employees called for Kotick’s resignation. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan also condemned the company’s response to the allegations against Kotick, stating the developers have “not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment.” Pressure is mounting for the company to take action against the company’s internal culture, which includes possibly removing Kotick as well as executive leadership or board members that support the embattled CEO.

Wordle clone creator claims New York Times purchase was a “huge rip off” Pexels / New York TimesAfter the New York Times purchased word puzzle game Wordle, a developer who makes a clone of the game explained why the reported price point of the acquisition was a “huge rip off.” Wordle has been taking over social media in recent weeks, as the word game hit viral levels of popularity. Now, it’s grown to the point that the New York Times went ahead and acquired the game for a “low-seven-figures” price point on January 31, 2022. Reactions have typically focused on the future of Worlde under new ownership, as many wonder if NYT will change the game’s free-to-play nature. By contrast, self-proclaimed “Wordle clone” creator ‘zachshakked’ has responded to the news with concern. Using his own clone’s success as a benchmark, he explained (in a since-deleted tweet) why the NYT acquisition was a “rip off” for Wordle’s developer. Wordle’s New York Times acquisition a “huge rip off”? As you can see in the since-deleted tweet, zachshakked did not mince words about the deal’s price point. He responded emphatically to the news: “Wow, low seven figures is a huge rip off for Josh.” Going further, he revealed that his clone of the popular app was already pacing toward $50,000 daily in revenue. With that, and the market, in mind, Zach claimed “that figure could’ve been $100K+, which means this was worth over $100 million.” The New York Times, already having a monopoly on crosswords puzzles, has bought Wordle for the ‘low seven figures’ pic.twitter.com/ODW2iaurfu — Dexerto (@Dexerto) January 31, 2022 Of course, the legitimacy of these numbers can’t be verified, but it does raise an interesting concern. While Wordle’s creator was evidently content to sell the game for the reported price tag, Zach seems to think the New York Times got an absolute bargain. It will be interesting to see where the popular word game goes from here. If it’s capable of pulling in $100,000 daily, while remaining free, one has to wonder if NYT will even need to turn it into a pay-to-play game.

Will Apple or Disney really try to buy Activision? Activision Blizzard‘s share price has been in sharp decline throughout the start of 2019, potentially making it a “takeover target” for the likes of Disney and Apple. Investment advisor Nick Licouris, of Gerber Kawasaki, thinks Walt Disney Inc. should be interested in a takeover of Activision Blizzard, especially given their ties already through the Overwatch League. They already televise the Overwatch League through ESPN, Disney XD, and ABC, and Licouris thinks that Disney’s potential to take esports to TV would match perfectly with Activision’s own esports projects. Disney aren’t the only ones being advised to takeover Activision Blizzard though, as JPMorgan also highlighted the game company as a potential asset for Apple Inc. back in February, because it would “leverage to an industry rapidly transitioning to mobile.” Licouris said “Ideally for an investor you want this to happen now,” speaking of the the potential for Disney to purchase Activision. Investment firm Kawasaki already owns around 90,000 Activision shares, worth approximately $4.3 million, according to Bloomberg. However, Disney’s history with the game industry might put them off, after failed projects with Playdom and Club Penguin. Now, they simply license their characters to publishers like EA to make the games. In February, Disney CEO Bob Iger said “We’ve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space is licensing and not publishing,” meaning a move to takeover Activision might not be in their immediate plans. Apple, however, has been taking their interest in gaming up a notch. The recently announced Apple Arcade, a subscription service set to launch with over 100 original games, is coming in Fall 2019. Despite a 43% drop in Stock, Activision’s market value is still at a hefty $37 billion, so it would be a major decision for even the likes of Apple or Disney. Both companies could have some serious interest though, be it Disney’s penchant for story-telling and televising transposing to esports, or Apple’s interest in the mobile gaming market, which continues to expand rapidly. Activision Blizzard is best known for popular titles like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. They also acquired King in 2016, which makes the popular mobile game Candy Crush. Even though share value has been in decline, they will expect an upswing later in the year as new releases come out, particularly the launch of Modern Warfare, the newest Call of Duty title.

Why Fortnite’s overpriced Balenciaga collection is a W for gaming Epic Games / BalenciagaIt doesn’t matter if people think gaming is cool or not, because it doesn’t have to be cool. Gaming can just be gaming, and Balenciaga’s Fortnite collection, all thousands upon thousands of dollars of it, is living, luxurious proof of that mantra. For years, the stereotypical image of a gamer wasn’t a sexy and inspiring one. Doritos fingers, mountains of empty Mountain Dew bottles, maybe some concerns over body odor — encapsulating terms like “nerd,” “geek,” and “dweeb” conjured unceremonious imagery. The American gamer was most certainly not seen as someone entrenched in haute couture, let alone represented by foremost luxury fashion houses. But, against that backdrop of cultural malaise, we now have a $725 hoodie marked with Balenciaga’s logo, Fortnite’s logo, and a Fortnite location (Retail Row). And, somehow, it just makes sense. Balenciaga x Fortnite Gamers might react to Balenciaga’s Fortnite collection by clowning the price points. Fashionistas might wonder why such a basic logo has been slapped on, seemingly sans any design work. From $395 hats to $1,290 denim jackets, all with Fortnite’s generic branding tossed on, the collection feels like an expensive version of Balenciaga basics. But minimalism is the Balenciaga way, while refusing to dress up the game’s branding is a testament to where gaming culture stands and where it’s going… and, apparently, where it stands is in Paris, France couture studios, and among Twitter’s hottest topics. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and the olden days of luxury gaming In the past, if a cartoony video game had wanted to collaborate with a luxury fashion house founded in 1919 San Sebastian, Spain — you can be sure it would have cost a lot of money and would not have looked like this. The designers would have begrudgingly taken inspiration from the game and produced odes to it, with the final product screaming “video game, but make it fashion.” The over-designed and over-subtle markings of Louis Vuitton’s League of Legends and Gucci’s 100 Thieves collections, respectively, may come to mind here. But that’s not what happened with Balenciaga and Fortnite, because gaming doesn’t need to be designed around or seamlessly hidden to be culturally palatable anymore. It already is. When asked about the collection, Balenciaga Creative Director Demna Gvasalia said that the relationship was born out of using Unreal Engine to showcase the Fall 2021 collection and that, “from there, we have continued to be inspired by the creativity of Unreal and Fortnite communities.” Balenciaga’s respect through brutalism For Balenciaga, whose ethos has become synonymous with elevated culture, that inspiration doesn’t require manipulation. If you think back to the Bernie Sanders-inspired collection, the brand took a movement and plastered it into couture at face value — without any fluff. Now, they’re doing the same with Fortnite: Imprinting a social phenomenon on high fashion wares, without any concern for subtlety and perceived trendiness. Bernie’s brand of discourse started as a niche political movement, Fortnite’s popularity started in the world of teenage gamers. Both gained enough momentum to find a home imprinted on the homepage of the world’s trendiest luxury brand. If I see someone in a £365 balenciaga fortnite t shirt I am setting fire to them pic.twitter.com/g9AB1ZfPEC — Memeulous (@Memeulous) September 20, 2021 If gamers and the fashionable are on opposite sides of a venn diagram, the brutalist design of this collection proves their intersection has grown too wide to be ignored. Neither pole’s gatekeeping diehards should like this collection. It’s for the people in the middle. Each day, gaming moves from the outskirts of society toward the center, and this collaboration reflects a moment in time for that trajectory. You don’t need to think it’s designed well or priced appropriately — it is luxury fashion, after all. Whether ironic, ambitious, or simply an easy cash grab, the rich and the tastemakers are openly embracing Fortnite and that’s a W for the gaming industry.

What is Dogecoin? The influencer-backed meme cryptocurrency dominating social media Ryzhi/Atsuko SatoIt’s been an unprecedented start to the year — GameStop shares skyrocketed through a coordinated push from meme-loving Redditors, which led to trading apps restricting trading on the company to protect Wall Street. With this crackdown came the rise of another meme: Dogecoin. The phenomenon behind these movements is that social media users, many of whom are not serious traders at all, all got behind a common cause to fight against traditional institutions. The majority are in it for the collective meme rather than the potential financial upside, something we’ve never seen before on this scale. As with all things on social media, things moved fast with the GameStop meme that looked to push its stock price “to the moon.” From the value rising from $4.13 to $492.02 in just a year, to brokers deciding to interject to protect hedge funds, a lot has happened. Dexerto has covered the entire $GME stock saga to keep you in the know. With the capabilities of meme traders in flux, albeit for an unknown amount of time, a lot of social media users are being ushered towards the next meme by influencers. Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was started as a joke, is now on the rise. But what exactly is it and why is it on the up? What is Dogecoin? With no cap on the supply of the cryptocurrency, Dogecoin is an interesting case. Conceived as a joke between software engineers Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus as a means of parodying the rise of “altcoins,” the currency is being legitimized through the sudden uptake. Dogecoin, despite being a meme, actually has a function: it can be used to tip people on social media as a means of rewarding them for creating interesting content. It’s based on other cryptocurrencies, namely Litecoin and Luckycoin, but the ethos behind it now is being a more accessible, less controversial digital currency. It features the famous meme that rose to prominence in 2013, which was based on a photo of a Shiba Inu dog taken by its unsuspecting, innocent owner. Internet users highjacked the image, which frames the dog in an expressive pose, adding two-word phrases in the Comic Sans font for comedic effect. Why is Dogecoin going up? A lot of the social media users that got behind the GameStop meme are now transferring their attention to the next in-joke, and it’s at least partly down to influential figures pointing them in that direction. People have seen what can be done if they collectively get behind an initiative, and they want to have fun while doing it. It’s peak internet. Influencers from all corners of the internet are banding together in an attempt to raise the price of Dogecoin, but perhaps the most celebrated endorsement thus far is from the founder of Tesla and SpaceX himself, Elon Musk. Reddit and Twitter users have set an arbitrary goal for the cryptocurrency to hit a value of $1 per coin. At the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap, it has risen astronomically in the past 24 hours — however, this only values it at just under $0.07. The likes of long-time gamer and entertainment FaZe Banks and YouTuber Corinna Kopf have also gotten behind the meme-inspired currency and, if social media users have proven anything in the past few days, it’s that they can’t be underestimated. Dogecoin to the moon? Probably so, but only until the next thing comes along.

Walmart & Microsoft set to bid for TikTok for as much as $30 billion Pexels / Microsoft / WalmartWalmart has revealed it will be teaming up with Microsoft in a bid to buy TikTok, amid ongoing confusion about the immensely popular app’s place in the US market. Walmart now joins the list of several companies interested in buying the company, including Oracle. TikTok has plans to sell its operations in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada in a deal that is predicted to be worth $20-30 billion, as reported by CNBC, and the buyer could be announced in the next few days. On August 6th, Trump signed an executive order that bans TikTok owners Bytedance from making any transactions in the US starting September 20th. This came after concerns grew about the app’s use of data, and its origin in the Chinese capital of Beijing. As tensions with China have grown, so have the suspicions of TikTok harvesting user data. TikTok was formerly musical.ly and didn’t break into mainstream knowledge until 2019. Rapid and exponential growth over the course of 2019 and 2020 saw the app break into the top 10 most downloaded social media apps of the year. A new wave of celebrities emerged from the new platform, who have amassed millions of followers, including Charli D’Amelio to Addison Rae. In addition, entire brands are being built on the back of TikTok fame. It was previously reported that Walmart was working with Softbank to put in a bid for TikTok, which was resisted by the US government because a cloud technology backbone component was required. Walmart’s shares have grown 3% since it announced its joint bid with Microsoft. In a statement, Walmart said: “We believe a potential relationship with TikTok US in partnership with Microsoft could add this key functionality and provide Walmart with an important way for us to reach and serve omnichannel customers as well as grow our third-party marketplace and advertising businesses. “We are confident that a Walmart and Microsoft partnership would meet both the expectations of US TikTok users while satisfying the concerns of US government regulators.” Earlier today, TikTok’s CEO Kevin Mayer announced his resignation following a leak reported by the Financial Times. His resignation was initially planned to coincide with news of TikTok’s sale agreement, but it was pushed forward.

WallStreetBets founder tells Logan Paul why GameStop boom is ‘pissing off’ Wall Street YouTube, @Impaulsive / Reddit, r/wallstreetbetsOn the latest Impaulsive podcast episode, Logan Paul brought on the WallStreetBets subreddit founder to discuss the GameStop boom, Robinhood drama, and why it’s all infuriating Wall Street hegemons. While he may not be as active as he once was on Reddit, Jaime Rogozinski founded the r/wallstreetbets (r/WSB) subreddit and remains entrenched in the community. Well-aware of the WSB forum’s history, he provides a nuanced perspective that Paul deemed useful for the ongoing GameStop investment drama. In the past week, WSB and affiliated TikTok communities have propelled skyrocketing GameStop ($GME) prices along with other poorly performing companies (e.g. AMC Theatres, Nokia, Blackberry) that hedge funds thought they could comfortably short. Without diving too deeply into the specifics, these retail investors across the internet are treating traditional traders to an unprecedented short squeeze and drama has unfolded. As hedge funds react and apps like Robinhood shut down trading, Rogozinski joined the Impaulsive podcast and explained precisely why these market fluctuations are infuriating Wall Street. Noting the seemingly frivolous nature of WSB, specifically “doge,” the “little meme dog” and “stonks,” co-host Mike Majlak asks Rogozinski if there’s an added dimension to the recent drama. Outside of simply making money or even exposing issues with financial institutions, Majlak wonders if the internet’s behavior is unnerving Wall Street. And Rogozinski’s response is undoubtedly in the affirmative. “Absolutely it’s got to piss these people off. They had to go and learn about discounted cash flows … and get these certifications. And these guys are sitting there going ‘Haha, my Tesla has a ludicrous button’ … and then they make a funny TikTok video and then they make money.” Past the “poetic justice” and “feel-good story” of upending traditional financial structures as the lower classes exploit the billionaire class for money, Rogozinski argues that the silly nature of internet behavior is personally unsettling for Wall Street’s “old-timers.” https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1354862517902827521 When you listen to reactions from hedge fund billionaires like Leon Cooperman, Rogozinski’s point is aptly reinforced. The rocket and moon emojis, trending Twitter hashtags and “hold the line” memes have all constituted joking on the internet while affecting real business. As for the angry, traditional investors who are spelling doom for retail traders who are at risk of ‘losing their shirt’ because they’re not as experienced, on behalf of the internet, Rogozinski is unfazed. “Well, they haven’t lost their shirt yet and it’s been a while since they’ve been doing this — long before GameStop. And the fact is, their little funny pictures are having an effect.”

Chinese esports organizer VSPN raises $100m in Tencent-led investment VSPNChinese conglomerate Tencent has led an investment round for VSPN, a leading esports tournament organiser in China, which totalled $100m. [jwplayer R6p1wjEO] VSPN started out hosting the King Pro League, a leading competition for Honor of Kings, in 2016, but they have expanded from mobile games quickly. The $100m Series B funding round for VSPN also saw participation from Tiantu Capital, Susquehanna International Group, and Kuaishou. This is the first round of funding that the tournament organizer has sought since the initial investment they received when launching four years ago. The money will go towards building an esports research institute, an esports culture park, and fueling further growth for their hosting efforts. VSPN will also look to expand their content creation capabilities, including “building an esports short-form video ecosystem.” Even before raising $100m, the company has witnessed explosive growth. In 2016, they hosted events for CrossFire, Hearthstone, League of Legends, Honor of Kings, and Battle of Balls. The next year, they established themselves as a leader in the Chinese esports market, continuing with the aforementioned titles and even hosting Riot Games’ prestigious LPL. In 2018, VSPN expanded into Greater China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. This included hosting events for major titles such as PUBG Mobile and FIFA Online, as well as League of Legends’ Rift Rivals competition for teams across the LPL, LCK, and LMS. “Tencent is glad to support VSPN,” said Mars Hou, general manager of Tencent Esports. “VSPN’s long-term company vision and leading position in esports production is vital for Tencent to optimise the layout of the esports industry’s development.” With Tencent owning 100% of Riot Games, 40% of Epic Games, and smaller percentages in many other game developers, VSPN may have an easier time than most in terms of expanding considering their new investor could provide opportunities with major titles like League of Legends and Fortnite.

Virtual Bundesliga scores ESL partnership to enhance FIFA esports VBL/ESLGerman Football League, the professional body for football in the nation, has established a partnership with ESL. [jwplayer q2PHNyT5] The deal will see ESL work to enhance the Virtual Bundesliga, the esports equivalent of the top flight of football in Germany. The competition was launched in 2012 and has drafted in ESL to “further expand and professionalize” the production. The tournament organizer will assume control over the entire media production for the Virtual Bundesliga and its spin-off competitions. They will create a virtual studio for “featured matches,” which will see clubs from both the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 battle it out. Additionally, ESL will provide social media support for the VBL Club Championship — the final leg of the simulated sports league — which starts on November 10. The German Football League has also awarded “extensive media rights” to ESL for the esports competition and welcomes the idea of licensing the rights to distribution partners. All 26 VBL Club Championship teams have received the rights to stream and report their games on their own social media channels, as part of the agreement. “EFootball has been an integral part of the esports community and the ESL for many years,” said Ralf Reichert, the co-CEO of ESL. “Together with the DFL, Germany’s most important sports league, we want to develop the VBL into a renowned sports league take it to the next level. We can transfer the emotions and values of football authentically into the digital world and make the Virtual Bundesliga accessible to everyone – whether as a fan or athlete.” Noch 1⃣ Woche bis zum ersten Spieltag der #VBLCC 🔜 Auf welche Auftaktpartie freut ihr euch am meisten? 👀 pic.twitter.com/C2ajeq62ac — VBL | WOW VIRTUAL BUNDESLIGA (@vbl_official) November 3, 2020 The Virtual Bundesliga is a collaborative effort between the German Football League and EA, the publisher of FIFA. EA also work with the likes of the English Premier League, the Danish Superliga, the French Ligue 1, the Spanish La Liga, and the American MLS to host esports-equivalent competitions.

Belong and Esports Engine owners Vindex announce new CFO Keith Siegner VindexEsports infrastructure company Vindex have hired former Yum! Brands executive Keith Siegner as their new chief financial officer, leading financial operations across the board. Vindex operate Belong Gaming Arenas, a network of local LAN areas across the United Kingdom, and esports operations company Esports Engine. In his new role, Siegner will be responsible for the finance operations of all facets of the business. The company was founded by MLG co-founders Mike Sepso and Sundance DiGiovanni, as well as Bryan Binder and Jason Garmise, in October 2019. They launched with $60m in their back pocket thanks to a Series A funding round. Their new CFO has plenty of experience outside of esports, previously serving as the vice president of investor relations and mergers & acquisitions at Yum! Brands, a fast-food corporation that operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and other popular chains. Beyond excited for @EsportsEng to be the global management partner for HCS @Halo ! We’ll be working with the 343 team to help advise and operate their roadmap! GGs https://t.co/9KnUm3w1k7 — Adam Apicella (@MrAdamAp) February 27, 2021 Vindex and their sub-companies are said to have doubled their collective workforce in the past year. In a press release, it’s claimed that Esports Engine produced over 700 tournament broadcast days in 2020. When Vindex acquired GAME’s Belong Gaming Arena brand in July 2020, they announced intentions to invest $300m in the next five years to establish many more arenas both in the UK and in the United States. With major investments being made across the board, Vindex will need the expertise and experience of Siegner as they continue to grow their operations. “We are successfully building a world-class leadership team that is executing at the highest level in the midst of a growth cycle and global expansion,” said Vindex CEO Mike Sepso. “Keith’s extensive experience of building a global financial organization at a publicly-traded company will be an invaluable resource to us as we continue to grow our company and business operations.”

Valve Starts New Reward Scheme Which Pays Hackers to Identify Exploits and Vulnerabilities Valve have rolled out a new bounty scheme which will reward people that find and report any security exploits in their various services and networks with cash. Sometimes referred to as “bug bounties”, security schemes that reward “ethical hackers” with cash have proven to be successful for numerous big companies in recent years. When we say big, we mean big, Everyone from Google to Apple has started to run similar programs which attempt to stop hackers from leaking information elsewhere by offering a cash incentive if the hacker follows their guidelines and only reports exploits to them. Believe it or not these bug bounties have proven to be extremely successful and now Valve have decided to throw their hat into the ring with a number of different rewards available depending on the severity of the exploit. Valve are using HackerOne for the new bount scheme and say “We are running this HackerOne bounty program to reward researchers for identifying potential vulnerabilities.” The various rewards for exploits range from $200 to $3,000 and can come from any of the domains or services listed in the scope below. Scope The current scope is limited to the domains and pieces of software listed here: steampowered.com, steamcommunity.com, steamgames.com, valvesoftware.com, counter-strike.net, dota2.com, teamfortress.com and sub-domains, excluding domains explicitly removed in the scope section below – Steam Client for Windows, Mac and Linux – Steam command line utility (SteamCMD) – SteamOS – Steamworks SDK – Steam mobile app on iOS and Android – Steam Servers – Valve game titles – Multiplayer and in-game economy aspects of Valve game titles and dedicated game servers – Please note that game bugs, glitches or gameplay exploits are not part of the bug bounty program, but can still be submitted on our Support site. No authorization is given to test any other web applications, game titles or mobile applications. No bounties will be given for any disclosures relating to any applications outside the scope of this program. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the HackerOne page and see just how many exploits are found and fixed in the coming months. According to the website, over $100,000 has already been paid out and 39 hackers have already been “thanked” (which presumably means they identified an exploit). The payout table can be found below.

Valkyrae speechless after merch sales shatter expectations in one day Twitter: ValkyraeInfluencers and content creators are always looking for ways to further monetize their brands and selling merchandise is one of the more common ways of doing so; 100 Thieves co-owner and influencer Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter has just revealed how lucrative this can be. Often referred to as the “Queen of YouTube,” Valkyrae is one of the most popular content creators and streamers out there. As well as streaming and starring in videos and campaigns for 100 Thieves, she serves as a co-owner of the popular organization, after acquiring equity in April 2021. While these activities no doubt help Valkyrae to bolster her earnings as a creator, she also launched her long-awaited, revamped merchandise line for her fans to don and, as she revealed in a tweet, there’s plenty of interest from her ardent supporters. “Woke up to over 20,000 merch orders in the first day,” the popular creator revealed on September 25. woke up to over 20,000 merch orders in the first day.. 0_____o i’m speechless— RAE (@Valkyrae) September 25, 2021 How much did Valkyrae’s merch make? If each and every order was for the lowest-priced product, a t-shirt valued at $30, then the merch drop would have generated $600,000 in revenue in a single day. Of course, it’s highly improbable that fans only bought the cheapest item on offer. To give a better idea of the floor of what she could have generated in those 24 hours, calculating the average price of the products available ($47.78) produces a total revenue of $955,600. There’s a high chance that some fans ordered more than one item too — one Twitter user ordered every item for a total of $440, for example — so the generated revenue is likely to be well over $1m. Valkyrae worked with influencer clothing company Revolt to bring this new line to life, with hopes of “diverging from the standard digital creator career path by focusing on the business side of the industry and investing away from streaming.” The line was made available for purchase on September 24 and, according to a tweet, will only be available for one week. After that, these products will be “gone forever.” This strategy is similar to the exclusive approach used by 100T, though they recently generated $2.5m from their new always-available ‘Foundations’ line in the first month. MY MERCH IS AVAILABLE NOW!!! WORLDWIDE SHIPPING XS – 5XL Limited for one week then gone forever!https://t.co/jnNmZ9thbQ pic.twitter.com/q6wA5WViDt— RAE (@Valkyrae) September 24, 2021 Alongside launching her new merch line, Valkyrae has had a busy year. As well as becoming a co-owner of 100 Thieves, she signed an exclusive broadcasting deal with YouTube, became one of 2021’s most-watched female content creators, and appeared in music videos for Corpse Husband and Bella Poarch.

Valkyrae & CouRage become 100 Thieves co-owners alongside Nadeshot & Drake 100 Thieves100 Thieves content creators Valkyrae and CourageJD have officially joined founder Nadeshot as co-owners of the renowned esports organization they’ve been so pivotal to building. Within days of launching yet another highly anticipated apparel collection and even some intriguing NFTs (non-fungible tokens), 100 Thieves have now made another huge announcement: Rachel ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter and Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop have become co-owners of the brand. As founder Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag explains in the announcement video, “this is probably the most important day in 100 Thieves history.” And understandably so, as Valkyrae and CouRage have become synonymous with the 100T brand, driving its content and growing its audience alongside Nadeshot. In their announcement video, the three close friends sat together to discuss the business move and express excitement over how far they have come as a trio. All stemming from humble beginnings, moving toward co-ownership is a path that feels incredibly natural to all 100T fans. “Looking back, I just feel like it’s been such a long journey. And now being, not just a co-owner, but a female co-owner, like how did this even happen! It just feels like everything just played out so unbelievably well.” As Valkyrae explains, this move is a major one personally and speaks to her growth and status as a role model in the gaming community. CouRage, too, as a longstanding friend of Nade with similar origins in the FPS (first-person-shooter) esports scene, expressed serious delight about this new change: “It’s been an incredible journey and it’s been my honor … and it’s exciting because I know this is just the beginning.” 21 years ago, I got my first ever gaming console. 13 years ago, I went to my first gaming event. 6 years ago, I got my first gaming job as an unpaid intern. Today, I became a co-owner of one of the biggest gaming organizations in the world. We’re just getting started too. — Jack “CouRage” Dunlop (@CouRageJD) April 7, 2021 While the exact details of each content creator’s journey would take too long to write out here, the summarization is a simple one. Both Valkyrae and CouRage have taken long roads to get to where they are today and, given how key their relationships with each other and Nadeshot have been, they are immensely proud and honored to legitimize their ties to 100 Thieves with a business partnership. By joining on as co-owners of the esports org, Valkyrae and CouRage now join an already-established set of investors and brand partners for one of gaming’s biggest names. From Nadeshot to investors from the music world, like Drake and Scooter Braun, 100 Thieves continues to entrench themselves in the industry. Now, fans can eagerly await a presumed shift in Nadeshot’s power dynamics when the content house starts putting out new videos. As CouRage notes in his tweet, “we’re just getting started.”

TikTok allowed to continue in US after Walmart partnership via NeedPix / Tik TokThe United States president announced a new deal that would allow TikTok to continue running in the country as the company reached an agreement with Oracle and Wal-Mart to keep its operations alive. TikTok was scheduled to be removed from app stores and future update considerations in the US on Sunday, September 20, after the Trump administration initially issued an executive order on August 6 to investigate the social site’s security. On September 14, Oracle became the favorites to take over the app’s operations in the United States, after TikTok parent-company, Bytedance, turned down Microsoft’s $30 billion bid. Now the President of the United States said that the viral app will continue after approving the new deal. “TikTok is moving along,” the president announced on Saturday. “We’re dealing with Oracle and Wal-Mart. The security will be 100%, they will be using separate clouds and a lot of very, very powerful security.” https://twitter.com/sftynetwork/status/1307447217729540096?s=21 He also said that a new company will form in Texas that will be shaped by US-based entities, although the name of the app will remain unchanged for the time being. The announcement just means that he is essentially “giving (his) blessing” to a proposed deal between the three companies, although no details have been released. “I have given the deal my blessing, if they get it done that’s great, if they don’t that’s okay too,” the President said. “I approved the deal in concept.” Oracle provides cloud infrastructure for services and would presumably take over those operations for the app if a deal is reached. Meanwhile, throughout the negotiation process, Wal-Mart had maintained that it was interested in investing in TikTok. TikTok issues a statement after it was announced that it could resume in the US after the concerns over security issues. “As part of this proposal, Oracle will become our trusted technology provider, responsible for hosting all US user data and securing associated computer systems to ensure US national security requirements are fully satisfied,” the company said. Wal-Mart is expected to become a commercial partner for TikTok as part of the discussions. TikTok stars like Charli D’Amelio, Chase Hudson, and more expressed their concern for a potential ban. Many made videos asking for the government to reconsider and were met with thousands of fans voicing their support for the site. The full shutdown of TikTok was going to come a couple of months after the deadline on November 12 if a deal could not be reached. This is great news for fans of the app, and interested parties will await the details of the deal between Bytedance, Oracle, and Wal-Mart to keep the app on in the US.

US government investigates CEO Bobby Kotick over Activision Blizzard allegations Activision-Blizzard / Pexels: Sora ShimazakiAs the US federal government’s investigation into misconduct allegations against Activision Blizzard builds, employees like Bobby Kotick have reportedly been subpoenaed by the SEC. Activision Blizzard’s allegations have ranged from sexual misconduct to union busting, with the Securities and Exchange Commission involved in the process and taking steps to investigate the popular company. Now, as reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Kirsten Grind and Sarah E. Needleman, sources claim the SEC are subpoenaing CEO Bobby Kotick, among other senior Activision Blizzard executives. A series of allegations were spurred by accusations of a “pervasive frat boy culture” in the Californian government’s lawsuit against the gaming company. On September 20, this latest development illustrates the SEC’s growing involvement. SEC investigating Activision-Blizzard & CEO Bobby Kotick The SEC is investigating Activision Blizzard over sexual misconduct allegations and improper disclosures, the WSJ reports. It has subpoenaed Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick among others https://t.co/HPZAV6G2ik pic.twitter.com/l7GxhC0jzj — Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 20, 2021 As shared by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, the SEC has joined the investigation and has subpoenaed Kotick and others. In doing so, the federal government is specifically requesting information and cooperation from the company’s highest-level representatives to court over the aforementioned misconduct allegations. After the initial California lawsuit, further legal cases have emerged. Activision Blizzard’s first response was described as “abhorrent,” with employees proceeding to go on strike and publicly critique the publicly traded company. In the few months since, Activision Blizzard’s franchised leagues — the Call of Duty and Overwatch Leagues — have both lost a variety of sponsors, seemingly related to the growing legal troubles. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the SEC is now investigating Activision Blizzard over the allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace inequality. WSJ also reports that the SEC has subpoenaed Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, along with other senior executives. — CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) September 20, 2021 Additionally, Blizzard president J. Allen Brack’s resignation was not enough to satisfy concerns over the company’s culture, as more cases emerged. With the federal labor complaint lodged by employees over “union busting” and a lawsuit over “false and misleading” behavior by shareholders, the company is under the microscope. Now, with the WSJ’s latest report, it appears that the SEC is holding said microscope toward Kotick and Activision Blizzard’s top brass.

UK gambling watchdog says loot boxes are not considered gambling With much debate over loot boxes in recent months and whether they are considered gambling, the UK gambling watchdog’s recent ruling is sure to throw things for a loop. According to a report by the BBC, MPs were told by the gambling watchdog that it does not consider loot boxes or FIFA packs to be gambling because it has no way to monetize what is inside of them. Loot boxes are similar to a package of trading cards because the buyer has no idea about its contents (aside from what it could potentially contain) until it is opened. The items could range from skins for a character, weapons, upgrades, or skills. Currently, there is no official monetary value for the items inside of a loot box. However, there are third-party sites where users can buy and sell in-game content. Read More: EA calls loot boxes “ethical and enjoyable” – “There is unquestionably a demand for a secondary market,” Gambling Commission program director Brad Enright said. In particular, he said that EA, the publisher of FIFA, faces “a constant battle” against third party marketplaces. Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McCarthur said that while there were concerns over children playing video games in which there was an element of chance, under the current legislation they were not considered gambling. “There are other examples of things that look and feel like gambling that legislation tells you are not…” he said while speaking at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee. “…but because they have free play or free entry they are not gambling.” This is in stark contrast to Belgium’s 2018 ruling in which the Belgian Gaming Commission declared that loot boxes are considered gambling. As a result, Blizzard removed loot boxes from its titles Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission will be holding a workshop on August 7, 2019, to examine loot boxes and consumer protection issues associated with them. Additionally, Valve is being sued by the Quinault Nation, an indigenous American tribe, for “encouraging illegal gambling” through loot boxes. “The creation of skins was a deliberate attempt by Valve to increase its sales and profits by adding an element of gambling and market economies to its product,” the suit claims. “Valve is well aware of the skins gambling that goes on, is well aware that skins have real world cash value, which has increased their popularity and value, and actively encourages and facilitates skins gambling.” What do you think about loot boxes? Do you think they’re gambling? Let us know on Twitter.

Twitch updates safety protocols to combat harassment during Black History Month TwitchTwitch announced a new round of safety protocol measures for Black History Month weeks after the company outlined how it would combat harassment and hate raids in 2022. Streamers participating in the Black History Month celebrations on Twitch will have a few more protections against harassment as the platform continues to evolve its security against malicious viewers. The streaming giant revealed that they’ve bolstered Twitch’s systems for Black History Month broadcasters, though didn’t outline specifics for what had been improved or implemented. Dexerto has reached out to Twitch for clarification. Usually, Twitch updates the filters for their automatic systems to flag words, phrases, or behavior that aim to detect harassment as it’s happening. The company has been reacting to a wave of hate raids in the last few years. The situation boiled over in mid-2021 when #TwitchDoBetter began trending to bring the problem to their attention. Days later, Twitch responded with a series of tweets acknowledging the problem and promising better protections after issuing an update to its proactive filters while integrating channel-level bans. Since then, features have been added to the streaming platform in an attempt to quell hostility from random online viewers with the addition of Phone Verified Chat. It was later revealed that Twitch was suing two alleged perpetrators who were “targeting Black and LGBTQIA+ streamers with racist, homophobic, sexist and other harassing content.” Read more: Is getting DMCA banned the new Twitch meta? – But the company is still running into issues in curbing targeted harassment. At the tail end of 2021, another instance of hate raids, this time against popular streamer Pokimane, once again raised calls for improvements to the system. Twitch announced different initiatives in the month of February to put a spotlight on Black creators and are relying on their new rounds of security measures to provide a safe space for all.

Twitch staff accused of tricking streamer into promoting brands The Black Hokage / TwitchTwitch streamers are speaking out against the broadcasting platform for attempting to promote brands within individual chats. Content creators are slamming the practice, especially since they have no control of removing the adverts from their channel. One longtime YouTuber and Twitch streamer who goes by ‘The Black Hokage’ noticed a staffer had dropped a message in his Chat. The purpose of the text, sent by ‘newcryka,’ was to have the streamer acknowledge the listed brand with 400 Bits attached to the post. He immediately took issue with the move: “Yo, are you promoting something?… You got a Twitch staff symbol next to your name, are you promoting sh*t in my Chat?” After posting the interaction on Twitter, more streamers slammed the apparent unsolicited advertisement from the streaming platform. I see some new faces accusing me of photoshopping & trying to start drama. I have no reason to lie. Anyone who knows me knows I stay out the way. So here’s the vod w/ Twitch staff in my chat trying to trick me into promoting some company with a bit donation during my workout https://t.co/EYBqNG33uO pic.twitter.com/NoqOyyEC6l — The Black Hokage (@TheBlackHokage) October 7, 2020 “Creators beware! Twitch staff is now going around donating spare change in an attempt to trick you into shouting out brands without proper compensation. Don’t fall for it,” The Black Hokage said. Twitch partner and viral streamer ‘negaoryx’ responded: “Which is great, because we can’t moderate anything said by Twitch staff in chat, so we can’t even purge it… great…” There is a function that lets people ‘/Clear’ their channels messaging log, which lets “broadcasters and chat moderators to completely wipe the previous chat history.” This feature doesn’t apply to messages from Twitch staff accounts. However the means, content creators and the wider Twitch community got an indication that the streaming platform could experience more intrusive marketing campaigns. Some believe that The Black Hokage’s clip could have been a Twitch advertisement staff member testing out a new form of social engagement tactics meant for branding – and the thought isn’t unfounded. In early August, an outside company released how its latest marketing scheme made use of Twitch’s donation alerts to get a branded sound bite played on a streamer’s channel. Their video showed multiple instances of a Twitch account surprising streamers by donating $5 to get a brand’s name and current offerings played on their page. The idea was immediately chastised for its way of engaging in promotion and sponsorship for a company without consulting or locking a paid deal with the individual streamer. However, despite inevitable backlash, advertisers are still trying out new methods of outreach. The Amazon-owned streaming site has been incorporating more ways to engage audiences with branding promotions and advertisements. “Twitch video and display media, as well as new Twitch audiences, are now available for inclusion in Amazon Advertising campaigns, and Amazon audiences are available for inclusion in Twitch campaigns,” Amazon wrote. “We’re delighted to share that we are combining Twitch’s hard-to-reach and highly engaged audiences with Amazon Advertising’s integrated full-funnel advertising offering. Days after Amazon announced it had added Twitch to its Amazon Advertising portfolio, the streaming site announced it was testing out mid-roll ads for channels. This too was vehemently criticized by everyone from Twitch streamers to viewers, and the idea was later abandoned. A feature that hasn’t gone back to the drawing board has been the picture-in-picture mode for ads that minimizes and mutes the main stream while playing a fullscreened promotion. This too was received with angst from viewers. Twitch’s latest attempt at finding a more engaging way to introduce ads to its reported 17.5 million daily users has, again, created ire from its partnered content creators. As Amazon and Twitch continue to create advertising solutions for its highly-valuable and impressionable audiences, the platform’s streamers will be on the lookout for more marketing tactics that look to benefit off of their communities.

Twitch introduce phone verification to combat bot & hate raids in chat Twitch, Pexels, Tracy Le BlancTwitch have introduced a new option for streamers to combat bot and hate raids in their chat. To lessen the flow of unwelcome chatters, the platform’s new tool lets streamers require email or SMS phone verification for participation in chat. Over the past month, Twitch streams have been swamped by waves of bots and hate raids — all with differing, but ultimately reprehensible purposes. Twitch’s inaction in response to these situations prompted backlash from the community, including a September 1 boycott of the platform. But, after suing some hate raiders and announcing plans to combat the bad actors, a new tool launched on September 29. Calling it “Verified Chat” in their blog, Twitch have confirmed a phone and email verification tool that had previously been leaked. Twitch introduce “Verified Chat” Twitch explained the new option in their blog, noting that the platform is “updating our suite of moderation tools by adding phone-verified chat and expanding the settings for email verification.” This feature has been many months in the making, but our work is not done. We’re actively building additional solutions to keep communities on Twitch safe, and welcome your feedback on Uservoice: https://t.co/L40vBSAZH7 — Twitch (@Twitch) September 29, 2021 This action essentially gives streamers the option to restrict users in their chat, but without needing to go as far as using follower or subscriber-only modes. And the response to this change has already been fairly positive. Twitch streamers respond Also, not gonna lie… I’m actually crying setting this up. My settings are in. I feel like I have some form of power back. As I stated before this isn’t the only thing, but it’s MASSIVE. We have been heard, and continue to be heard — We have and will create change https://t.co/m5aiFjjsGE — Raven’s Not Here. (@RavenousTales_) September 29, 2021 A big voice among streamers who are active in the fight for more action against bot and hate raids, ‘RekItRaven,’ tweeted in support of the new change: “I feel like I have some form of power back … We have been heard, and continue to be heard. We have and will create change.” Still, Raven notes that this isn’t the only action needed, but at least a step in the right direction. Twitch is aware that the job isn’t done yet, either, as they explained their stance on “hate and harassment” in the announcement blog: “Curbing this type of behavior is, and will continue to be, a top priority for us.”

TSM parent company’s talent agency explained by ICON managing director ICONNorth American esports team TSM recently topped Forbes’ list of most valuable esports organizations and, whether you trust those valuations or otherwise, it’s clear that their parent company Swift are doing well. Now, the company have added a talent agency to their portfolio. ICON joins TSM and coaching app Blitz under the ownership of Swift, led by managing director Damian Skoczylas, to represent and manage content creators and influencers. TSM, formerly known as Team SoloMid, houses many prominent creators but if they’re represented by an entity that also owns the company that employs them then there are feasible conflict of interest concerns. Dexerto spoke with Skoczylas in an exclusive interview to find out the reason for ICON’s launch, how they’re avoiding potential conflicts of interest, and why the current agency landscape will benefit from their arrival. The inception of ICON “ICON is a completely separate legal entity from TSM, we are wholly independent, but it really came about when some of the TSM influencers were looking for more direct deals,” Skoczylas told Dexerto. “TSM was really structured to focus on team deals and so they created ICON to be able to serve influencers and just build a talent agency business to sign talent across the board.” ICON’s new managing director doesn’t have direct experience in esports and gaming, industries that are underdeveloped in some areas and thriving in others. He does have a breadth of knowledge gained from years of talent management experience, however, and it’s an added benefit that he has worked on deals involving YouTube creators. Swift tapped him to lead their newly-formed agency because of his decade-plus experience in managing talent and delivering solid deals. “They were looking for someone to come in and lead the business that had more of a talent management agency experience,” he said. “I’ve been in the talent business for quite a while, starting with traditional and then shifting over into digital. At my most recent company, we represented influencers mainly in the tech and family verticals on YouTube. I really had my eye on gaming and esports for quite a while so it was really exciting when this opportunity came up.” ICON may actually be a bigger operation than you’d imagine for a brand-new venture, already employing nine people. An agency can get a lot done with little, though their workforce will certainly need to scale as their business does. “We’re structured a little bit more like a sales organization rather than a traditional Hollywood talent agency,” he said. “We have agents, we have account managers who help execute brand deals, and then we have salespeople who go out and find those big deals. Each role participates in some level of sales and then we also have, support staff who help keep the gears moving for us.” With TSM and ICON being held under the same ownership umbrella, there will be questions surrounding their working relationship and just how intertwined they will be. Having good faith and a solid reputation is pivotal for many companies, especially agencies who need trust from clients and major brands alike, so we made it a point to discuss this topic. “There’s a lot of interaction, but ICON is a totally separate legal entity that operates under a specific California state talent agency license,” Skoczylas assured Dexerto. “We will be negotiating contracts and opportunities that come from TSM but we will also come to heads at certain junctures. Our fiduciary duty is to the talent that we represent and not to TSM, nor to the parent company. We all exist in this ecosystem, but we are separate and we will be negotiating against TSM in some cases. “From a high-level standpoint, we call it the separation of church and state. TSM is team-oriented, we are talent-oriented. Any ICON influencer is not beholden to be signed over at TSM and vice versa.” ICON’s roster includes TSM creator Myth, LCS coach Bjergsen, Valorant pro Wardell, Fortnite player ZexRow, 100 Thieves Valorant pro Hiko, and PUBG content creator chocoTaco. Modus operandi With a plethora of talent management agencies already occupying esports and the wider gaming space, ICON needs to bring something new to the table to stand out. Loaded already represents many of the top talents who are prominent today, for example, but that doesn’t mean that they’re a complete service. Whether it’s providing new and unparalleled opportunities or simply offering a better experience for talent, there’s plenty of room for growth. “Our bread and butter is going to be working with influencers but we will also look to represent players where it makes sense,” the agency’s MD said. “A lot of them stream, do YouTube, are active on social media across the board, and also compete. I’ve always been a really big fan of talent development and working with people that we see potential in, though. Given where we are right now, attracting the biggest talent can be a little bit of a challenge. Yes, we’re looking to sign those big names, but we’re really looking to find that sweet spot of people that you truly believe in that we can get behind and help grow. “At the end of the day, we’re a revenue-driven business so we live and die by the deals coming in but we’re a talent development business as well. I’ve worked with massive influencers but my passion is for mid-tier talent that we can really help grow and develop.” So, how exactly does Skoczylas envision Swift’s latest venture developing in the coming months? While he has buckets full of ambition, his years of experience in this line of work comes in handy as it allows him to recognize where ICON currently stands in the marketplace. They need to know their model works before attempting to scale the business. “I would love by 2021 to sign a couple of really big talent and grow the revenue, but I really see us in a building stage,” he said. “There’s a lot of room to grow but really we’re looking at revenue first and foremost, which is just the kind of tried and true brand deals, but we’re also looking at alternative revenue as well. Maybe there’s some potential crossover into hosting for certain talent where it makes sense, launching products with talent, and so on.” ICON already have their north star, guiding them towards making the right decisions and taking on the right people. They have a solid vision of how they can provide value to prospective clients, and it’s nothing farfetched: if they ensure talent and brands are happy, results will come. “We’re really keen to work with brands that our influencers are excited about,” he explained. “Our challenge is to pair the right brand with the right talent so each party wins. I’m sure we’ve all seen the brand deals that just completely flop where you can definitely tell the talent’s heart is not in it. In my past life, I’ve definitely sold a few of those. “We also don’t want to be beholden to one specific category and in one specific thing. We also lean on our talent to let us know what types of things they haven’t worked with, what brands they like, and so on. It could be a beverage that’s outside of the typical sort gaming beverages and energy drinks.” To begin with, the biggest challenge for ICON may well be building up a portfolio of work that demonstrates why they’re a good partner for content creators, influencers, and players alike. There may also be some skepticism surrounding their impartiality due to their shared ownership with TSM, but they certainly seem keen to dispel any doubt.

TSM releases statement as major sponsor FTX files for bankruptcy TSMTSM has released a statement after major naming rights sponsor FTX, who signed a $210 million deal with the esports organization last year, has filed for bankruptcy. The team is looking at the “best next steps to protect” their brand, and touted their financial stability. Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been in the headlines after the major player in the space filed for bankruptcy. While first reporting pointed towards a potential bailout by rival Binance, that deal fell through after analyzing financials. Since then, the exchange has been accused of moving hundreds of millions of dollars in assets in “suspicious circumstances” as CEO Sam Bankman-Fried apologized to the platform’s users for “ending up here.” “Hopefully things can find a way to recover,” he said on November 11 after filing associated FTX brands for bankruptcy. “Hopefully this can bring some amount of transparency, trust, and governance to them.” In the esports world, all eyes turned to TSM. The major North American organization penned what was described as the “largest [deal] in esports history” when they signed a $210 million, ten-year naming rights agreement with FTX. The organization is aware of the FTX collapse, it said in a statement on November 12, while touting its own financial stability even as their major sponsorship collapses. “Along with the rest of the world, TSM has been closely following the situation surrounding FTX,” the organization said. “We have no insight into the matter other than what has been reported publicly. We are currently consulting legal counsel to determine the best next steps to protect our team, staff, fans and players. “To be clear, TSM is built on a solid foundation. We are stable and profitable, and we continue to forecast profitability for this year, next year, and beyond. We look forward to a great year in 2023.” TSM previously alluded to plans of building “a strong footprint within Europe” along with its other global expansions, with FTX’s backing going some way towards that goal. The company has not clarified if these efforts can be continued. The esports team was also not FTX’s only involvement in esports. The exchange penned a seven-year deal with the LCS in August 2021, and also had a one-year agreement with FURIA. Neither have commented on the bankruptcy.

TSM sponsor FTX raise $420m from 69 investors TSM FTXFTX, a crypto exchange that serves as the naming sponsor of North American esports organization TSM, has raised $420m in funding from 69 investors. To be precise, they raised $420,690,000. Nice. FTX have made waves in very little time across sports and esports — sponsoring the likes of esports org TSM, the LCS, Mercedes’ Formula 1 team, and Major League Baseball (MLB) — in part due to the astronomical growth of crypto over the past couple of years. The crypto exchange raised $900m in July 2021 and were subsequently valued at an eye-watering $18b. Now, they’ve raised an additional $420,690,000 in investment capital as part of a Series B funding round. It’s clear that FTX are happy to lean into internet culture and memes, much like technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, even in such an important deal, as it’s no accident that they’ve accepted the funding from exactly 69 investors. They made a name for themselves in esports back in June 2021 through a 10-year naming sponsorship with TSM that’s worth $210m. The org are now known as TSM FTX and the deal is believed to be the biggest the industry has seen to date. FTX expanded their footprint in competitive gaming shortly after by sponsoring the LCS, North America’s premier League of Legends esports competition, in a seven-year agreement. As with the previous investment in July, the newly raised money will allow the crypto exchange to continue with their plans for aggressive plans, presumable sponsoring more companies they see as a sound fit for their company, and to “expand into new jurisdictions.” They’re in: @TomBrady, @GiseleOfficial, @StephenCurry30, @Trevorlawrencee, @mlb, @kevinolearytv, @LCSOfficial, @MiamiHEAT, @riotgames, and @TSM You in? pic.twitter.com/d9LBF1O3hb — FTX (@FTX_Official) September 10, 2021 “FTX is forging the way to create a modern financial system,” said ICONIQ founding partner Divesh Makan, one of the 69 investors. “We admire Sam and the FTX team’s laser focus on product and user experience which we believe has been core to FTX’s success as a leading global crypto exchange. “We are thrilled to partner with them as they leverage their underlying infrastructure to expand into broader financial services and become the exchange of everything.”

TSM reveals results of CEO investigation with Dinh to undergo “executive training” Riot GamesTSM CEO and founder Andy “Reginald” Dinh has released the results of an independent investigation into his conduct towards his staff, after allegations of bullying came to light. Dinh allegedly instilled a “culture of fear” at TSM and the various companies he heads, including Blitz and ICON, according to a report by The Washington Post and the 30-year-old is also being investigated by Riot Games for bullying accusations – via Wired. In a statement Dinh released, along with a link to the investigations finings by the legal firm Gutierrez Marca LLP, he said the instigator found “no evidence of any unlawful behavior on the part of the company, its executives or me personally.” The report echoed Dinh’s statement in its “Investigation” section. “The investigation revealed that there was no unlawful conduct by Mr. Dinh. None of the witnesses interviewed had witnessed or were aware of conduct or derogatory comments aimed at and/or based on any protected characteristic, i.e. gender, race, religion, sexual orientation,” the document said. In a section titled “Remedial Efforts” the firm recommended that the TSM CEO immediately start mandatory executive coaching along with volunteer coaching for other executives. It also states the company is to set up an “anonymous reporting hotline” for employees for future complaints against Swift, TSM’s parent company, executives without fear of losing their jobs. TSM investigation findings According to the investigation findings, Dinh has talked to employees in an “aggressive and harsh tone” and that he has called workers names like “trash.” The report specified that six employees, two of which still work at the company, said that the former League of Legends pro player’s conduct was of a “bully” and that he created a “culture of fear.” “There was one report of an employee crying as a result of Mr. Dinh’s conduct,” the document said. But, the report also said that 25 current employees interviewed did not find that they were working in a toxic workplace. In Dinh’s own statement, he said that his management style is “direct, open and honest” and that as the company has ballooned to its current size his communication style is “not effective at times.” He explained the alleged name calling similarly, saying that when he started TSM with just a few employees that they would often give each other nicknames like “bot.” “I will be more mindful of others and being inclusive while still maintaining a fun culture,” he said in his statement. This investigation started in November of 2021 when an employee made complaints about the TSM CEO’s behavior according to the report. While the investigation was spinning up around that time, former TSM League of Legends player Yilang ‘Doublelift’ Peng publicly accused Dinh of abuse and harassment. Riot Games currently has its own investigation into Dinh by the independent legal firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP. Those finding have yet to be released. This is just the findings of one of TSM’s recent investigations into itself as the organization confirmed recently that a former coach’s inappropriate behavior around his player’s salaries.

TSM naming sponsor FTX in trouble after Binance pulls out of acquisition deal TSM | TwitterCryptocurrency exchange FTX, which struck a naming sponsorship deal with TSM in 2021, was set to be acquired by its biggest rival, Binance. But the deal has collapsed after new information about FTX’s finances came to light. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao had stated on November 8 that his company would “fully acquire FTX.com and help cover the liquidity crunch” for an undisclosed amount — a deal that would bring together the two biggest cryptocurrency exchanges on the planet. Mr. Zhao added that his company would examine FTX’s finances as part of a due diligence review and that it could “pull out from the deal at any time.” That due diligence appears to have shown significant issues with FTX’s financial situation. In a tweet, Binance said that it had pulled out of the deal due to “news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations.” “In the beginning, our hope was to be able to support FTX’s customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to help,” Binance added. In the past few days, FTX “has been scrambling to meet a surge of withdrawal requests,” The New York Times reported on November 8. The news of FTX’s financial issues comes less than 18 months after the cryptocurrency exchange agreed to a ten-year naming rights deal with TSM worth $210 million. As part of the agreement, TSM’s teams across various games would compete under the name TSM FTX. But shortly afterward, it was revealed that TSM would not be able to promote FTX in League of Legends and VALORANT broadcasts due to Riot Games’ guidelines about partnerships with cryptocurrency exchanges. In a surprising turn of events, LCS announced two months later that it had agreed to a seven-year sponsorship agreement with FTX, which became the league’s official cryptocurrency exchange partner. In April 2022, FTX struck a one-year, $3.2 million sponsorship deal with Brazilian organization FURIA to expand its presence in the South American market. It remains unclear if FTX’s financial difficulties, now that the acquisition by Binance has fallen through, will affect the exchange’s sponsorship agreements with TSM and FURIA, as well as their 19-year, $135 million deal to rename the Miami Heat’s home the “FTX Arena”. Last month, TSM’s VP of Esports Dominic Kallas spoke with Dexerto about the organization’s forthcoming return to CS:GO with a European team. The move is part of the company’s expansion plan as it looks to increase its global presence. TSM did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

TSM signs $210m deal to change name with crypto exchange FTX TSM FTXNorth American esports organization TSM have agreed to a 10-year deal, worth a reported $210m, with cryptocurrency exchange FTX. As part of the long-term arrangement, TSM will now go by the name of TSM FTX across all of the titles they compete in — including Riot Games’ LCS. With to crypto company paying out $21m annually over 10 years, this is among the largest deals involving an esports organization to date in which a value has been disclosed. FTX Trading Limited and West Realm Shires Services, who have entered the deal with TSM, allow people to acquire cryptocurrencies through their FTX and FTX.US platforms. First reported by the New York Times, fans should now expect to see TSM FTX competing across League of Legends, PUBG, Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege, Super Smash Bros., Apex Legends, World of Warcraft, VALORANT, and Chess, among other games. Read More: Fnatic raise $17m to expand into Asia – “It gives us a strong foothold to really grow our brand globally,” said TSM CEO Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh. “We want to truly be a global esports team. We have to invest in having bases in multiple places.” Earlier in June 2020, TSM’s fellow LCS team Dignitas announced a naming rights deal specifically for the North American League of Legends competition. They entered a partnership with online banking company QNTMPAY and will, subsequently, compete as Dignitas QNTMPAY for the next four years.

TSM’s naming sponsor FTX now worth $18 billion following huge investment Twitter: Sam Bankman-Fried TSM FTXCrypto exchange FTX, the naming sponsor of North American esports organization TSM, is now worth a valuation of $18 billion following a round of investment that totaled an eye-watering $900 million. The cryptocurrency company made headlines with their first-ever move in the esports industry when they entered a sponsorship deal with Forbes-dubbed most valuable esports organization, TSM. The sponsorship is worth $210 million and spans 10 years, with FTX acquiring their naming rights and rebranding the organization to TSM FTX for the duration of the agreement. It’s believed to be the biggest team sponsorship ever seen in the esports industry. The terms of the deal changed quickly after it was announced, however, when Riot Games blocked TSM by going as ‘TSM FTX’ in both League of Legends and Valorant. This was due to regulations surrounding the types of companies and products that organizations competing in those titles can advertise. Just two months later, and following a business deal with celebrity couple Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, the crypto exchange has raised $900m in an effort to grow their brand through acquisitions. Crypto and esports have been converging in recent years, especially following the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While there have been scandals involving the likes of FaZe Clan, plenty of esports orgs have been embracing fan engagement initiatives and making money in the process. Well-known names such as CS:GO event series Flashpoint, and orgs including 100 Thieves and Ninjas in Pyjamas, have all sold NFTs in the past few months. OG Esports has made almost $1m in just three NFT drops — here’s a breakdown as to exactly how they achieved this. 15% off when you use FTX Pay! @TSM 🤝 FTX https://t.co/nYBNB0q1Wj pic.twitter.com/NT8QuRpGLH — FTX Helpdesk (@FTX_Helpdesk) July 20, 2021 “It gives us a strong foothold to really grow our brand globally,” said TSM CEO Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh at the time of announcing the FTX sponsorship. “We want to truly be a global esports team. We have to invest in having bases in multiple places.”

TSM announce GMC as new flagship sponsor TSM/GMCTSM has announced a “major” new partnership with GMC, marking the first time the automotive giant has partnered with an esports org. The North American org announced the partnership in a press release on July 15, calling it an “org-level” partnership between the two brands. Going forward, the GMC logo will feature prominently on TSM’s jerseys across all esports the org competes in: League of Legends, Valorant, DOTA 2, Apex Legends, and more. In addition to GMC being front and center on jerseys, the partnership will also include, “unique content creation, in-person and digital events and activations, custom branded merch, social content and more,” according to the release. “This partnership will redefine the category with new and innovative activations that go beyond what our industry has seen before,” Ned Watkins, Senior Vice President of Sales for TSM said. “We can’t wait to show the world what’s in store!” The release doesn’t mention how long the sponsorship deal will last for, but since GMC’s logo will be prominently featured on TSM’s kits, we can assume it will be for at least a year, or more. “At GMC, we are thrilled to kick off this partnership with TSM,” Molly Peck, VP of GMC marketing said. “The esports arena is not only bold, but fast-growing, and through our partnership with TSM, we have the opportunity to engage even further to help elevate the esports experience.” It’s currently unknown when TSM will unveil their new kits and the rest of the content from the partnership, so fans should keep an eye out for the new jerseys, whenever they do end up arriving.

Trovo launches NFTs of streamers’ clips for up to $1000 TrovoLivestreaming platform Trovo is now selling NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of clips from broadcasters’ streams that fans can purchase in exclusive drops. Clips are one of the main ways livestreamers can grow on a given platform. Small highlight sections from a broadcast, lasting 60 seconds or less, are much more shareable and have the potential to go viral. Landing a viral clip (as long as it’s for the right reasons) is hitting the jackpot for up-and-coming streamers, instantly getting eyeballs on their content. Trovo Live is immortalizing these highlight moments, as the platform partnered with Cybertino to “bring to life the first group of streamer-related NFTs.” Cybertino is an “interactive” NFT marketplace aimed at influencers specifically who want to create, share and sell NFTs with their fans. For example, one of the clips on sale comes from Trovo streamer Noah, pulling off a 7-kill spree in CoD Mobile. The asking price for this clip, which features custom audio from DJ Etienne Philippe, a sound effect clip from Noah, and his autograph, is $1000. There are lower asking price options too, ranging from $30. It’s not just clips though, as digital artwork is where NFTs really started. There also streamer-related art NFTs, depicting streamers BobbyPlays, Noah, Axrith, parka, and Turulele. Trovo x @cybertinoapp #StreamerNFTs will be dropping in 1hr and 15 minutes! We’ve got exclusive digital artwork for @RealBobbyPlays, @NoahFromTweeter, @Axrith, @parkacodm, @Turulele so you don’t want to miss this. Set your alarms! To secure the drop: https://t.co/qeOdxQBsFO pic.twitter.com/U6Beh2LmCn — Trovo Live (@trovolive) June 8, 2021 What is an NFT? NFTs, which are crypto-based assets, have been widely adopted in esports and gaming already, with various esports organizations launching their own. The easiest way to think of them, in this case, is as digital artworks, that are one of one – that is, they are identified by a unique code and receipt of purchase, meaning when you buy it, you receive a stamp of authenticity of sorts. Trovo streamer NFT boxes just dropped and mine is FIRE Check them out https://t.co/EwtlPtP3Qi pic.twitter.com/Htt2nXUVBw — Bobby Plays (@RealBobbyPlays) June 8, 2021 The hope for many purchasers is either a) they can own a unique and individual piece of digital history, or b) they can resell it to someone else who is willing to pay more than they did. It’s still a nascent field, as is cryptocurrency itself, but the promise of future potential can’t be ignored for many NFT ‘collectors’.

Travis Scott’s huge Fortnite payout said to top Nike, McDonald’s collabs Epic GamesTravis Scott, rapper and cultural icon, has continually upped the ante for creatives worldwide with his collaborations. According to recent reports, his Epic Games collab on a Fortnite concert is among La Flame’s most profitable ever. Known personally as Jacques Berman Webster II, professionally as Travis Scott, and during concerts, simply as La Flame, the illustrious rapper has set a stratospheric bar for media collaborations. With his “Cactus Jack” Nike sneakers running wallets dry and his McDonald’s burgers emptying stock, fans might be surprised to find out how closely they were rivaled by his Fortnite profits. Those profits included merchandise sales, no surprise considering Scott’s successful clothing and pop culture endeavors. Although it was just a nine-minute virtual concert, reports indicate that the 28-year-old rapper earned more from the collab than he did from any of his individual Astroworld tour dates. According to sources of Forbes’ Abram Brown, Scott “grossed roughly $20 million” from the collaboration with Epic Games (including merchandise sales). Considering the deal’s length, it reportedly out-paces everything from his tours to his Nike and McDonald’s partnerships. Scott’s 2019 “Astroworld — Wish You Were Here” tour included 57 nights across North America and Europe. Playing his Grammy-nominated album and reaching the peak of his popularity, Scott earned $53.6 million for the entire tour. As Forbes similarly reports, the Nike collaboration earns Scott $10 million annually. Even further, the McDonald’s collaboration is expected to have netted him $5 million for the endorsement and around $15 million for merchandise sales. All in all, that means that Scott’s nine-minute concert and short-term sales from the Fortnite event with Epic Games were more profitable than any individual night of his biggest tour ever while out-performing his Nike collab on a per-year basis. Similarly, without exact numbers confirmed, it appears that the Fortnite deal closely rivals and possibly tops the McDonald’s one. More than a testament to Scott’s own brand, the success of this collaboration proves the cultural relevance of the gaming industry as a whole. The concert earned Fortnite 27.7 million unique viewers, with 12.3 million players participating concurrently in the game. If Scott was able to profit so massively and Epic Games also earned big, then this news simply puts a dollar figure to the continued emergence of gaming in the mainstream.

TikTokers Josh Richards & Griffin Johnson become Royal Ravens co-owners ReKTGlobalTikTok superstars and original members of the Sway House, Josh Richards and Griffin Johnson, have become investors in ReKTGlobal, the parent company of the Call of Duty League’s London Royal Ravens franchise and Rogue. The news was announced on December 1 as two of the biggest names on TikTok have officially become co-owners of the London Royal Ravens and Rogue of the League of Legends European Championship (LEC). “Griffin and Josh have uniquely captured the attention of Generation Z and beyond, and their influence is undeniable. They are both incredible additions to the ReKTGlobal ownership team,” said Dave Bialek, CEO of ReKTGlobal. “They have strong business instincts, a unique talent for developing viral content, and an understanding of how to connect with younger audiences and casual gamers.” Combined, Richards (23.4M) and Johnson (9.8M) boast over 33 million followers on TikTok as well as similarly huge numbers on most main social media platforms. ReKTGlobal envisions their massive online presence will play a key role as the pair will develop new content, merchandise collaborations, and promotions with the Royal Ravens and Rogue. “They are natural-born hustlers and have leveraged their TikTok fame to step into acting and music, becoming entrepreneurs and investors in the process,” Bialek added. “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome them to the ReKTGlobal family as we continue to bridge the gap between the world of esports, entertainment and pop culture.” Griffin Johnson shared similar sentiments as the news of their investment became public, having roots as an avid gamer and Call of Duty fan. “The fact that I can now say I own a part of London Royal Ravens and Team Rogue is unbelievably surreal,” he said. “I am thankful to Dave and Amish for allowing me into the ReKTGlobal family with open arms. Can’t wait to get to work and help bridge the gap between traditional social media and esports.” As for Josh Richards, this isn’t the first time he’s been involved with ReKTGlobal; in May 2020, his creator management company, TalentX Entertainment, embarked on a joint venture with ReKTGlobal called TalentX Gaming, a talent management company with a focus on gaming and esports athletes and content creators. “Coming on as an investor to ReKTGlobal was genuinely a no-brainer,” he commented. “After a few meetings with the C-suite at ReKTGlobal, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of.” The TikTok megastars are the latest in a long list of celebrity figures who have joined ReKTGlobal as investors, including legendary DJ Steve Aoki, Grammy-winning rock band Imagine Dragons, international producer Nicky Romero, NBA defensive star Rudy Gobert, NFL player Landon Collins, and, most recently, star YouTuber Vikkstar.

TikTok takeover: Oracle beats Microsoft in US bidding war ByteDanceOracle has beaten Mircosoft in the race to take over TikTok’s US business, confirming that they are part of the proposal sent to the US Treasury over the weekend. Rumors started swirling late on Sunday that Oracle were the preferred bidder and shortly after came confirmation from assumed frontrunners Microsoft that their monster $30 billion TikTok bid had been turned down. Microsoft confirmed in their Sunday statement that TikTok’s parent company, Bytedance, had “let [them] know… they would not be selling TikTok’s US operations to Microsoft.” The TikTok owners have not yet publicly commented. Less than 12 hours later, Oracle have confirmed that they were successful in their attempts, and will be taking over the US operations of TikTok once the deal has been reviewed by the US government. In a press release, Oracle stated that the “confirm Secretary Mnuchin’s statement that it is part of the proposal submitted by ByteDance over the weekend, in which Oracle will serve as the trusted technology provider.” The Trump administration has been threatening to ban TikTok by the middle of September if the application’s US business was not sold. This blanket order was allegedly due to Chinese ownership of the viral social media platform. The US has been the main focus of the massive tech sale, but the acquisition will also apply to all ongoing TikTok operations in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. TikTok currently boasts over 100 million users in the US, including rising internet celebrities like Addison Rae, the D’Amelio sisters Charli and Dixie, and plenty more. ByteDance tipping Oracle as its US successor may come as a shock to some, as many had Microsoft and Walmart’s combined $30 billion takeover plans as a frontrunner in the ongoing social media bidding war. Microsoft also believed they were in pole-position, right up to Sep. 13. Secretary Mnuchin told CNBC that the US government intends to review the deal this week, and will be having discussions with Oracle and their technical teams over the next few days to ensure “Americans’ data is secure.” When this deal will be officially completed remains to be seen, but it appears that all parties are keen to finish the process, hopefully meaning their will be no disruption to the app and the community who uses it.

TikTok set to be blocked from US app stores this weekend UnsplashPeople in the United States will no longer be able to download popular social media app TikTok from Sunday, September 20, according to new reports that suggest this order will be issued by President Trump and the U.S. Commerce Department. The future of TikTok has been up in the air for a number of weeks, as Trump issued an executive order on August 6 that gave the Commerce Department 45 days to determine whether Chinese-based apps like TikTok and WeChat could pose a threat to the country’s national security. Since then, TikTok’s owners ByteDance have been scrambling to find a buyer for its United States-based operations and had reportedly agreed a deal with Oracle Group to sell the portion after turning down a bid from Microsoft. While this is ongoing, if the deal is not concluded by Sunday, users in the U.S. will no longer be able to download the application from places like Apple’s iOS App Store, or Google’s Play Store. According to reports from Reuters, TikTok will be removed from app stores on Sunday, September 20 should the deal fail to be finalized before that date, meaning users who would like to download the app after that date will be unable to. It will also mean that ByteDance will no longer provide updates for the app, leaving U.S. users behind the rest of the world in terms of functionality, and stuck with whatever bugs and issues are currently affecting it. The app itself will not be blocked entirely, as anyone who has already downloaded it will still be able to access and use it, and this executive order doesn’t affect users in other countries, with the American government not pushing Apple or Google to stop offering TikTok outside of the[jwplayer ZXB9LNVP] U.S. On September 14, it was confirmed that TikTok had chosen Oracle to be their “trusted technology partner,” and had set the proposal to the U.S. Treasury last weekend. As it stands, the deal has not been fully finalized, but should it be completed before Sunday, TikTok could remain on app stores for the foreseeable future. Donald Trump could also choose to overrule the order seeing as the proposal has been sent to the Treasury or could push back the deadline to allow the deal to be completed, although that seems unlikely considering he previously stated there would be no extension to the 45-day period. As things stand, TikTok looks set to depart from app stores across the United States on Sunday, unless they can seal a last-minute reprieve or complete the sale to Oracle before the deadline runs out on September 20.

TikTok promises change as US lawmakers call for Google & Apple to ban it UnsplashTikTok has responded to calls for the app to be banned in the United States of America, stating they will make changes to “remove any doubt” about the security of US user data. Nine Republican senators have pushed TikTok for answers after a Buzzfeed article sparked security concerns, on June 17. They reported its parent company, ByteDance, was able to access non-public data for its American users. With the prospect of private US user data being passed to China’s government in mind, which could affect millions of its users, Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Brendan Carr called for it to be banned. The FCC regulates national security across the country. Carr has urged both Google and Apple chiefs to remove TikTok from their app stores. He said: “TikTok is not just another video app. It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.” He also described the data controversy as “a serious national security threat.” TikTok is not just another video app. That’s the sheep’s clothing.It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing. I’ve called on @Apple & @Google to remove TikTok from their app stores for its pattern of surreptitious data practices. pic.twitter.com/Le01fBpNjn — Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 28, 2022 In September 2020, Donald Trump announced as President that the app would be banned – though it never materialized. TikTok issues statement on US data On July 1, TikTok responded to the suggestions from US lawmakers, with the company’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew penning a letter to update their workforce. Read More: What does BBL mean on TikTok? – In the letter, quoted by Reuters, they conceded that China-based employees can have access to US user data “subject to a series of robust cybersecurity controls and authorization approval protocols overseen by our U.S.-based security team.” It also said it expects “to delete US users protected data from our own systems and fully pivot to Oracle cloud servers located in the US.” The letter continued: ”We know we are among the most scrutinized platforms from a security standpoint and we aim to remove any doubt about the security of U.S. user data.” In light of the Buzzfeed report, and increasing pressure from lawmakers, changes are likely to be implemented in due course to cool speculation of an outright ban in what TikTok sees as its biggest market, the United States. Apple and Google are yet to respond to calls for them to remove TikTok – an application with over one billion users globally – from their app stores.

TikTok owners Bytedance acquire Mobile Legends devs Moonton ByteDance/MoontonNot content with owning one of the biggest and fastest-growing mobile platforms in the world with TikTok, ByteDance have acquired Mobile Legends devs Moonton. ByteDance are no stranger to the world of gaming. In November 2020, they launched mobile game store Danjuan Games and indie publisher Pixmain. While a big step forward for the company, this acquisition of Moonton is monumental for ByteDance. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is arguably the biggest smartphone MOBA in the world in terms of pure download numbers, rivalling even the biggest games worldwide. On Monday, March 22, ByteDance officially announced that their gaming division, Nuverse, has agreed to acquire the Shanghai-based studio. The deal values Moonton at around $4 billion according to Reuters, and offers had also been made by Tencent to acquire their competitor. “Through cross-team collaboration and drawing on lessons and insights from its own rapid growth, Moonton provides the strategic support needed to accelerate Nuverse’s global gaming offerings,” ByteDance said in a statement. Sources also told Reuters that Yuan Jing, CEO of Moonton, sent a memo company-wide saying that they would continue to operate independently of ByteDance after the acquisition. Ultimately, this means that the actual development of the game is likely to be unaffected by ByteDance, which should provide comfort to both employees and customers alike. Moonton was founded by an ex-Tencent employee, and since 2017 they have faced multiple lawsuits from both Tencent and Riot Games on the grounds of copyright infringement. Of course, if it’s true that Tencent lost out after ByteDance matched their offer, it could symbolize a changing of the guard in the mobile gaming realm. Tencent is without doubt one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, but now ByteDance are really looking to make their mark on the space.

TikTok could be banned in the US in just 45 days PixabayTikTok could be banned on September 20 in the US after President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order on August 6 prohibiting Chinese tech giants Bytedance and Tencent from doing business in the country. TikTok could be forced to close down operations in the U.S. in just 45 days, unless parent company Bytedance manages to sell its American arm. A new executive order handed down by President Donald Trump has banned any transactions with Bytedance, the owners of TikTok, starting on September 20. It comes after he threatened to ban TikTok earlier this week over national security concerns. “TikTok automatically captures vast swaths of information from its users, including Internet and other network activity information such as location data and browsing and search histories,” the order reads. Trump’s action on TikTok is not the first country taking steps to ban the Chinese-owned app from operating in certain countries. India banned the app earlier in July, while other nations have also been considering the move. The executive order will stop TikTok’s owners, Bytedance, from doing “any transaction by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.” This includes in-app purchases, as well as downloading programs as a whole. Bytedance is currently in the process of selling TikTok’s U.S. operations. Microsoft are the front-runners to purchase the app, which has over 100 million users in the States alone. The sale is expected to go through by September 15. Tencent ban could have huge impacts on gaming industry Trump also signed a second executive order on August 6 prohibiting Tencent from doing business in the States as well. Tencent has numerous stakes across the gaming industry. They are 100% owners of Riot Games, makers of League of Legends and Valorant, as well as majority owners of mobile gaming giant Supercell. They have minority shares in almost every major gaming company — from Ubisoft (5%) to Epic Games (40%), Bluehole (PUBG Corp, 11.5%) to Blizzard (5%), and dozens of others. The wording of the executive order does leave out the majority of Tencent businesses, only specifically referring to popular messaging service WeChat. However, it’s unclear specifically how the action could affect the gaming industry as a whole. If the blanket ban does apply to developers like Riot and Blizzard, Tencent will need to offload their U.S. operations before September 20. If they do not, storefronts like the Blizzard store, the Epic Games Launcher, or Riot’s in-game shops across its four titles could be forced to close. The executive order will come into effect on September 20, unless challenged by Bytedance or Tencent earlier. August 6 Update (8:30pm PT): According to a report by LA Times’ Sam Dean, video game companies owned by Tencent will not be affected by the executive order. https://twitter.com/SamAugustDean/status/1291576813685108736 This means Riot Games, Epic Games, and more developers will be able to continue operating in the U.S. regardless of the order. WeChat is the only app being targeted.

TikTok competitors Byte and Clash form merger to take on video giant Clash/ByteThe battle to try and compete with TikTok in the shortform video space has just become less bloody, as two of TikTok’s competitors have merged. [jwplayer ZXB9LNVP] Clash, set up by former Vine star Brendon McNerney, has agreed to buy Byte, the app developed by Vine founder Dom Hofman, for an undisclosed sum. The purchase, which is in part funded and enacted by a separate round of seed funding for Clash from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six and two other investors, is an unusual one. “It’s going to put Clash in a whole new ballgame, where we have support I couldn’t even imagine,” says McNerney, who declined to share the amount invested in his company. Clash is by far the smaller of the two apps, with 500,000 users as of fall 2020, its founder McNerney confirmed. By comparison, Byte has 4.5 million users. What’s more, Clash is going to take itself off app stores, encourage its users to migrate over to the bigger Byte, and then rebrand the app as Clash in the coming months. “It may seem like a confusing move, but Byte has the userbase,” says McNerney. “We have the creative tools, and we want to point people to the future home of Clash. “The plan over the next few months is to relaunch the Byte app as Clash,” says McNerney. “This relaunch will have all our monetization tools live.” Clash has placed its focus on supporting creators’ ability to monetize their content — a bugbear many early TikTok users had until the app launched its Creator Fund, which gives creators over a certain size a share of financial funding to keep making videos. “We’re 100% merging both of these communities together,” says McNerney. “There’s such a fluidity between not just the types of creators, but even the types of content on both platforms. Dom [Hofman] has done such a great job in building these creative tools. The thing we’re focusing on is not disturbing the experience on either of these platforms.” McNerney admitted the merger took him by surprise. “It’s definitely unusual, and not something we were expecting to have happen,” he says. Hofman, who was not made available for interview, will not be staying on with Byte, McNerney says. “Him and his team are not a part of this deal. They’re going on to another venture, which is exciting for them,” he explains. “They’ll be making an announcement on that.” Hofman and Byte were convinced to sell up because of the pro-creator stance of Clash, the latter’s owner says. “It was something they had been considering but hadn’t necessarily made any move on,” he says. The whole process of the deal took place in “a few weeks.” “It happened rather quickly,” says McNerney. Negotiations didn’t begin until 2021. “We’re going to be working in the next month or two integrating all our tools [into Clash],” he adds. “We want to make sure the user experience is largely unedited as far as what Byte users can expect. There are tons of them and we don’t want to disturb their experience.” McNerney’s goal isn’t necessarily for the newly-merged app’s five million users to take on TikTok’s 690 million users worldwide. “To be explicit, Clash is the monetization platform,” he says. “What we see as a massive missing pillar in the shortform video world is a place where creators can monetize.”

The Black Hokage joins XSET: “Everyone’s big brother” continues to push boundaries XSETThe Black Hokage is officially joining XSET. We dove into a wide-lens interview with the content creator, covering everything from spirit fish and navigating the gaming industry as a Black streamer, to his plans with the new org. XSET call themselves “the world’s most diverse, innovative, socially conscious esports ‘set.’” Corey “The Black Hokage” Smallwood’s tagline is “who your GOAT considers their GOAT.” They obviously share high standards and them partnering up makes more sense than a vending machine. As TBH joins his new org, we got a chance to talk about his journey, his interests, and new team. But first, some quick facts. Quick Facts Favorite color? My favorite color’s green ‘cause I like to make money. – Favorite food? My favorite food is pizza, but I don’t eat it no more — that stuff makes you fat. I recently lost over 100 pounds so I stay away from the carbs. I had my Uncle Iroh moment. – Favorite hobbies? Exercising, reading, anime. I’m weirdly obsessed with just improving myself as a man. That’s what I try to preach as well. – Favorite animes? People know I like . But it’s not my favorite, my favorite anime is . ‘s just a gateway drug. Then, , , , — those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. – Favorite animal? A lion. That’s kind of how I view myself, I just want to be at the top, the cream of the crop. – If you were a fish, what kind of fish would you be? I would go with a shark, ‘cause those are the lions of the ocean. – Streaming & Gaming The tagline is “who your GOAT considers their GOAT,” so who are among your inspirations? “When it comes to content creation, I watch a lot of people, study, and take little bits, but I don’t consider anyone in gaming a heavy inspiration. My heavy inspiration comes from stand-up comedy, that’s what I love. So Dave Chappelle, Paul Mooney, Bernie Mac — a lot of my inspirations are classic stand-up comedians. And I try to implement a comedic style into my content and commentary, where I give a little bit of the medicine and the candy.” As a streamer with a lot of cultural discussion and viewer interaction, how would you describe your community to newcomers? My community is level-headed, open-minded, loves to joke; they’re quick to roast you when you make mistakes. Oftentimes your community is a reflection of who you are and things that you allow, so I think it often is a reflection of me. Read more: SuperEvan joins XSET: “something to prove” – My chat always jokes ‘we don’t watch you for the gameplay.’ I’m okay at games, I’m an above-average player, but I’m not a pro player, dude. I’ve recently kind of rebranded myself, ‘cause I kind of started off as joking content and — the jokes are still there — but I’ve kind of rebranded myself as everybody’s big brother. Every time I learn something, every time I learn a new lesson, I bring it to the stream and it creates a dialogue and… that’s what it’s about. As far as games go, you stream a lot of Apex Legends. Is that your favorite and why do you prefer it over Warzone? Warzone’s full of hackers and also I’m just not a big Call of Duty fan, they just camp and stuff. Apex, I feel like people pull up more and I’m ‘bout that action — especially in the Arenas. But in BR, just learning the mechanics and how the different characters coincide with one another and how you can complement one another, I think the teamwork is what appeals to me the most. But I play a lot of single-player games too. I do game reviews on YouTube, so I just beat Ratchet and Clank. I’m playing Mass Effect 2: Legendary Edition, that’s my favorite game of all time. I actually grew up as a single-player gamer. I play Apex because it’s my go-to multiplayer game to play with friends, but in all honesty, my best streams are when I play single-player games; that’s when I start going on tangents. (I am looking forward to Battlefield 2042, when it comes to multiplayer, though.) I low key enjoy when @TheBlackHokage plays single-player games more because he tells hella stories lmao. — TheFroWhoKnows (@thefrowh0knows) June 28, 2021 Inclusivity in gaming Shifting gears, XSET emphasizes diversity and you have an important perspective as a Black creator. Considering how long gaming has felt like a white-dominated and discriminatory space, have you noticed any progress? I’ve been around for a really long time and I’m to see progress maybe in the last three to five years. But it’s been a long time coming and I still think we’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s about accessibility, people just don’t know that we exist. A lot of times I’ll meet other content creators at events and I’m often actually the biggest content creator in the room… and they have no clue who I am. And then they wanna be your friend once they see your social media following. But it’s because the world is a big place and a lot of times we operate in our own little bubbles and echo chambers, so you just don’t know. I think as long as we keep continuing to talk to one another, things will improve, but nah, it’s not where it needs to be — it’s just recently started to improve. Given that vantage point, as someone who’s grinded through the industry, do you have any advice for aspiring Black (and minority) creators? Closed mouths don’t get fed and don’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder. I think that actually stunted my own growth. I feel like in the last maybe three years, I’ve really accelerated and started to put my name out there even more. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve actually had situations where I’ve gone to events with very prominent companies, my name would be on the VIP list, and they told me ‘you don’t look like you’re supposed to be here.’ I’ve had some foul shit said to me, dawg. And that shit does exist, but what I will say is there are a lot of really good people and I feel like I’ve blocked my own blessings by walking around with that chip on my shoulder, assuming that everybody was judging me. A lot of times I would walk in the room and I’m the only Black person — and people stare at you. And the way I would interpret it is ‘oh what’s this Black person doing here?’ But it’s really just genuine curiosity: ‘you’re different from everybody else.’ And then you find out, when I talk to people, oh we have gaming in common and they’re really not being judgmental, they’re just curious. So once I stopped walking around with that chip on my shoulder assuming that everybody was judging me, I made a lot more connections in the industry. I think the truth is in the middle. There’s problems, but then there’s always ways you can improve yourself too. TBH x XSET What about XSET makes it feel like a strong fit? The reason it appealed to me and what was presented was: they really want to put diversity on the forefront and not as just some talking point. They want to lead that way. I like how when they first announced the team, they said that ‘gaming needs to clean up.’ So the fact that they’re leading that way and they just wanna be positive and put out dope shit, they’re giving opportunities to people who might not have gotten it before. I think that’s what appeals to me the most. It feels like inclusivity is not something they are checking off, it’s a part of the program. What kind of content are you excited about down the line? I can’t get into the specifics, but I’m looking forward to being able to produce higher-grade quality content. They’re gonna be giving me tools and assets that will allow me to present myself in a way that I previously wasn’t allowed to. And it’s going to be focusing a lot on pop culture and lifestyle, not just gaming. That’s the way things were presented to me and I was like ‘yeah, that’s what I like.’ Because I always preach ‘don’t just be a gamer.’ A lot of times, gamers get trapped in the idea of this identity, ‘oh I’m a gamer and that’s it,’ and you should be a multi-faceted person and it feels like that’s where XSET is going. They’re focusing on being multi-faceted and that’s dope to me.

Laid-off Telltale Games employee reveals shocking situation following termination meeting Telltale GamesOn Friday, September 21, Telltale Games announced it was going into a “majority studio closure” that would result in the loss of employment for over 200 employees. Now one of the laid off employees has shared more details on the situation. After the layoffs were announced, Telltale employees were told they had just 30 minutes to gather personal items and leave the building after being hit with the news. On Monday, September 24, Narrative Designer Emily Grace Buck, one of the employees who was let go, shed more light on the developing situation. According to Grace Buck, employees affected by the mass layoffs have three hours on Monday to collect any personal items they weren’t able to on Friday. CEO of Telltale Games Pete Hawley said it had been an “incredibly difficult year” for the company, which saw its games fail to sell enough to avoid the mass layoffs. Reports say that Telltale’s first The Walking Dead and Minecraft games were very successful, but other then that numbers for the studios games have been lackluster, their recent Batman game “Enemy Within” was reportedly one of the studio’s worst performing game ever. This isn’t the first time Telltale has laid off staff, In November of 2017 the company laid off 25% of its workforce, about 90 people at the time, the big difference this time, is that there will be no severance pay given to those who were laid off because it’s due to bankruptcy.

Team Vitality eyes international expansion with software giants SAP ESL/SAPFrench esports organization Team Vitality are eyeing up an international expansion with software corporation SAP. [jwplayer I1TRQiOW] Using SAP’s technology, which is used to improve team performance in sports like football and basketball, Team Vitality are looking to optimize their processes. Through the improvement of how they monitor contracts, manage data, automate tasks, and further optimize their financial flow, the org will free up time that will be instead allocated on establishing themselves outside of their home nation. This partnership falls in line with SAP’s recent change in sponsorship strategy, utilizing esports to advertise their tools and software. SAP already operate in esports, having previously partnered with the NBA 2K League, ESL and EPICENTER for Dota 2, and Team Liquid for League of Legends. When working with tournament organizers instead of teams, SAP are best known for providing analytic insight into matches. At ESL One Birmingham, for example, they used their technology to track win probabilities, item timings, and net worth progression. “Thanks to SAP, we have all the components we need to go even further: we want to continue improving our operations by automating all of our legal, quality, and logistics processes,” said Franck Boniface, COO at Team Vitality. “The long-term objective is also to use all the data we retrieve from our platforms, such as Twitch and Twitter, to be able to make the connection between interactions with our fans and purchases on our webshop.” The Kings in their realm 👑 pic.twitter.com/VzsnYTMK0v — Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) November 23, 2020 On November 22, Team Vitality mounted an impressive comeback against Natus Vincere in Counter-Strike to emerge as the victors of IEM Beijing-Haidian in Europe. As one of the leading teams in Europe, they are partnered with non-endemic brands such as sportswear giants adidas, telecommunications company Orange, energy drink brand Red Bull, and automobile manufacturer Renault.

Team Vitality hires former adidas France head as Co-CEO Team VitalityFrench esports organization Team Vitality have hired a new managing director and co-CEO to aid in their global expansion. Sports apparel veteran Guillaume de Monplanet has been appointed to the leadership position, bringing over 20 years of experience from companies like adidas and Reebok. Most recently, he served as the managing director for adidas France for the past eight years. He was responsible for the entire national division, including over 700 employees. Having already established presence in Germany and India, Team Vitality are aiming to make a name for themselves outside of their home nation of France. Monplanet’s expertise in brand management and growth are said to be pivotable in realizing the organization’s lofty ambitions. Nicolas Maurer, a co-founder of the org, will transition from serving as CEO to Co-CEO alongside Monplanet. Under the leadership of Maurer, Vitality have partnered with major brands like adidas, Aldi, Orange, and Philips. Read More: Envy Gaming raises $40 million investment – “With Reebok and adidas I was very fortunate to grow and cater for two of the most influential global youth culture brands,” said Monplanet. “Rooted in esports, I believe Vitality has the potential to be part of that group of brands. What the team has achieved in just 8 years is amazing. “The level of talent and creativity demonstrated every day at V.Hive and Stade de France, as well as at our international premises, is just stunning. I am looking forward to exploring a new industry and hope my business and leadership expertise will help Team Vitality reach new heights globally.” We are super delighted to reveal the new @adidasFR VIT.02! 🤩 Style, performance and esports #WeTheGamers #VforVictory AVAILABLE NOW. LIMITED EDITION. 🚨 🛒 https://t.co/ZLQ3SIjXyq pic.twitter.com/WinW6ln3aZ — Team Vitality 🐝 (@TeamVitality) December 14, 2020 While perhaps best known for their team in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a French roster that have been battling for the top spot for years, Team Vitality have plenty more happening. They also compete in Riot Games’ Valorant and League of Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite, FIFA, and Rainbow Six Siege. In an effort to grow internationally, they signed four Indian content creators in December 2020.

Team SoloMid reveal insane pictures of $13m training facility in LA Team SoloMid / LA TimesThe North American-based esports brand Team SoloMid are building a massive, $13 million, 25000 square foot esports training facility in Playa Vista, Los Angeles. TSM are building a huge new home in Los Angeles, and the rendered photos of it are insane. TSM founder/CEO Andy ‘Reginald’ Dinh spoke to LA Times reporter Arash Markazi about the new facility, and revealed the NBA as a major source of inspiration. “I actually toured the Lakers and Warriors facilities as we thought about our facility,” Reginald told The Times. “What they built was great for basketball players and we wanted to build a similar facility catered for esports players. We want to have the best training environment for our players. We want to make sure our players and staff have everything they need to succeed. Over the next 10-20 years we want to maintain our position as a global esports leader.” The new facility will feature streaming and gaming room, a fitness studio, a wellness center, coaching rooms, a full-time sports psychologist on site, and more. According to TSM, it will be the largest esports training center in North America, and will be the first esports center to feature both a wellness center and a fitness studio. Construction is set to begin in September, and the facility is set to open in February 2020. Per a press release received from Team SoloMid, this facility won’t just before a single team or part of the organization. TSM HQ will “house the entire TSM organization and operation.” This means all the players and coaches from all their esports divisions will train there, and all the employees will work in the space. Team Solomid was founded in 2009 by Reginald and his brother as SoloMid.net, and began competing in 2011 during the first League of Legends competitive season. Since then, the organization has been a mainstay in North American LCS, winning six splits since 2013. They remained in the North American LCS when the league moved to a franchised model in 2018. Apart from LoL, Team SoloMid has also expanded into Fortnite, Apex Legends, Rocket League, PUBG, Smash Bros, Hearthstone, and Magic: the Gathering. At one point in TSM’s history, thet fielded a Danish CS:GO roster in 2015 that they acquired from Dignitas. The core of that roster would go on to form Astralis, considered one of the best CS:GO teams of all time. “Having all the players in one space and tracking how they perform, that’s where we can have the largest areas of growth,” Reginald said. “Most esports teams don’t have this. We’re going to take it to a new level.” Additional details were added to this story from a press release sent by TSM after publication.

Team Singularity slam DashThreads and terminate partnership Singularity/DashThreadsTeam Singularity have prematurely ended their partnership with merchandise supplier DashThreads due to “unprofessionalism.” [jwplayer gAvLE8Ha] The Danish organization posted an announcement to explain why they were “officially parting ways” with the apparel company. The org alleges that they were not able to produce marketing material over the past four months because products had not been delivered by DashThreads, subsequently they were not able to “execute on marketing plans.” They stated that this wasn’t a decision made in the spur of the moment, it comes after months of trying to rectify the problems and get things on track. However, the “unprofessionalism shown by DashThreads and its CEO and owner Devin Fry” was too much to handle going forward. Team Singularity are allegedly missing more than 300 units of clothing, that they had already paid for, which were supposed to go to their players, influencers, content creators, management, and fans. The org stated that their legal team will be taking action against DashThreads as the partnership was “one-sided” and there are further instances of mistreatment that they won’t be making public knowledge. “I’m very sad that my worst fears prior to entering this partnership earlier this year came true and I take full responsibility for a deal that should never been made in the first place,” said Singularity CEO Atle Stehouwer. “I will not beat myself up about giving people and startups a second chance, I am just sad that DashThreads and Devin Fry decided not to rise above previous accusations and prove that it was a legit startup. Actions speak louder than words.” Today Team Singularity is officially parting ways with @DashThreads as the merchandise supplier and will be distancing completely from anything related to DashThreads. Read: https://t.co/Sq4ENsd3XV#SNGARMY pic.twitter.com/s2GPWwqvDc — Team Singularity (@SNG_Esports) October 22, 2020 DashThreads predominantly work with amateur and semi-pro esports teams and describe themselves as a “premium esports and street apparel company.” Dexerto has contacted DashThreads for comment on Team Singularity’s statement.

Team Liquid to share new esports venue with Wizards Distract Gaming, Caps Gaming via Monumental Sports & EntertainmentMonumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) announced a new esports venue that will serve as a base for Team Liquid, NBA 2K League affiliate Wizards Distract Gaming and NHL sub-brand Caps Gaming. The live-event theater will be called “District E Powered by Ticketmaster” and will be adjacent to the Capital One Arena which houses MSE’s Washington Capitals hockey team and both basketball teams, Washington Wizards and the Washington Mystics. With its 14,000 square-foot space in downtown Washington, D.C., the venue will give its esports teams a place to compete in official matches, a training facility to practice, and a fully operational kitchen for competitors and fans alike. “Given the rapid rise in the popularity of esports and the growing audience for gaming in general, we believe the time is right to build an esports-centric venue that serves as a rallying point for the gaming community in the Mid-Atlantic,” President of MSE Media & New Enterprises Zach Leonsis said. District E esports venue Though the facility will have an emphasis on its competitive esports teams, the layout of the venue focuses on attracting potential audiences passing by. District E floor plans show a three-space design that provides viewing space for events and an esports cafe equipped with dozens of PCs that run adjacent to where Team Liquid pro players, among its other teams, can play and train. The venue will also boast streaming pods for any affiliated streamer’s needs with their Twitch/YouTube broadcasts near a live audience. District E joins a growing trend of esports venues and parks meant to facilitate fan engagement and pro players’ needs. Projects like EDG’s $1.5 billion esports park, Envy’s takeover of Esports Stadium Arlington, and even Australian org Fortress Esports’ “flagship” arena. MSE plans to have District E ready for fans and players by Fall 2022 as they work on its specialized Washington D.C. esports space.

Team Heretics separates esports and content with rebrand Team HereticsPopular Spanish organization Team Heretics have unveiled a new logo and a clear division between their esports and content efforts. [jwplayer wTu59E6I] Hoping to transcend the “niche of competition,” Team Heretics places importance on other aspects of gaming like content creation. This is demonstrated by their 1.4m subscribers on YouTube and large roster of creators. The new logo retains some elements of the old version, ensuring some familiarity. It takes the hooded figure from the original design and incorporates it into a shield, honoring the past of the organization while welcoming a new era. Interestingly, the new logo bears a resemblance to that of the Los Angeles Guerillas — one of the 12 franchises in the Call of Duty League. The decision to split the two departments is uncommon in esports. The standard procedure, like what Team Heretics has done until now, is housing both their competitive endeavors and their entertainers under one identity. Team Heretics had been successful in using that approach up to this point. The popular Spanish org counts adidas, KFC and G FUEL as partners, among many others. They have almost 800,000 followers on Twitter alone, too, with a hugely dedicated fanbase, particularly in their home country. Team Heretics houses competitors in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, and Rainbow Six Siege, as well as having content creators housed in mansions. On October 21, the organization released a video showing off their new content creation mansion in Argentina and achieved over 500,000 views in just 24 hours. There’s always a risk when changing your company’s identity, especially when you have spent years building brand recognition with fans. The jury is out on whether Team Heretics’ passionate legion of fans will accept the new look and approach to esports and entertainment.

Team Envy starts new membership program to reward diehard fans EnvyEnvy Gaming have unveiled a membership program that yields unique perks for their more emphatic fans. [jwplayer WGyDcVLl] The company — which house Team Envy, Overwatch franchise Dallas Fuel, and Call of Duty franchise Dallas Empire — will reward supporters who join the EnvyUS platform. Perks of the program include exclusive merchandise, team news, giveaways from commercial partners, and opportunities to meet Envy’s players. The initiative has a free option and a premium tier worth $29 on an annual basis. While EnvyUS launched on November 9, it was made that clear that it is “in early development and will expand in the coming months” following feedback from early members. Fans will earn points and rewards through engaging with club activities through the platform. The premium tier yields access to merchandise discounts and early access to the organization’s upcoming fall line of apparel. “Our fans are at the center of everything we do,” said Envy’s chief gaming officer Mike ‘Hastro’ Rufail. “The fans are why we go out and compete for championships. Our fans have been passionate and loyal for over a decade, and have been asking for opportunities to be an even bigger part of what we do on a daily basis. “Delivering on that is what the membership club is all about: we want to give people options to engage with players and teams in the digital age in ways that traditional sports or entertainers never have before, and we want to bring our fans along for the ride as we build out this platform.” Welcome home. Welcome to EnvyUS. Join for 10% off the new merch and more: https://t.co/HpbxqbXD9J pic.twitter.com/qzXm5pZj2C — ENVY (@Envy) November 9, 2020 Envy Gaming are following in the footsteps of Team Liquid, who launched their own fan engagement platform in August 2020. The initiatives are similar in approach, rewarding supporters with points and perks when they engage in online events, watching streams, and other loyalty-proving activities.

T-Mobile disappears as CDL & Overwatch League sponsor amid Activision Blizzard lawsuit Activision Blizzard / T-MobileIn the wake of Activision Blizzard’s ongoing discrimination lawsuit, it appears that the Call of Duty League and Overwatch League have quietly lost their formerly prominent T-Mobile partnership. On July 22, the state of California launched a civil lawsuit against Activision Blizzard citing a variety of gendered discrimination problems and a general “frat-boy culture.” From July 29 to August 1, Activision’s CDL hosted its biggest event of 2021: the Stage 5 Major. Interestingly, the league’s main non-gaming sponsor, T-Mobile, seemingly disappeared fully during the event — despite it being the most-watched broadcast of the season. Upon a deeper dive, the T-Mobile logo seems to have been taped over on players’ jerseys, while the brand was removed from all broadcast segments and from the CDL’s website. Additionally, this seems to have also happened for Activision’s sister league, the OWL. T-Mobile quietly removed from CDL & OWL websites The above screenshots show 1) the CDL website on July 21 and 2) the CDL website as of July 31. As you can see, T-Mobile has been removed in the week since Activision Blizzard was hit with the lawsuit. This also applies to the “Partners” page on the OWL website, which has been similarly tweaked. Another visible change was that players had T-Mobile logos taped over during the Major V broadcast — while having them seemingly removed from graphics. As can be seen in pictures of the Subliners’ intro graphics from the Stage 4 Major and Stage 5, T-Mobile seems to have disappeared entirely. While some may have noticed players with taped-over jerseys on broadcast, there are two other clear signs of the partnership distancing. One such example is the CDL’s weekly T-Mobile sweepstake, whose FAQ indicates that the final period has been “canceled” and that “the sweepstakes has ended.” And, finally, on the OWL side — the league used to have T-Mobile branding in their “Overwatch League Perks” program (as seen in a May 2021 tweet), but that seems to have changed in early August. There are no wrong answers 🥳 With Overwatch League Perks by @TMobile, if you watch 4 hours of the June Joust, you will receive an exclusive OWL skin. Vote for which skin YOU want to earn 👇 — Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) May 24, 2021 It’s that time again, folks! Watch four hours of #OWL2021 to receive an exclusive legendary skin! Vote below to determine which hero gets to rep the league in style 👇 — Overwatch Esports (@OW_Esports) August 2, 2021 With the CDL hitting milestone viewership (over 100K watched Major 5 live) and both leagues pushing toward highly anticipated postseasons, immediate suspicions arise about the sudden distancing. In terms of timing, the simplest assumption would be T-Mobile distancing from the lawsuit. Whether that is the case or not remains to be known, as neither Activision nor T-Mobile have discussed the split publicly. Dexerto has reached out to both Activision and T-Mobile PR for comment and will update this piece if we receive a response.

Supermarkets cash in on esports with SK and Vitality partnerships Aldi/LidlGerman supermarkets Aldi and Lidl have invested in esports through partnerships with SK Gaming and Team Vitality. Providing fresh food as part of their deals, both of the supermarket chains are hoping to improve the health and nutrition of their partners’ players. The alliance between Lidl and SK Gaming is for the duration of 2021, whereas Aldi and Team Vitality have signed a three-year agreement. The partnership with SK is the first move into esports for Lidl. Aldi already tried to appeal to esports audiences but their campaign was cut early. Lidl and their German partner released a promotional video to announce their collaboration, which includes a jersey sponsorship and “various joint activations,” on January 11. https://youtu.be/KZRoMR3ULwQ Throughout the three-year partnership, Aldi and Team Vitality will promote the importance of a healthy diet throughout the French org’s digital channels. The supermarket giants will also have their logo emblazoned on the team’s jerseys in Fortnite, FIFA, and the French national League of Legends competition, LFL. Read More: G2 Esports confirm deal with adidas – The organizations have one thing in common: they both compete in the LEC, the top flight of League of Legends esports in Europe. The competition will commence its 2021 spring split on January 22. “Team Vitality is delighted to be associated with ALDI France,” said Team Vitality CEO Nicolas Maurer. “The impressive growth of the creator of discount in his sector is reminiscent of Team Vitality’s trajectory in esport, and ALDI France’s desire to promote healthy and varied food for all resonates with the permanent search for performance. within our teams. Great stories and activations will inevitably emerge from this collaboration.” Aldi’s short-lived esports campaign was axed in March 2019 after it was criticized for its attempt to mock “addicted” gamers away from laying to sit down at the dinner table. They stayed away from the industry after that until announcing their alliance with Vitality on January 14, 2020.

StreamElements receive $100m investment to develop tools for streamers & content creators StreamElementsLive stream and video-on-demand services company StreamElements have received an investment of $100m through their latest funding round. Founded with the goal of helping content creators to “turn their passion into a profession,” StreamElements have developed services and tools that aim to increase engagement and monetization on content. To help accelerate their offering and fuel further growth, they went to market to find more investors and capital to inject into the company. Led by the SoftBank Vision Fund 2, they have raised $100m from new and existing investors. The company will develop new tools for content production, engagement, and monetization with the funding as they aim to become the pre-eminent companion for creators. 📢Today we announced a new round of funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. We’re excited to continue the development of our industry leading creator offerings with more details in our post below ⬇️ https://t.co/xaUedrAxTw pic.twitter.com/UjkAt3fUDc — StreamElements (@StreamElements) September 22, 2021 Tools and services provided by StreamElements include overlays, alerts, chat bots, merchandise stores, and tipping for those streaming video games and video on Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook. They plan to expand their focus to also include those uploading video on YouTube and streaming on Trovo. They claim to be used by over 1.1 million content creators across the major platforms, according to a press release announcing the investment. The venture capital arm of payment giants PayPal participated in the funding round, alongside MoreTech and existing investors such as State of Mind Ventures and Menorah. “Since launching StreamElements in 2017, it has become the leading platform in the creator economy by building great products and providing legendary service to content creators of all sizes while helping them collectively generate over a hundred million dollars,” said StreamElements CEO Gil Hirsch. “With this additional funding we are bolstering our staff to strengthen and broaden our ability to enable content creators across multiple platforms to make a living doing what they love.”

#StopDMCA trending as Twitch users outrage against US Senator’s bill Pexels, @Blocki / Twitch / Twitter, @ThomTillisWith North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis’ DMCA bill gaining traction, a slew of social media users, alongside Twitch and YouTube content creators, have gotten ‘#StopDMCA’ trending on Twitter in a testament to mounting backlash. On December 10, it was revealed to the public that Tillis had snuck an aggressive Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) proposal into the latest omnibus bill expected to be passed by Congress. While the full proposal can be read here, the brunt of its impact can be summarized simply: DMCA violators will be met with felonies and possible jail time. As such, the proposal has been the subject of obvious scrutiny. Twitch streamers, YouTube content creators, and other online figures are all already at the heart of DMCA uncertainty, and this proposal, if passed, could turn former losses of livelihood into losses of literal freedom. With backlash amping up, the #StopDMCA hashtag has erupted across Twitter as users share various critiques both of the proposal and of Tillis himself. Most notably, users have pointed out that Tillis may have a bias, given the thousands of dollars in donations he has received from entertainment industry donors. https://twitter.com/TheQuartering/status/1339326611427106817 For months now, Twitch streamers have been reacting to sudden waves of DMCA bans. One of the platform’s most popular personalities, TimTheTatMan, went on a colorful rant about the issue, while many have complained the bans could ruin the entire IRL streaming category. Being banned from the platform means a loss of revenue and a tighter leash on future transgressions, accidental or not, but Tillis’ proposal would amplify the consequences. With many already upset about bans, it’s unsurprising that social media has become frenzied at the thought that channel bans could be replaced with prison bars. Aside from simply pushing discourse about the proposal, one of the chief ways that people have reacted is by calling for direct action. Users are popularly asking for concerned citizenry to contact Tillis by email and his office’s phone number to protest the unsavory proposal. Senator @ThomTillis is pushing a new bill that would put YouTubers/Streamers in actual jail for streaming copyrighted music. Here’s his email – https://t.co/s8LXeO8Zae and below is his DC Office (including phone number)It’d be such a shame if everyone called him. 🤷♀️#stopDMCA pic.twitter.com/5raT1ikUQP — KreekCraft (@KreekCraft) December 16, 2020 At the moment, Tillis has yet to respond to the massive outpouring of concern and his proposal has yet to become law. With creators across Twitch, YouTube, and Instagram all affected, it’s likely that discussion of the DMCA felony proposal will be lengthy. We will continue to update as details emerge, but if Congress is curious about public opinion, the internet has most certainly made its voice heard.

Sony announce PlayStation Classic console pre-loaded with 20 retro games Sony / PlayStationIf you loved the first ever PlayStation, you’ll be excited to hear that Sony are launching a miniature version of the console that was originally released back in 1994. Called the PlayStation Classic, the mini console will come with a total of 20 pre-loaded retro games, including Final Fantasy VII and Tekken 3. “Long-time fans will appreciate the nostalgia that comes with rediscovering the games they know and love, while gamers who might be new to the platform can enjoy the groundbreaking PlayStation console experience that started it all,” Sony said in a statement. The small device will be about 45% smaller than the original console but will look almost identical, with a few modern touches like a HDMI port. The console comes with a price tag of $99 and even comes with two original-style controllers. Unfortunately, these controllers are so original that they don’t even feature analogue sticks, which might mean Ape Escape is off the cards as one of the games! The full list of games that will release with the PlayStation Classic has not been released, but Sony have confirmed Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3 and Wild Arms. The PlayStation Classic will be released on December 3, 2018 – the exact same date as the first 1994 release in Japan. It is currently uncertain whether players will be able to download or purchase other games for the PlayStation Classic or if the first 20 games that it is released with will also be the last 20. *Update* – It would appear that the 20 games that come with the Classic will be only ones available.

Finance company SoFi to support amateurs through LCS Scouting Grounds Riot/SoFiAmateur League of Legends in North America just got a big boost with sponsorship from finance company SoFi. [jwplayer TTN2Nh6y] Riot Games have appointed SoFi as an official partner of the LCS Scouting Grounds, a week-long event that serves as a path to pro. The American finance giants have gotten involved with the initiative in an attempt to “help future generations power up their personal finances and build a strong financial foundation while pursuing their ambitions.” As part of the deal, all eligible Scouting Grounds players will receive a $250 account with the company. LCS Scouting Grounds is also sponsored by automotive giants Honda and is hosted on tournament organizer FACEIT’s competitive platform. An additional aspect of the sponsorship will see SoFi host the ‘SoFi Meta Melee,’ a collegiate tournament series that will commence on November 20. The event will have a total prize pool of $50,000, with winning college students receiving money for student loan repayments and in-game skin codes. Hosted by Nerd Street Gamers, the SoFi Meta Melee will have competition across League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. .@SoFi invests in next generation of talent through @Honda Scouting Grounds partnership and a new tournament series #LCS ➡ https://t.co/PvH17TbZiX pic.twitter.com/TTa4LO8mAr — LCS (@LCSOfficial) November 9, 2020 It makes sense that SoFi are advertising to college students and young amateur players, promoting the importance of being in control of personal finance is not only a responsible message but could generate plenty of new business for the company. This isn’t the first instance of SoFi being in involved in esports, however. They entered the industry in March 2020 through a partnership with North American organization Misfits Gaming, advertising their brand on the jerseys of Misfits and their Florida Mayhem and Florida Mutineers franchises. When announcing their deal with Misfits, SoFi explained that their mission is to help people achieve financial independence to allow them to realize their ambitions.

Snoop Dogg joins FaZe Clan Board of Directors Twitter, @FaZeCommsLegendary West Coast rapper Snoop Dogg has officially joined FaZe Clan. In a March 7 announcement, the esports and gaming organization revealed that Snoop is a new talent member and is joining their Board of Directors. As many gaming fans noticed, Calvin ‘Snoop Dogg’ Broadus Jr. was wearing a FaZe Clan chain during his performance at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. It turns out that wasn’t just a fashion statement, as 17-time Grammy-nominated artist is now officially joining FaZe. In a press release, FaZe Clan revealed that Snoop will become one of the company’s directors following their merger with BRPM – which will lead to FaZe becoming a publicly traded company around Spring 2022. Snoop, himself, announced his membership as well. In a March 7 tweet, the celebrated artist, personality, and entrepreneur shared a video with a simple caption: “Joined FaZe Clan.” Snoop Dogg officially joins FaZe Clan: “FaZe Snoop” According to the PR briefing, Snoop’s son Cordell Broadus is the one that brought this partnership to life. Snoop referenced that relationship in the announcement: “It only makes sense to partner with FaZe Clan as both a team member and on the Board of Directors … The youth identifies with their brand and that’s something my son Cordell knew, which is why he brought us together.” Thus far, there have already been glimpses of the synergies between Snoop and FaZe. Aside from obvious interests in the entertainment and streaming spaces (where Snoop’s Twitch endeavors are widely known), there is also a community outreach component. FaZe ran a charity flag football game ahead of the Super Bowl, with $25,000 donated to Snoop’s Youth Football League. The org also announced that, in partnership with Snoop, they will be launching a “community outreach program centered around charitable activities that support youth.”

SK Gaming receives investment from Mercedes and major football club SK GamingSK Gaming have announced that they will be coming under new joint ownership by motor company Mercedes Benz and football club 1. FC Köln. One of the most storied organizations in esports, SK revealed on January 15 that Mercedes and FC Köln would be acquiring the shares owned by ESForce, pending approval by regulatory authorities. The move marks a tightening of SK’s relationship with 1. FC Köln, whom they announced a strategic partnership with in January 2018. SK say that “the club’s expertise when it comes to player development and their support infrastructure in the heart of Cologne has been and will continue to be vital for strategy going forward.” SK Gaming will field a 1. FC Köln’s roster for the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), the FIFA counterpart of the German Fußball-Bundesliga in which 1. FC Köln compete. Mercedes-Benz are the first vehicle manufacturer to invest in an esports team, but they’re certainly not the only one with an esports presence. The League of Legends European Championship – which SK Gaming will compete in – recently announced Kia Motors as an official partner, while Origen announced a partnership with Audi. “We are fascinated by both the enthusiasm of this young and digital generation for professional gaming and the totally new form of media consumption and communication within the fan community. By getting involved in SK Gaming we want to participate in this dialogue – as an open-minded and interested partner,” said Bettina Fetzer, Vice President Marketing Mercedes-Benz Passenger Car. “After nearly two years of involvement in eSports we have now decided to systematically take the next step.”

Simplicity Esports to receive $180k from 30-month Redragon sponsorship Pedro AndradeNorth American esports organization Simplicity Esports have signed a new sponsorship deal with gaming peripherals brand Redragon. The agreement will span 30 months and is valued at $180k, including $170k in cash and over $10k worth of gaming equipment. Simplicity’s League of Legends team Flamengo Esports — which is one of 10 teams that was selected as a long-term partner of the Brazilian CBLoL in October 2020 — will be supplied with headsets, mice, and keyboards as part of the deal. The $170k will be paid over the course of the 2.5-year sponsorship, starting in January 2021. While the supply of gaming peripherals and accessories isn’t anything new in esports, with the likes of HyperX and Logitech G sponsoring plenty of teams across all major regions, the cash value of this deal is unique. At least, the transparency is. It was revealed that Redragon were set to acquire 7.5% of Flamengo Esports from Simplicity in September for $390k in cash and over $133k in additional consideration. “Redragon has been a great partner for us, since Simplicity Esports entered Brazil earlier this year with the acquisition of Flamengo Esports,” said Jed Kaplan, CEO of Simplicity Esports. “We will proudly display their logo on the sleeve of our jersey to be seen by our dedicated fans, social media followers, and content watchers. We still have three available jersey sponsorship activations to sell, including the coveted center chest location that comes with a Master Sponsorship.” Revealing the value and exact length of sponsorships is uncommon in the industry, with only public companies such as Simplicity Esports and David Beckham-owned Guild Esports being forced to do so because they’re on stock markets. Hi Adam. COVID-related travel/safety issues delayed the original unveiling. We’re finalizing a new reveal plan for January that’s just as amazing… — Carleton Curtis (@carletoncurtis) November 27, 2020 In October 2020, Guild announced that they had signed a £3.6m sponsorship deal with a company they would reveal on November 22. That announcement never arrived, however, with the org later explaining that “travel/safety issues” ruined plans, with a new reveal plan now being expected in January 2021.

Sentinels Valorant star TenZ’s ‘Project T’ merch generated “six-figure turnover” Prodicgy Agency/ Warren James‘Project T’, a limited-edition apparel line released by Sentinels’ Valorant star Tyson ‘TenZ’ Ngo, was a monumental success, according to figures provided by his agency. Released together with Prodigy Agency, the company that represents the player, and Warren James, a Los Angeles-based brand development firm, ‘Project T’ amassed “20 million impressions online” and generated a “six-figure turnover,” which makes it “one of the most successful merch launches for an esports athlete ever.” ‘Project T’ was a “success internationally,” generating sales and traffic “from all corners of the globe,” according to Prodigy Agency. The apparel line included 13 unique items, including hoodies, crewnecks, and shorts. It was launched alongside a 10-page manga series described as a “worldbuilding” effort from TenZ. “I’m very proud of the quality of the merch and this first drop with Warren James,” Jérôme Coupez, Founder and CEO of Prodigy Agency, said in a statement. “It really fits the personality and universe of TenZ, and the amazing sales prove that the fans loved it. It’s also proof that TenZ and esports players can sell products if done properly and it’s paving the way for others, showing brands the true potential of players. I can’t wait for the next drops!” This is the second high-profile merchandise release in which TenZ is personally involved. In July, he collaborated with mouse manufacturer Finalmouse for a brand-new release, the Starlight Pro. The 40,000 units sold out in a matter of hours, generating over $7 million in sales. TenZ’s Valorant future is still up in the air. His contract with Sentinels expires at the end of the year, giving him the option to negotiate with other organizations. According to a September 29 report from Dot Esports, there’s a chance that Shahzeb ‘ShahZaM’ Khan leaves as well.

Sentinels fans can now invest in shares of the esports company Robert Paul/Riot GamesSentinels have announced that they will be listed on the equity crowdfunding platform StartEngine. Fans can purchase shares of the esports company startup to get equity and unique perks. Sentinels is giving its fans the opportunity to invest in the company through StartEngine, a startup crowdfunding platform. The North American organization announced on June 12 that it will be listed list on the platform in a “test-the-waters phase.” Once listed, fans will be able to reserve shares and invest in Sentinels, who are valued at $30.09 million. The company will put around 4% of its equity up for sale. “Our passionate fans have been a key to Sentinels’ growth and we are looking forward to inviting the fans to be a bigger part of our journey,” Sentinels CEO Rob Moore said in the press release. Sentinels to give esports fans investment opportunity Investors will unlock different perks based on the amount of money that they are committing. For $500, fans will unlock the bronze perk, which comes with a limited edition pro jersey. The most exclusive perk, Master, costs $50,000 and includes 15% bonus shares and a trip to Los Angeles, California to meet some of the pros in person. There are also time-based perks that will give fans up to 15% bonus shares if they invest within the first 72 hours. The minimum amount to invest is $300. According to Sentinels, the money raised will be used to “fund operations including expansion into new business lines.” Below you can find the amount-based tiers and the minimum investment required for each: Bronze perk: $500 – Silver perk: $1,000 – Gold perk: $5,000 – Platinum perk: $10,000 – Diamond perk: $25,000 – Master perk: $50,000 – Sentinels is one of the most popular esports organizations in North America. The company fields teams in Valorant, Apex Legends and Halo, and supports a number of popular content creators, including Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik and Brandon ‘Aceu’ Winn. The announcement comes two months after Sentinels launched SEN Society, a membership club. Sentinels are not the first esports company to utilize fan subscriptions or crowdfunding campaigns. Fnatic notably launched a crowdfunding campaign in 2020, and Cloud9, Team Liquid, and Fnatic all have some form of membership service. After a fruitful “test-the-waters phase,” with the StartEngine page going dark for a few days after its initial launch, Sentinels announced the formal listing of the company on the platform on August 4. In a press release about the formal listing, Sentinels claimed the company saw over 100 individual investors reserve shares.

Sentinels announce partnership with OTK & MoistCr1TiKal’s Starforge SentinelsSentinels have announced that they have entered into a partnership with Starforge Systems, the PC building company founded by One True King (OTK) and Charles ‘MoistCr1TiKaL’ White. The partnership sees the recently launched hardware company become the official PC supplier for Sentinels’ esports players and their content creator roster. They will receive the Voyager Creator Elite, Starforge Systems’ top-of-the-line PC, which has a retail price of $4,299 USD. The computer’s specs include an Intel Core i9-13900K CPU, Teamgroup Delta RGB 64GB DDR5 RAM, and a GeForce RTX™ 4090 Graphics Card. “As a creator-led PC brand, Starforge places a high value on authentic and engaging content,” Starforge Systems CEO Nicholas Dankner told Dexerto. “We felt that Sentinels was highly aligned with Starforge in that regard, and we are excited for the opportunity to create substantive content together.” To celebrate the sponsorship, Starforge has created a limited edition PC called ‘The Sentinel’, which features an Intel Core i5-13600K processor and a GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti GPU. It is available for $2,500 USD. This is the second esports partnership of its kind from Starforge Systems, which was launched in August 2022 by OTK – the influencer organization that manages big names like Asmongold and Emiru – and MoistCr1TiKaL. In December, Starforge Systems sponsored World of Warcraft guild Echo Esports for the Race to World First event Self-described as “one of the fastest growing esports organizations in North America,” Sentinels field esports teams in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Halo. Their roster of creators is made up of Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik, Jared ‘zombs’ Gitlin, Brandon ‘aceu’ Winn, and Daphne ’39Daph’ Wai. Asked if further partnerships with more esports organizations are on the horizon, Dankner said: “At this time, our focus is on delivering an amazing partnership experience and amazing hardware to Sentinels. Our team commits fully to everything we do, and our partnership with Sentinels is no exception.”

Rockstar Games reveals update on internal gender pay gap changes Rockstar Games, The Game AwardsIn a transparent move, and as part of Rockstar Games UK ongoing attempts to fix their documented gendered wage equality issues, the company has just released an internal report into the gender pay gap. As part of a British government push for equality in the workplace, any workplace with more than 250 people are required to publish a report on gender breakdowns within their company’s structure. This covers a broad world of information regarding pay amounts, and percentages of men and women within four defined brackets of earning. Rockstar Games UK, under the supervision of company Vice President Jennifer Kolbe, has just released the publicly accessible info onto the relevant government website. Honing in on the companies goals as part of this process, Rockstar has committed to “fostering a supportive and inclusive working environment for everyone, including ongoing efforts to build a more equitable gender balance across all of [its] studios.” Rockstar’s Vice President, Jennifer Kolbe has released its official gender pay gap report for 2021 for its employees, highlighting various improvements made to the company. While there is still room for improvements for Rockstar, it’s looking better. https://t.co/YDnE0qs6GE pic.twitter.com/fauTbUhJr1 — Ben (@videotechuk_) April 5, 2022 Now, looking at such a delicate subject from a purely quantitative point of view is never going to give easy and quick answers about the state of company, or how they do their business. But Rockstar aims to address discrepancies within its newest report. “For this past year, female headcount rose 15% as compared to a 12% increase in total headcount. However, as we bring more women into the company – not all of whom will be in senior positions – the gender pay gap will still see fluctuations year-to-year as it takes time for those women to rise through the company’s ranks” Of particular interest is the company’s dedication to tackling the invisible ways that opinions get formed. “Our global human resources team has undertaken unconscious bias training, and we have announced to our teams that this is a mandatory training for all employees in 2022” Getting into the hard data, Rockstar doesn’t hide the male dominance in its hiring and working processes. A breakdown of men and women in various pay bands gives startling insight into how women comprise only just over one in ten employees. As Rockstar have made clear that they are seeking to be at the forefront of inclusive hiring and working processes, the company also claimed it is “expanding HR systems options for gender identities beyond binary male/female choices to give staff more opportunity for self-expression.” The expansion of gendered recognition within the company is of huge note, especially considering how that might change the stats that Rockstar have put forward. The gender pay gap here doesn’t take into account anyone outside of Male/Female.

Riot Games concludes investigation into CEO over gender discrimination allegations Chris Yunker FlickrValorant and League of Legends studio, Riot Games are investigating CEO Nicolo Laurent for gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims after a labor lawsuit was filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Courts. Update March 16 Riot Games announced that it’s independent, third-party investigation into Sharon O’Donnell’s allegations of misconduct against CEO Nicolas Laurent has concluded and found no wrongdoing. “We concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent harassed, discriminated, or retaliated against the plaintiff,” the Special Committee looking into the matter said. As such, they recommended to the Board of Directors that “no action should be taken against Laurent.” The CEO commented after the recent findings were announced. “The allegations of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation involving me are not true. Nothing of that nature, or even remotely close to it, ever happened,” he said. “I’ve pledged my cooperation, total transparency, and provided access to anything requested. I can say with certainty that if these allegations were true, the Special Committee would have recommended my termination and the board would have fired me.” O’Donnell’s suit still remains in the courts, and the company will now “use every legal avenue at our disposal to see this case through and ensure that Riot and Nicolo are absolved.” Original story follows below. The pending case was filed by Sharon O’Donnell January 7 in L.A.’s Stanley Mosk Courthouse, with Riot Games and Laurent attached as the two defendants. O’Donnell was an Executive Assistant at Riot Games in 2017 and worked there until July 2020. She is now suing her former company for lost wages, medical expenses, and general damages related to her employment, outlined in the suit. During her time at Riot, she claims she would work 10-hour days with many overtimes and weekend hauls dispersed throughout. She’s now seeking recompense for hours that have so far gone unpaid. More directly, the lawsuit also claims “wrongful termination” after O’Donnell was removed from work duties after declining sexual advances by Laurent. In response to the allegations, Riot Games announced an outside firm will conduct an investigation of the claims and will be handled by a special committee by their Board of Directors. “Our CEO has pledged his full cooperation and support during this process, and we’re committed to ensuring that all claims are thoroughly explored and appropriately resolved,” a Riot spokesperson told VICE Games. The company did make it a point to immediately address the claims of wrongful termination. “One subject we can address immediately is the plaintiff’s claim about their separation from Riot. The plaintiff was dismissed from the company over seven months ago based on multiple well-documented complaints from a variety of people. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.” Complaints against Laurent are directly in line with past investigations and lawsuits against Riot Games that claimed there was a culture of misogyny and sexual discrimination throughout the company. Over a hundred Riot employees walked out on May 2019 in protest of the company. 1000 female employees settled a gender discrimination lawsuit in December 2019. Riot paid out $10 million to women of the company and promised to work on creating a more inclusive environment. In a 2020 open letter, Laurent claimed to have put himself on the chopping block asking Riot’s board to fire him if they “hadn’t made enough progress… to significantly reduce any demographic gaps in terms of Rioters’ sentiment and rate of progression” by January 2020. O’Donnell’s’ inquiry for her July 2020 firing will last for a 12-month period in which investigations by labor commissions will investigate Laurent and Riot Games.

Riot Games unveils new CEO as Nicolo Laurent steps down Riot GamesRiot Games has announced a new CEO, A. Dylan Jadeja, as Nicolo Laurent is set to step down and move to an advisory role. Riot Games has revealed that the company is promoting A. Dylan Jadeja to CEO as Nicolo Laurent, who has helmed the role since 2017, is moving to an advisory role. The League of Legends and Valorant developer said the transition will take place over the next few months and should be completed by the end of 2023. Jadeja joined Riot in 2011 as its Chief Financial Officer before adding Chief Operating Officer to his duties in 2014. The former Goldman Sachs vice president helped lead the company’s sale to Tencent Holdings in 2015 and became President of Riot Games in 2017. “After 14 years at Riot and 6 as CEO, later this year I’ll check off something that’s been on my quest log for a while: Stepping away from CEO to focus on family, plan a relocation back to France, and play flex queue with my four kids,” Laurent said on Twitter while announcing the news. Laurent also shared in the Riot Games announcement that he and the company looked inside and outside of the company for the best fit for the position, and the company’s board, advisors, founders and himself unanimously chose Jadeja for the role. Riot Games appoints Jadeja new CEO Under Laurent’s leadership, Tencent acquired a majority stake in the company, Riot released more well-received titles, and worked to create the hit Netflix show Arcane. The company was also hit with a gender discrimination lawsuit that was recently settled for $100 million. In a 2018 Kotaku expose, Riot Games was accused of fostering a culture of sexism that saw management make sexual jokes, send unsolicited pictures of male genitalia and farting on other employees. Laurent was not named as someone in leadership who participated in the alleged discrimination, but a 2021 Wired article said he protected some executives who allegedly participated in the behavior. Laurent was also accused of sexual harassment in 2021 by his former assistant and was cleared by a third-party investigation into the allegations months later. He has denied any wrongdoing in that case. The allegations against Laurent led to Riot losing one of its global sponsors for its League of Legends esports competitions, according to a report from Dot Esports. Jadeja was also with Riot at the time of the allegations and lawsuit. In his letter to the Riot Games staff about his move to CEO, Jadeja said his goal is for the company to be “unequivocally, the most trusted and authentic game company in the world… built by players, for players.” Riot Games operates two of the top-tier esports titles globally in League of Legends and Valorant as both titles continue to hold international tournaments that garner thousands of viewers regularly.

Riot Games settle historic gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million Riot GamesRiot Games has settled a historic gender-based discrimination lawsuit three years after a range of sexual harassment allegations were brought to light, with the gaming publisher agreeing to payout $100 million to female employees. League of Legends and Valorant publisher Riot Games has finally settled a lawsuit initially filed in November 2018 by former employees in light of workplace harassment and sexual discrimination. After years of ongoing legal battles, $100m is now set to be paid out to 1,065 female employees and 1,300 contract workers, the Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH) announced on December 27. This fee is 10x greater than the amount previously settled on in 2019. After the DFEH blocked the initial agreement, claiming victims should be paid as much as $400m instead, the new sum of $100m was confirmed two years later. As a result of the settlement, all current and former Riot employees out of California – whether full-time or contractors – that identify as women are entitled to a payout. Roughly $80m of the full sum is to be distributed accordingly. Meanwhile, the remaining $20m will cover legal expenses. On top of the nine-figure payment, Riot Games must also be monitored by a third party. Over the next three years, an independent body will oversee how the company functions. This group will directly observe the publisher in action to assure employees of all genders are treated and paid fairly. “We want to acknowledge that the timing of this announcement isn’t ideal,” an email from Riot executives read, according to reports from The Washington Post. “The final details of the agreement came together quickly. We wanted you to hear about it from us directly rather than read about it in the news while on break.” Both Riot Games and the claimants have signed the December agreement, though the settlement must still be approved in court. A date has not yet been agreed upon for this final hearing. This announcement comes in the same calendar year as Riot’s own CEO was under investigation following a separate Los Angeles lawsuit in light of further gender-discrimination claims.

Riot Games announce Rihanna partnership that no one was expecting Riot Games, Fenty BeautyRiot Games’ new League of Legends Netflix show, Arcane, is set to make its debut in November, but the company has announced a partnership with Rihanna’s Fenty beauty that has fans scratching their heads. In the lead-up to Riot Games’ League of Legends-inspired Netflix show, Arcane, the gaming giants have teamed up with a whole host of different brands to celebrate the highly-anticipated series. Jinx will be dropping into Epic Games’ iconic battle royale, Fortnite, as well as scoring herself the chance of snatching a winner-winner, chicken dinner in PUBG. While both campaigns have shocked fans across Runeterra, Riot have announced yet another “first-of-its-kind global partnership” that’s set to take fans completely by surprise – and it involves pop superstar, Rihanna. Riot Games partners with Fenty Beauty ahead of Arcane In order to fuel the Arcane hype train, Riot Games have partnered with R&B icon turned beauty mogul, Rihanna, to bring some Fenty Beauty flavor to Arcane’s release. Writing that the partnership will see the Fenty team “curate beauty looks across Riot Games and content aiming to highlight the multifaceted and diverse beauty landscape that celebrates beauty in all of its forms,” the duo “will push the boundaries of collaboration throughout this partnership, both in and out of game.” Throughout Arcane’s premiere weekend (November 6 – 7,) “Fenty Beauty will host VIP beauty experiences and gifting at the Riot Games campus in Los Angeles on November 7 at 6PM PST/ 9PM EST/ 1AM GMT/ 2PM CEST.” While this partnership may raise an eyebrow, it’ll be interesting to see how these two very different worlds collide. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see a Fenty-inspired skin make it onto the Rift just as we did with Louis Vuitton! Arcane’s debut will be screened live via Riot Games’ Twitch and on arcane.com, where fans can snag some awesome free in-game loot for all of Riot’s titles. For everything we know so far, be sure to check out our explainer hub right here.

Report: Teams across OWL and CDL owe up to $420 million in franchise payments Dexerto/David Doran/ESPATActivision Blizzard is owed up to $420 million in franchise payments from teams in the OWL and the CDL according to a report from Jacob Wolf. Franchise payments for the leagues were deferred in 2020 because of the global heath crisis and were pushed back to the fall of 2022 according to The Washington Post. Those payments could possibly be pushed even further, to 2024, according to Jacob Wolf’s report. Organizations bought into the CDL starting around $25 million and OWL franchises paid $20 million for entry into the league in 2017, and when the league expanded in 2018 the fee went up to as high as $35 million according to Wolf. After about two years of deferred payments, the total amount owed is between $390 and $420 according to Wolf. Teams in the CDL owe Activision Blizzard $22.5 million on average and 20 OWL franchises owe up to $7.5 million each according to the report. The former head of esports at Activision Blizzard, Brandon Snow, floated the idea of waiving OWL and CDL franchise payments at one point according to the report. OWL and CDL franchises continue to see financial turbulence The current global heath crisis has hit the CDL and OWL hard as the draw for many organizations to join the league were the homesteads, or matches and tournaments held at a franchise’s own venue. But with in-person esports events not possible until recently, the full financial impact of those regular in-person events have yet to be seen. Activision Blizzard itself has also impacted the leagues with its various recent controversies starting with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filing suit against the company for alleged knowledge of sexual misconduct within its ranks for multiple years. This caused many sponsors to drop their advertising with the leagues as their are no sponsors listed on the OWL website and the season is already underway. The CDL itself only has four sponsors: Mountain Dew, Aimlab, Scuf and Zenni. Immortals, an investor into both leagues, has slowly stepped away from the CDL, by selling their spot to 100 Thieves, and OWL, by outsourcing its team operations to China and moving the franchise there.

Report: OpTic Chicago negotiating sale of CDL spot to OWL’s Washington Justice Tonya McCahon For Activision Blizzard / ActivisionThe Call of Duty League’s OpTic Chicago may be finding a new home, again, as reports indicate that the Overwatch League’s Washington Justice are in talks to purchase and relocate the league spot. According to Jacob Wolf at DotEsports, the Overwatch League’s Washington Justice are ‘progressing’ on a deal to acquire and relocate the CDL’s OpTic Chicago spot. This follows earlier rumors that OpTic’s brand is set to merge with the CDL’s Dallas Empire. As Wolf reports, the Justice’s ownership group — Washington Esports Ventures — are “one of two serious parties” currently positioned to buy the Chicago, Illinois team slot from the team’s owners at NRG Gaming. CDL Washington team? If the deal goes through, the Justice are expected to move the squad from Chicago to Washington, D.C., with little word on what will happen to the current OpTic roster. Up to now, the OpTic brand has already changed locations twice in the past two years — with OpTic Los Angeles formed for 2020, then re-acquired by Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez for 2021. While not yet verified, earlier rumors claimed an Envy Gaming and OpTic merger is primed for 2022 in Dallas, Texas. CDL OpTic Dallas team? If this report comes true — Chicago will be sold to Washington, meaning the city will have a second esports team, covering both of Activision-Blizzard’s franchised leagues. The cost of doing so is unclear, but can be estimated upwards of $20 million according to information given by 100 Thieves’ Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, who purchased the OGLA team slot to form the LA Thieves. Additionally, should the initial OpTic and Envy merger report come true, then Washington will have to start from scratch roster-wise, as Dallas will field a four of Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, Anthony ‘Shotzzy’ Cuevas-Castro, Indervir ‘iLLeY’ Dhaliwal, and Brandon ‘Dashy’ Otell.

Rapper Swae Lee invests in XSET org founded by former FaZe executives XSET/Swae LeeThe rapper, who’s half of hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, has invested an undisclosed sum in recently-launched organization XSET. [jwplayer R6p1wjEO] Launched by former executives at FaZe Clan, XSET pride themselves on diversity and being free of the “frat house culture” present in other organizations. Swae Lee initially told Rolling Stone that he had invested eight-figures in XSET, though the organization later explained that that wasn’t the case but didn’t disclose a solid figure. The rapper and XSET members gathered at the Triller house on October 22 to celebrate the launch of his latest single, prior to announcing his official involvement. As you’d perhaps expect, they played games live on the org’s Twitch channel. The report states that further deals with recording artists are in the works, as well as with athletes, and are due to be announced in the coming months. “I always wanted to be on what’s next. There’s a network of people like myself who want to bring simple access for fans,” Swae Lee said regarding his decision to invest. “XSET, FaZe, they have fans who like to do the same things I like to do, sit at home on a game and be lazy. I want to help make a huge network for all the kids to enjoy gaming, talk about life, talk smack to each other, get merch and have first-person access to rappers.” Following FaZe Clan initiating president Greg Selkoe’s exit in January 2020, he and a couple of colleagues launched XSET in July. Serving as the CEO, he’s joined by vice president of apparel, Wil Eddins, and vice president of business development, Clinton Sparks. Rappers and esports organizations have been coming together for quite some time now. Notable moves include Drake with 100 Thieves, Wiz Khalifa with Pittsburgh Knights, Pusha T and Logic with Chaos EC, and Offset with FaZe Clan.

Radical Heights Developer Boss Games Makes Surprise Announcement About the Future of the Studio The battle royale genre doesn’t always equal success and that has certainly been the case for Radical Heights developer, Boss Games, who confirmed the studio has shut down. Launched in early-2018, the eighties themed game has received mixed reviews due to its early infancy, but the concept of the multiplayer follows a similar theme to the likes of H1Z1, PUBG and Fortnite. Players jump out of a plane, loot and then proceed to kill everyone left as the map shrinks over time. With Gears of War mastermind, Cliff ‘CliffyB’ Bleszinski, on the team, the sky appeared to be the limit for Radical Heights on the back of other BR successes. Using a new method of looting which required players to find cash located around the map and to buy weapons, instead of just finding them, it was touted as something fresh and different. It appears that it wasn’t all rosey behind the scenes however, with CliffyB making a statement on May 14th to reveal the studio had closed down. Calling Radical Heights a little too late, he explained despite hiring the best talent possible, it hasn’t worked out. The Radical Heights servers will remain online for the foreseeable future, but for now CliffyB will be taking some time out to spend with his family. For any of the developers who have found themselves out of work, one of the employees at 343 advised that they’re currently hiring. Sorry to hear this, Cliff. For those affected by the Boss Key shutdown, 343 is hiring. https://t.co/ePsNpJmTrg https://t.co/5nbKDPnraL — David Ellis (@DavidEllis) May 14, 2018

Queens Gaming Collective CEO explains need for women-led organization QueensQueens Gaming Collective, a gaming lifestyle company led by women, has launched with $1.5m in investment. [jwplayer WGyDcVLl] Founded and operated by women, the collective has assembled to amplify accessibility and opportunities for their content creators, streamers, and competitors so they can “build equitable and profitable careers in gaming.” Queens Gaming Collective launched to “level the playing field in a crowded, competitive, and male-dominated industry” and have a roster of prominent figures to boot. Each have ownership in the brand and will be given tools and guidance to “unlock economic upside.” The collective initially houses musical acts CRAY, Sharlene, Coco and Breezy, Erica Nagashima, Sunzibae, bunnymightgameu; content creators AvaGG, Kiera Please, demisux, Bloody, Kayla Delancey, BlackKrystel, xmiramira, SavEdgeDoll, HelloIAmKate; influencer Carrington Durham; cosplayer Maid of Might; and WNBA champion Alexis Jones. The aforementioned members will create collaborative content and activations for platforms owned by Queens Gaming Collective. They’re also joined by an ambassador network, dubbed the Queens Court, that includes former NBA star Baron Davis and media figure Karen Civil. Dexerto asked CEO and co-founder Alisa Jacobs why it was important for Queens Gaming Collective to exist. “Because it is wildly shocking that it didn’t exist. Nearly half of the world’s gamers are women,” she said. “Nonetheless, through the lens of representation, especially in streaming, where are all the women? For every Pokimane or Valkyrae, there are a dozen men — Ninja, Shroud, Myth, TimTheTatman, Dr. Disrespect, Dr. Lupo, etc. “Our Queens have built their own dedicated, engaged audiences, but all want and deserve additional support to elevate and expand within the industry. This is where we come in. We are an arsenal. We provide the professional weaponry required for battle, including heavy artillery like meaningful resources, platform and opportunities. While there is plenty of white space to develop and celebrate these gamers, it takes a village. There is a more resounding, industry-wide issue that we are adamant to address. It’s an immediate call to action for all of us.” In recent times, esports has seen more investment placed in diversity and inclusivity with Gen.G partnering with dating app Bumble to scout and house all-female teams, Cloud9 signing a female Valorant roster, and Dignitas launching their ‘FE’ platform for women in gaming. As Jacobs explained, this is a start but the cause isn’t over just yet. “We love seeing top-tier esports organizations putting action behind their words, and are sincerely rooting for each team and initiative,” she said. “It sets the precedent. However, there is still a lot of work to be done here. We’re just scratching the surface when it comes to broader areas to tackle in esports and gaming. This is why we are so purposeful in selecting our Queens. Our inaugural class, as well as our investors, executives, staff, and vendors, for that matter, are diverse in terms of background, gender, race, talent and thought.” The collective have launched with support from investors and endemic gaming companies alike. Razer have joined the company as a partner, providing them with peripherals like mice, keyboards, and headsets to use when creating content. BITKRAFT Ventures, a firm launched by ESL and G2 Esports co-founder Jens Hilgers, led the investment in the company. Other contributors include Muse Capital founding partners Assia Grazioli-Venier and Rachel Springate, former MTV executive Amy Finnerty, Kappa USA president Dre Heyes, Sugarfina co-founder Rosie O’Neill, and seven other businesswomen. “Our seed capital is going into critical resources necessary to bring Queens to market and foster our roster’s long-term growth,” Jacobs said of such support. “Razer will provide our talent with the peripherals they need to better create content, and connect with other Queens and their respective audiences.” With the ethos and approach of Queens being made clear from the get-go, Dexerto asked their CEO as to the ultimate ambition behind the venture. “Our primary goal is to help create and equalize opportunities for women in gaming and gaming culture,” she answered. “We’ll do that by providing our Queens increased access, management, guidance, and resources they need to be successful. Collectively, all of these can help empower meaningful personal brands and careers, and affect change. We seek to inspire the next generation of culture-makers and young women in gaming.” Queens Gaming Collective will host a celebratory launch stream on December 5, with team members being joined by the Queens Court on Twitch.

Cardi B, Migos music label Quality Control invests in XSET esports org Chris Allmeid/XSETAmerican record label Quality Control have invested an unspecified amount in XSET, an esports organization founded by former FaZe Clan executives. XSET have raised $10m in funding to help them with further growth, though it’s unknown who else has contributed towards the funding round at the time of writing. It’s been made public, however, that Quality Control have taken part in the capital raise. The label have major music artists like Migos, Lil Yachty, and Lil Baby on their books and they manage global star Cardi B too. According to a report from The Washington Post, XSET and Quality Control will work together to collaboratively promote themselves through content and merchandise. While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has rendered playing music on Twitch streams almost impossible, Quality Control founder and CEO Kevin ‘Coach K’ Lee believes that changes are on the horizon that will allow these partnerships to be fully-faceted. Read More: Shopify launch esports organization – “The big companies, whether it’s the Universals, the Sonys, the head companies, I think they’re working out the deals,” said Coach K. “Everyone’s making money, so you can’t cut us out on the music side.” XSET was announced to the world in July 2020 when it was revealed that FaZe Clan’s former president Greg Selkoe, as well as Wil Eddins and Clinton Sparks, departed the gaming collective. It was initially framed as if Selkoe chose to leave, though sources close to the situation informed Dexerto that FaZe approached him in January 2020 to initiate his exit. Join us and our newest partner @QCMusicMgmt in welcoming the future of Atlanta gaming, professional Fortnite player @Astonish2K, to XSET! 🥳🔥#RepTheSet | 🗣️ https://t.co/4rrrDsL4uj pic.twitter.com/9E8wR65h5W — XSET (@XSET) February 25, 2021 Interestingly, some Quality Control artists are already involved with another esports organization. Lil Yachty is an official member of FaZe Clan, XSET’s founding partners’ old team, and Migos member Offset invested in them back in 2019. This may create some complications if these artists are wanted to appear in XSET content, for example. Rapper Swae Lee, who’s one half of hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd, invested an undisclosed sum in XSET back in October 2020. He initially claimed that he had invested eight-figures into the org, but they later clarified that this wasn’t the case.

Esports supplement brand Qallo raises $1.3m investment QalloBelgium-based esports performance brand Qallo has raised $1.3m in an effort to grow their business and presence in the industry. Qallo are creating what they describe as “healthy gaming supplements” focused on helping esports athletes improve and optimize their performance. Their products include a focus-specific supplement, QFocus, and a supplement that aims to help with sleep, QSleep. With the money raised, they’re looking to raise awareness surrounding the need for what they believe to be the necessary pillars of optimizing in-game performance and push their aforementioned supplements. They currently ship products to Europe but hope to expand their services to North America in March 2021, a feat that will no doubt be made easier by bolstering their operations with this investment. Read More: VBI join Elgato under CORSAIR ownership – “There is very limited information available on esports performance,” said Niels Peetermans, co-founder of Qallo. In regular sports, there is a lot of accessible content regarding training schedules, diets, food supplementation, etc. In esports, there is a big knowledge gap between the top 1% and the rest of the athletes. We want to close that gap.” To complement their products, the company have launched a system based on six foundations: in-game training, sleep and recovery, physical exercise, nutrition, mental resilience & wellbeing, and team dynamics. Prior to the global health crisis, the team at Qallo hosted a boot camp with Belgian team Sector One to help them in the national League of Legends competition. The company have their own esports performance center, located in their home nation of Belgium, specifically in Antwerp. They were founded in August 2020 by Niels ‘Super1Fly’ Peetermans, Moos ‘Tempgaltic’ Tits, and Alexander ‘AlexRoark’ Van Laer.

PUBG devs might sue Chinese studio for esports movie that looks like PUBG KRAFTON / Huawen Picture GroupIt’s as esports and gaming a story as possible: There is a Chinese movie, “Biubiubiu,” about battle royale esports and it is so similar to PUBG that the game’s studio is reportedly considering suing. Biubiubiu is marketed as the world’s first esports BR film and it looks like KRAFTON’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. While the movie has released and drawn relentless comparisons to PUBG, industry insider Daniel Ahmad reports that they’ve said “it’s not a PUBG movie.” Still, that hasn’t stopped the comparisons or KRAFTON’s concerns. As Ahmad explains, the game’s developers are considering suing over infringement of their intellectual property. If the entire situation sounds like a mess, that’s because it is. Fortunately, Ahmad’s tweet on August 15 practically encapsulates the entire drama. https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1427026510913880073 PUBG is the most popular battle royale in Asia and it should be no surprise that the game would factor in as inspiration for a BR film. But the extent of that inspiration is questionable, especially since the movie’s poster so closely resembles the cover art for PUBG. As far as Biubiubiu’s plot, we won’t dive into it much here — but it showcases mobile players competing in a FPS BR with a blend of live-action and CGI. If you want to watch it, you can join hundreds of thousands by checking out the full film on YouTube. The movie’s similarities to PUBG are undoubtedly present, but the extent to which they infringe upon IP is a matter best settled in court. Thus far, KRAFTON have made zero public announcements about the situation, but Ahmad is considered to be reputable in that market. We’ll update this piece if there’s official confirmation of a lawsuit. In the meantime, you can check out the mix of mobile PUBG and big-budget cinema on YouTube.

PS5 and Xbox 2 prices could rise due to the President’s new tariffs Microsoft/UnsplashA new set of government proposals could see consoles fans in the United States paying more than expected for the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox’s Project Scarlett systems. Fans are gearing up for the announcements of new consoles from Microsoft and Sony as rumors and speculation mount up, filling the void left by the lack of any official confirmation of announcement. However, these yet-to-be-released consoles could cost considerably more than initially planned due to new economic plans from the United States that would impact the gaming and entertainment industry as a whole. Sony won’t be attending this year’s E3 event as the wait for the PS5 rolls on. According to a report from GameDaily, a new tariff that has been proposed by the US government would see anything that isn’t covered under the current set of tariffs given a hike. If the new proposal is accepted, all of the parts and products, including controllers and consoles, coming from China will face a 25% import tax – a huge increase over the current 10%. While this may have been expected by some, the rise up to 25% is somewhat surprising. Back in 2017, it was reported by Polygon that parts of the gaming industry would begin to fall under new tariffs – yet, those projected percentages were set to be much lower than the new ideas. AMD and Nvidia, who have already incurred a 10% tariff on graphics cards, are expected to be behind the software in the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles and could see their prices increased in a bid to recoup some costs. Xbox is expected to announce their new console at E3 – however, the price could be set for a dramatic change. Could these tariffs affect anyone else? While this is only a proposal so far, it remains to be seen if the United States and China will get their trade dispute ironed out without affecting too many more parts of the entertainment industry. If it does come to pass, then consumers can likely expect a price rise in many items that are imported, in some capacity, from China. However, it’s not known what, if any, impact this could have on consumers around the globe.

Pokimane launches new company ‘RTS’ to “fix the gaming and esports industry” Pokimane / RTSTwitch star Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys is looking to “fix the gaming and esports industry” with her new talent management and brand consulting firm, RTS. As co-founder and chief creative officer, the 25-year-old launched RTS on October 27, 2021, with the goal of “fixing what is broken” in brand partnerships and talent management in gaming and esports. She joins CEO Stuart Saw, formerly of Twitch and Endeavor, COO Kim Phan (ex-Blizzard and Endeavour), vice president of talent management Sue Lee (formerly Twitch), and vice president of sales and partnerships Jason Scorrano (former PAX, Turner Sports) in her new venture. RTS’ advisory board also features some big names: Kevin Lin (co-founder and former COO at Twitch), Brian Corrigan (head of Americas for PUBG Corporation), and Karen Brodkin (executive vice president of content strategy & partnerships at Endeavor). RTS have already established themselves in the gaming and esports space, working with Epic Games and the Fortnite World Cup, Facebook, and Pokimane herself. They will also join Sony in owning and managing the popular annual esports fighting game event, EVO. “I keep seeing amazing creators that are doing wonders with their content and streams, but they don’t have the support to grow their brand and business operations,” Pokimane said in a release. “They’re spinning their wheels on basic stuff and taking a lot of frustrating partnership deals that don’t work out for either party involved. “I’ve gone through the wringer with these experiences, and we’re building RTS to be able to provide the support, alleviate the workload, and solve this for creators, developers, and brands. My goal is to take my years of experience and make it accessible to newer creators so they don’t need to go through the process I have endured.”

PlayStation hit by harassment lawsuit amid Activision Blizzard issues SonyA former PlayStation employee has filed a lawsuit against the company following alleged wrongful termination, gender discrimination, and harassment. Just days following PlayStation boss Jim Ryan’s condemnation of Activision Blizzard’s handling of its own workplace culture, a new lawsuit has been filed against the console manufacturer by Emma Majo, a former security analyst. As reported by Axios, the case claims that “Sony tolerates and cultivates a work environment that discriminates against female employees”, while also alleging that female employees are subjected to “disparate treatment in pay and work opportunities”. Sony PlayStation under fire following harassment allegations Majo alleges that her career progression was blocked by her superiors and that she was let go from the company following a complaint made about the discrimination. According to Majo, her termination was due to a department being closed, but she hadn’t worked in that team and Sony’s actions caused “financial loss” and “non-economic damages” including emotional distress. The lawsuit is aimed at recovering what Majo describes as “general compensatory damages in amounts to be proven at trial”. The suit comes after a sobering period for the games industry as the continued fallout from the State of California’s legal proceedings against Activision Blizzard’s workplace culture which was filed earlier this year. In a more recent update, the Wall Street Journal reported that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick had reportedly been aware of allegations, as well as being involved in harassment himself. This prompted PlayStation’s Jim Ryan, Xbox’s Phil Spencer, and Nintendo’s Doug Bowser to condemn the way Activision Blizzard had dealt with the allegations via emails to staff.

PlayStation CEO condemns Blizzard response to new Bobby Kotick allegations Gamereactor / Wikimedia CommonsPlayStation chief Jim Ryan has condemned Activision Blizzard’s response to allegations made against CEO Bobby Kotick, which resulted in an employee walkout and shareholders demanding his resignation. Activision Blizzard’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, has been accused of being aware of sexual misconduct at the company for years. Kotick has disputed these claims, calling them “misleading,” but that hasn’t stopped many others from stepping in and sharing their thoughts on the matter. The next in that line is PlayStation CEO, Jim Ryan, who, according to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, was “disheartened and frankly stunned” at the news – but more so Activision’s handling of the situation. PlayStation CEO goes after Activision Blizzard over Kotick controversy According to the Bloomberg report, Ryan was deeply dissatisfied with the Activision Blizzard situation, like so many others. In an email, he wrote that Activision Blizzard “has not done enough to address a deep-seated culture of discrimination and harassment.” Ryan went on: “We do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation.” NEW: PlayStation boss Jim Ryan slammed Activision Blizzard this morning, writing in an email to staff that he was “”disheartened and frankly stunned”” by this week’s news. “”We do not believe their statements of response properly address the situation.”” https://t.co/78mvdvqZzs — Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 17, 2021 The ongoing controversy has the potential to affect the release dates of several marquee titles like Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, two games that have already been delayed numerous times. PlayStation, and by proxy Sony, have worked closely with Activision Blizzard in the past, as the two share many titles under each of their respective umbrellas. It’s unclear as to whether the handling of these allegations will affect the relationship between the two in the future. With shareholders and employees calling for Kotick’s resignation, though, a change in leadership could be imminent.

How Playfly Esports aims to revolutionize collegiate and high school esports Playfly EsportsPlayfly Esports CEO Rob Johnson spoke to Dexerto about the company’s esports plans and how it wants to bring sustainability to the space. On June 15, Playfly Sports, a sports marketing, media and technology company, announced that its collegiate esports subsidiary, CSL Esports, had become a new division within the company, rebranded as Playfly Esports. It will focus on creating “revenue-driving opportunities” for brands within esports and the esports organizations themselves across amateur, collegiate and high school teams, according to the release. In an interview with Dexerto, Rob Johnson spoke about how this move for the company is a play to help bring more stability to the esports industry. In 2022, many esports organizations still rely on sponsorships and investor capital to keep the lights on. In 2021, Newzoo projected that 75% of the esports industry’s total market revenue for that year would come through media rights and sponsorships. A new era for esports is here, CSL Esports has evolved into a new division of @PlayflySports Welcome to Playfly Esports🎉 This expansion will serve to directly connect brands with esports fans. Plus help us bring more resources to the collegiate scene with @NACEstarleague💙 pic.twitter.com/9F2VulViPH — Playfly Esports (@playflyesports) June 15, 2022 “Many of the orgs, whether they are EDU [education], amateur or pro, are really struggling to sell,” Johnson said. “And we found this is a problem the more and more we talk with people that are constantly raising money, and particularly in this atmosphere. It’s not going to be sustainable. So how can we help build the sponsorship arm using what we have?” The answer seems to be expanding what Playfly was already doing within the esports space. The company ran CSL Esports and WorldGaming Network and collaborates with the National Association of Collegiate Esports and the North American arm of its collegiate league, NACE Starleague. Playfly Esports has announced a range of different initiatives, all centered around assisting amateur esports organizations, colleges and high schools with brand marketing, content and media collaborations. Playfly itself has many years of experience in doing the same with traditional sports: It has worked with the NBA, NFL, and MLB, and has acquired many media companies over the years to cater to its clients in the media sphere. “Bringing what we’re doing here Playfly wide, focused on esports and gaming, connecting brands and many of the Fortune 500 brands to esports fans to the communities – that we’re able to serve here,” Johnson said about the expansion into esports. “That’s the new business and that’s how we’re trying to grow.” Domestic and North American brands want to get in on esports These big brands have been looking for a way to get into esports, according to Johnson, and with Playfly and its yet-to-be-announced partnerships with specific esports organizations, they now can. “What we saw is that, domestically, it was very difficult for both United States-only brands and regional brands to even enter esports,” the Playfly CEO said. Playfly Esports itself will act as an agency to connect teams with sponsors and advertisers, charging a fee for its services. For high school and college esports, Johnson said that the company is trying to help the institutions create a “financial backbone” and bring the equivalent of a sponsorship banner at a high school state championship to the fledgling esports education space. With the backbone, teams may look to reinvest in other avenues, particularly brick-and-mortar venues for players to compete in or other esports initiatives, like school curriculums. The company can also help schools secure funds for those projects as well as assist with naming and image rights. Johnson said that getting those deals set up is a long way out at the moment, and that it would require setting up sustainable systems on the business side first, but with Playfly’s size and experience, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Ultimately, Playfly Esports is looking to become a mainstay in the esports space at the amateur, collegiate and high school levels by creating sustainable business practices for organizations to fall back on in the media sphere. We’re thrilled to announce that NACE Starleague is officially partnering with https://t.co/dZD4MTSdps to bring competitive chess to the collegiate scene🧠 $50k Prize Pool for Fall 22 through Spring 23🎉 Learn more about the Collegiate Chess League @ https://t.co/UBrf6hNJmy pic.twitter.com/hTGspyYLFo — NACE Starleague (@nacestarleague) June 30, 2022 Johnson said that Playfly hopes to overdeliver and continue to do business with orgs year in and year out as it brings more companies to the space. “We want to continue to grow our efforts to get more people within the ecosystem and advertising network, so that we can help fund and give money back to …. And then make sure that we continue to grow here in a sustainable way,” Johnson said.

Sources: LoL team Phelan lose Munster Rugby deal amid missed payment claims Phelan/Munster RugbyMunster Rugby Gaming is no more, at least in its current form, after allegations of missed payments towards the team’s partner Irish organization Phelan Gaming surfaced. Dexerto spoke with sources close to the situation, who allege that the money owed is in the thousands. The situation first emerged when event organizer DreamHack and League of Legends developer Riot Games announced that Munster Rugby Gaming, previously known as Phelan Gaming, would not be competing in the 2021 NLC Spring Season. Instead, the team team would revert to their original name and compete in their UKLC for 2021 – their domestic event which feeds into the NLC. Phelan Gaming partnered with Irish rugby club Munster Rugby in April 2020 to expand into a “global gaming lifestyle brand,” but the alliance has already ended. The NLC update states that “operational constraints from the Summer Season” are responsible for the team’s departure from the tournament. Now, sources close to the situation have informed Dexerto about the exact nature of that ruling and why the partnership ended prematurely. Phelan Gaming assembles a team for the NLC Ahead of the inaugural season of the NLC, a merger of the UKLC and the Nordic Championship ran by DreamHack, Phelan Gaming — operating under the banner of Munster Rugby Gaming — had to assemble a team. April 1 marked the first day of work for the team’s head coach, general manager, and team manager. Read More: BBC creating LEC documentary following EXCEL – Towards the end of the month, the organization sent an offer to hire a head of performance — a role that would see the employee work closely with Munster Rugby to build a brand in esports to “do what they did in rugby,” according to evidence provided to Dexerto. It was very clear at this point that Munster Rugby Gaming was the team, with almost no references to Phelan Gaming to be found in any communication. It didn’t take long for problems to arise, however, according to insiders. After not being paid for work carried out in April, per sources close to the organization, a member of staff had to move in with another as they had nowhere to live. Other members were yet to be paid, too. Fast forward to June and an emergency meeting was held between the recently-assembled team and the CEO of Munster Rugby Gaming, Ciarán ‘Wings’ Walsh. Those with knowledge of the situation claim that Walsh told staff in the meeting that he was working with Munster Rugby to get a grant that would allow them to be paid, and that June 19 would be the latest in which the money would be sent. The grant did not materialize and, according to sources, it was later confirmed by the rugby club that the organization never applied for the said grant. Read More: Fnatic reveal Upset as Rekkles replacement – Throughout this entire ordeal staff were working without having signed contracts despite their requests, sources have revealed. Blame was passed on to Munster Rugby for this, with Walsh explaining that the club has been “inefficient and slow” in getting them sorted. The rugby club, once again, confirmed to staff that they were not involved in this process. As this entire ordeal progressed, it became evident that Phelan Gaming were effectively licensing the brand name of Munster Rugby and it was down to the organization to handle all operations. Dexerto was shown correspondence that appears to show Walsh, Phelan’s CEO, neglected to assume responsibility for shortcomings throughout. Problems with payments progress Shocked by the revelation that Munster Rugby Gaming was simply operating under the rugby club’s name via a licensing deal, the team still had to deal directly with Walsh to receive what was owed to them. What followed was a series of alleged lies surrounding payment, despite persistent requests and evident disgruntlement on the behalf of staff. An update on the participating teams of the 2021 Spring split.https://t.co/TcFq3hVHK0 — NLC (@NLClol) December 7, 2020 In one example, a team member was allegedly informed that payments had been sent on June 27 and they requested a receipt two days later. On July 1, a screenshot was sent that appeared to confirm that the money had gone out of a bank account — however, no specific information was shown to confirm that this transaction was legitimate. Payments were still not received, insiders informed Dexerto, even leading to one of the staff members leaving the organization. Another member refused to work due to problems not being solved. On July 5, staff started to receive the first drafts of their contracts. From evidence obtained by Dexerto, they were rife with errors — including mixed-up personal information from different members — and appear to not have been written by a lawyer. The drafts also mentioned that they would be contracted to Phelan Gaming, not Munster Rugby Gaming. Read More: Fnatic sign Cloud9’s Nisqy as midlaner – Two days later on July 7, payments had allegedly still not been received. Walsh also reaffirmed that he was able to pay due to receiving a “government grant”, according to sources. The following day, event organizers DreamHack were made aware of the aforementioned problems but struggled to hold a meeting with the team’s CEO. On July 19, Walsh allegedly told one member of staff that he was “going to random banks” to try and resolve issues with payments. Money was received by some, but not all, on July 22. Instead of receiving the full amounts owed, sources confirmed that the team was informed this was a “bonus or a thank you” and additional to what was owed. This was later framed as being a salary payment instead of an additional reimbursement, according to sources. Sources say that DreamHack informed the disgruntled team towards the end of July that payments should come at the beginning of August. This didn’t come to fruition. On August 5, a spreadsheet was created by staff and sent to Walsh which included rough estimates of what he owed. No payments were made until months later. Fast forward to November 11, the former member who resigned after a couple of months finally received full payment from Phelan but only after five days of continuous pleading with the CEO. Almost two weeks later, the spreadsheet was amended anonymously and a significant amount of money was taken away from just a single person — an amount far surpassing the “bonus” that was previously paid. Shocked by the revelation that Munster Rugby Gaming was simply operating under the rugby club’s name via a licensing deal, the team still had to deal directly with Walsh to receive what was owed to them. Although one staff member was led to believe that a transaction was taking place, it would be months before they received anything and they still have not been fully paid. Dexerto has contacted Phelan Gaming for comment.

Overwatch League’s Coca-Cola sponsorship in jeopardy amid Blizzard lawsuit Blizzard EntertainmentThe Overwatch League is losing some major sponsors in the form of Coca-Cola and State Farm amid the ongoing discrimination lawsuit against Blizzard. Blizzard has been feeling the heat in recent weeks after news of a major harassment and discrimination lawsuit rocked the company, resulting in major firings, resignations, and an employee walk out. While T-Mobile had already seen its ads pulled from Overwatch League broadcasts, it seems like other sponsors are following their lead, primarily Coca-Cola. On August 5, a Washington Post report indicated that State Farm and Coca-Cola are reevaluating their partnerships with the league. A spokesperson for Coca-Cola said they are “aware of the allegations surrounding Activision Blizzard” and “are working with our partners at Blizzard as we take a step back for a moment to revisit future plans and programs,” according to the report. Meanwhile, State Farm issued a similar response stating they’re “reevaluating our limited marketing relationship with the Overwatch League” and have requested no ads are run during the upcoming weekend’s broadcast. It’s unclear, however, if Coca-Cola is going to continue sponsoring the league as they reportedly declined to comment on this factor. It should be noted, however, that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sits on the board of directors for Coke. Additionally, on August 6, Pringles Wavy and Cheez it Grooves vanished from the league’s website. In a statement to Polygon, their parent company Kellogs confirmed they were ending their partnership. “We find these allegations troubling and inconsistent with our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion… While Activision Blizzard has announced plans to address the challenging issues it faces, we will not be moving forward with any new programs this year, but will continue to review progress made against their plans,” spokesperson Kris Bahner said The news comes as the Overwatch League heads towards its season playoffs in the next few weeks with live events scheduled for Texas and the Grand Finals in LA.

Overwatch League sponsors return for playoffs after vanishing Overwatch League / Xfinity / Coca-ColaOverwatch League fans have noticed that two of the OWL’s more prominent sponsors, Xfinity and Coca-Cola, have reappeared for the 2021 playoffs after seeming to disappear as Activision-Blizzard’s investigation news broke. In July 2021, it was revealed that Activision-Blizzard was being sued by California over gender discrimination in the workplace. And, in the months since, the company’s franchised leagues — the Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues — have quietly suffered from disappearing sponsors. By the start of September, three separate waves of sponsorship uncertainties had emerged: T-Mobile was noticed missing on August 2; Coca-Cola and Statefarm were reportedly “reevaluating their partnerships” on August 5; Statefarm, Pringles, and IBM vanished on August 7; and, finally, Xfinity seemed to drop out around September 1. Now, fans are surprised to find out that both Coca-Cola and Xfinity returned to the league’s official broadcast for Day 1 of the playoffs on September 21. If Pine plays, it’ll be the second-most surprising return we’ll see today pic.twitter.com/iQM6j5w361 — Overwatch League Statistical Insights (@owlstatsnet) September 22, 2021 As pointed out by Twitter and Reddit users, it seems that Coca-Cola’s tumultuous partnership with the OWL has given way to a renewed sponsorship. This is interesting news in particular, as fans had been quick to point out that, during the turmoil, popular player Su-min “SADO” Kim had removed the Coca-Cola labels from his trademark mid-game beverage. Interestingly, Coca-Cola was never removed from the league’s website despite reported partnership uncertainties — but Xfinity was. And, while still not listed on the site, it appears that their sponsorship has returned to the broadcast. What these renewed partnerships mean for the OWL is uncertain, but many fans speculated such a situation might arise. As mentioned on Reddit, some believed that the sponsors would return once the Activision-Blizzard heat simmered down. That heat most certainly remains active, as the SEC is now subpoenaing executives like CEO Bobby Kotick. But, with fans excited for an Overwatch 2 show match during the playoffs, this may be as good a time to partner with the OWL than ever. For now, the OWL, Activision-Blizzard, and sponsors remain quiet about partnership discussions. Concerned fans will likely keep an eye out for sponsors during the rest of the playoffs, though, as there have been reports of league financial struggles.

Overwatch fans think they’ve found Blizzard employee accused of stealing breast milk Activision Blizzard / PexelsOverwatch fans believe they may have unearthed new details about an Activision Blizzard employee accused of stealing breast milk. A month after the disturbing allegations surfaced, Reddit detectives have uncovered possible motives and methods. On December 8, 2021, former and current employees at Activision Blizzard alleged that “nursing people’s breast milk would be stolen.” This was one particularly graphic accusation as the company faced a California lawsuit over its “pervasive frat boy culture.” In the time since, Activision Blizzard have been called out by streamers like Asmongold and shareholders have asked for CEO Bobby Kotick’s resignation. The Overwatch community is now getting involved, too, as Reddit detectives uncovered some troubling 4chan comments they believe could be from the alleged ‘breast milk thief.’ In a post to the OverwatchTMZ sub, they laid these new details out. Overwatch fans reveal possible new details about stolen breast milk One user posted an image compiling some 2019 comments from a 4chan thread, asking if this could be the “breast milk thief.” While impossible to prove that it is the same person, there are some links. For example, the poster explained that they worked at “a large tech company” and that they pulled the heist off by ‘raiding the lactation room.’ Both of these would fit the bill of Activision Blizzard’s allegations. As far as new details, the poster explained their motives and methods for stealing breast milk. Apparently, it was taken as a “PW supplement” (likely referring to “pre-workout”) with the purpose of achieving “maximum gains.” An added reason given was that “the girl is pretty cute.” The poster also explained their methods, revealing that they would go to the room, “open an unlocked door, and then pour some milk into a water bottle.” In terms of reactions to this new, alleged thread of details, Reddit users have responded by saying “what the f**k” and “so disgusting.” While some think it’s all “bait,” others do think it could be true – some in hopes that there aren’t multiple people bragging about the same behavior. Activision Blizzard’s lawsuits are ongoing and the company is also dealing with issues surrounding their Call of Duty: Warzone workforce. If this Reddit detective work is any indication, the company’s fans are interested in finding out the truth about the popular game developer.

Overwatch & Call of Duty Leagues reportedly abolishing salary cap Activision Blizzard / PexelsActivision Blizzard’s Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues are reportedly abolishing its maximum salary cap and competitive balance (luxury) tax. This is believed to be the result of a federal antitrust investigation. In July 2021, it was revealed that the Overwatch League and Call of Duty League were both being investigated by the US Department of Justice over antitrust laws. These stemmed from concerns that the leagues’ “soft caps” violated rules pertaining to players’ unions and worker bargaining power. About three months later, Sports Business Journal’s Kevin Hitt reports that both the OWL and CDL plan to eliminate those cap and tax systems. As such, both leagues may head into their 2022 seasons without a maximum salary cap or a tax applied to teams who go above the “soft” salary cap. This is yet to be confirmed by Activision Blizzard. OWL and CDL eliminate salary cap & luxury tax after player’s union investigation? Back in 2020, CDL players were fairly active in efforts to create a player’s union. Ian ‘Crimsix’ Porter claimed it was “in the works” and Seth ‘Scump’ Abner appeared ready to sign on. But, despite two of CoD’s biggest figures pushing for it, those talks seemingly died down. But, as Hitt reports, the DOJ’s investigation may have forced Activision’s hand. Salary caps are theoretically instituted to ensure competitive integrity and parity by restricting teams from outspending others. The only North American sport without one is the MLB, where there’s still a luxury cap that punishes teams who go above a certain payment threshold. What is a salary cap or a competitive balance tax? Notably, sports like the MLB and international soccer have some of the highest-paid athletes in the world because they don’t have salary caps. Players are subjected to bigger bidding wars without those limits and, thereby, bigger contracts. In leagues without salary caps, like the NBA and NFL, player’s unions are considered critical. These unions negotiate with the leagues to maintain minimum salaries and similar conditions. The timing of the CDL and OWL’s decision is interesting. The DOJ investigated the salary cap and luxury tax in the absence of a player’s union and, within months, the former systems are reportedly being abolished. This is a developing story and we will update with more details as they become available.

OpTic CEO H3CZ reveals new “Pine Park” cannabis brand Pine ParkOpTic CEO Hector ‘H3CZ’ Rodriguez revealed his upcoming venture into the cannabis industry with ‘Pine Park,’ an upcoming label of premium products. Located in Aromas, California, Pine Park HQ is going to be the center of H3CZ’s growing operations for his new label with the help of partners at Union Electric’s Coastal Farms. H3CZ said he wants his products to focus on “high-potency, thick, dense buds” and will use Coastal Farms’ hybrid grow setup to makes use of California’s natural sun spots as well as in-door lighting to make up for darker hours. The OpTic CEO gave a look into everything from Pine Park’s grow rooms to the trimming, and even a look at how partners POSBIL Project maintains its clones and dry rooms. The 5600-square-foot facility that houses Pine Park HQ can produce up to about 1800 plants per run, and will spearhead production of the new label. H3CZ’s decades-long community cultivation in gaming and esports will now open up a major opportunity for his next venture. “We’re not going to slap a label on this thing and call it ‘H3CZ.’ This is an amazing opportunity for you to introduce cannabis in a really fun, responsible way,” CEO of Union Electric, Max Goldstein said in a June 6 episode of The Eavesdrop Podcast. As for H3CZ, this will be his way of finding and cultivating premium cannabis products that has creators at the center of it all. “I want to bring exposure to the artists that happen to be the farmers,” H3CZ said. “The ones that create the beautiful, powerful plants we get to enjoy.” Pine Park has yet to reveal its first line of products, but the OpTic CEO teased a bit of what consumers can expect to see when the full operations get going. “As I’ve been saying, I want to do things a little bit differently through Jason and [Coastal Farms], that super tight-knit farm we have over there at Pine Park Headquarters,” H3CZ explained in the reveal video. “What I want to do there is drop literally like 200 lbs. of very exclusive stuff, which to me is part of the coolness of it. We’re also going to have something that’s available year-round, different price points for different folks.”

How Logan Paul and Bryce Hall are putting a price tag on their fans Maverick/PAUPaywalls and subscription models are heavily-debated features of online media but some of the biggest online entertainers are utilizing these features. Are they leaving money on the table or actually monetizing better than their peers? The likes of divisive YouTuber-turned-boxer Logan Paul and TikTok star Bryce Hall both have their own private, paywalled clubs that grant perks to fans who choose to buy-in. Besides the fact they use the same white-label service, which I’ll touch on later, they’re opting to forgo popular subscription services such as Patreon in favor of entirely owning their audience. Subscription services are nothing new, just think of magazines and newspaper from before the internet was around. Paywalls are prominent in the media landscape to this very day, too, with the likes of The Financial Times and Insider charging users to access their journalism. The early stages of internet entertainment, as opposed to journalism, has been widely-accessible and, importantly, free. YouTube is a great example. There are now premium options available for an improved experience, but anybody with access to the internet can enjoy billions of hours of content at no expense. Owning your audience The emergence of platforms such as Patreon was important as they offered a reliable method of monetizing audiences built off of free content and open platforms. There are alternatives to Patreon that provide a platform to quickly devise their own subscription service, but it’s the go-to for the majority of creators and the easiest to point to for the sake of comparison. Read More: How does Addison Rae make money? – What Paul and Hall, among others, are doing with their own ‘fan clubs’ right now is attempting to own their distribution channels, play by their own rules, and directly put a price on their fans. They’re attempting to work around the open, free nature of online entertainment. A service like Patreon combines the expected features of a paywall with social media characteristics: a lack of custom domains, a discoverability feature to find creators, the same bog-standard design for each channel, and so on. It’s clear that you’re simply on a platform instead of owning your own club. With Paul’s Maverick Club and Hall’s Party Animal University, they have complete control of the experience. They don’t have to have subscription tiers or to conform to the wishes of another platform, they’re free to build a space that is uniquely theirs and make it a true, unwavering extension of their brands. The two aforementioned clubs feel like community hubs, a place for like-minded individuals with a common interest to gather. This means that being involved feels less transactional and more intimate — you’re not just paying to view additional content, you’re venturing deeper into the world of your favorite creator. The feeling seems to be important here. Now, we’re not privy to the numbers behind these clubs. We don’t know if they’re truly working for either creator, but the extravagant perks suggest that these communities are worth investing in. Paul gives away $10,000 in cash on a monthly basis and Hall offers to fly random members out to the Sway House to meet him and his friends (who can really be referred to as co-stars.) Read More: Logan Paul gets lucky with $2m Pokemon cards – When a creator adopts a monetization model such as this, everything changes. Their free content, such as the YouTube and TikTok videos that helped them to make names for themselves, somewhat become marketing material. While they can still monetize such content, AdSense income is likely to be much lower than the amounts they can rake in through their clubs. They continue with free content in an effort to remain relevant and even grow their followings further, but viewers are now in a funnel. They want to convert free viewers into avid fans and ensure they pay directly to support them further. They can promise uncensored, true-to-self content on their paywalled content that simply can’t exist on public platforms like YouTube and TikTok. It’s enticing, and that’s good marketing. To paywall or not to paywall? There are interesting arguments for and against using paywalls as a content creator but it’s hard to deny the allure of implementing one. It provides a stable income for creators, something that is attractive if they’ve been relying solely on turbulent ad revenue and brand partnerships. It also provides data to measure and process so they can further understand their audience, and it allows you to gather information from their viewers. Read More: Fans slam David Dobrik’s VIEWS podcast – They gain access to names, ages, contact details, and even interests in some cases. If you have the email address of somebody you know is a big fan of yours, you can easily market to them in other ways. There are endless ways to re-engage with people you know are interested in what you’re doing: “Want an exclusive discount on merch?”, “Did you know I’ll be touring in your city next month?”, and “Have you seen this amazing new collaboration I did with X?”, for example. While the likes of MrBeast and David Dobrik are monetizing efficiently through large-scale video premises that brands want to be a part of, not everybody is able to execute such strategies. It’s not easy to monetize content as a smaller creator and paywalls can provide a good source of income through just a few subscriptions alone. Though titans of online entertainment like Paul and Hall are going down this route, it’s also worth considering for up-and-coming creators or those who simply aren’t in the top 0.1% but still have a healthy following. If somebody can manage to get 100 paying subscribers at a cost of $10, then that’s $1,000 per month being made. On top of AdSense and brand deals, two of the most common income streams for video creators, affording bills is less of a challenge. It can be a method of making full-time content creation viable for those who aren’t at the top. ‘Community’ may be a buzzword in online media, and for good reason, but some of the top creators are not only fostering their own but monetizing them effectively. We’ll see new, exciting methods of generating income online in the future but there’s no reason to suspect that paywalls won’t be a big part of that for years to come.

NYC sues Activision-Blizzard claiming Bobby Kotick rushed Microsoft sale to avoid liability Activision-Blizzard / Pexels: Sora ShimazakiNew York City has become the latest to sue Activision-Blizzard following the company’s numerous sexual misconduct scandals, alleging that CEO Bobby Kotick rushed the Microsoft sale to avoid liability. Back on January 19, Microsoft shocked the gaming landscape by announcing they had purchased Activision-Blizzard for a whopping $70 billion. The news came as Activision found itself under pressure from both outside and within after numerous lawsuits had been filed claiming that employees had been victims of sexual misconduct, among other allegations. Now, a number of entities in New York’s public sector – ranging from firefighters, police and education – are claiming that Bobby Kotick rushed into the Microsoft deal to escape responsibility. New York City sues Activision-Blizzard According to Axios, the lawsuit, an action in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, allows stockholders to demand companies open their books – and as a result, expose potential wrongdoing. Of note, they’re trying to discover if Kotick knew of the alleged sexual misconduct at the company and to what extent. “Given Kotick’s personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace, it should have been clear to the Board that he was unfit to negotiate a sale of the Company,” the lawsuit stated. This lawsuit is going for Kotick: saying he rushed into Microsoft’s $95/share offer because of how much money he would make, and that the board accepted an offer with 30 days of WSJ’s report in November of what was happening internally. pic.twitter.com/UjO93Xtjrf — CharlieIntel (@charlieINTEL) May 4, 2022 The lawsuit also states that Microsoft’s offer “undervalues” the company at $95/share, but Kotick stood to make a big profit off the deal. We’ll have to see what the future holds for the lawsuit and if it ends up causing some big issues for the company amid the Microsoft merger.

Nursing Activision-Blizzard employees say their breast milk kept getting stolen Activision BlizzardActivision-Blizzard employees have made fresh claims of more disturbing details that they say went on behind closed doors at the gaming publisher, including instances of breast milk being stolen. Blizzard has found itself in the midst of lawsuits, scandals, and demands for CEO Bobby Kotick to step down over a series of accusations about workplace practices. Most recently, a female employee has claimed that she was demoted for reporting sexual harassment, leading to Twitch star Pokimane encouraging streamers to stop playing Blizzard games during their broadcasts. Now, employees who were breastfeeding have claimed their needs were ‘neglected’, and alleging that they had to put up with unsanitary conditions. https://twitter.com/BlizzJess/status/1468712965398405123 Blizzard accused of abusing breastfeeding parents A series of tweets by Activision-Blizzard activist Jessica Gonzalez along with two other current and former employees revealed the severity of the issues mothers allegedly faced. In screenshots from a Slack channel, it was alleged that chairs in a breastfeeding room rocked backwards and had wood tables with caked up milk. Additionally, with only two outlets, it was said to be fire hazard. It is also claimed that refrigerators needed to be padlocked because other employees would use them to keep beer in and even steal breast milk. Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason. This was devastating, not just for the creep factor but because I was already very low on supply and had a baby who wouldn’t latch. I was already supplementing and struggling to get milk. — Stephanie Krutsick (@skrutsick) December 9, 2021 Employees allege breastmilk theft “There was no fridge in the room, so I had to label and carry my breastmilk out and store it in the breakroom fridge. It was very clearly breastmilk, in baggies with a baby’s face on it,” Former Blizzard producer Stephanie Krutsick corroborated the claims. “One day, I went to retrieve my pumped supply at the end of the day and it was gone.” “Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason,” she added, noting how they never found out who did it. https://twitter.com/Rhyvver/status/1468821694601072646 Current employee Stephanie Lyon Peters had stated that the tables were only removed on December 8 despite concerns going on for years. As allegations continue to be made about the state of working at Activision-Blizzard, past and present, come to light, increased scrutiny is placed on what the publisher’s response will be.

North partners with YouGov to become esports “powerhouse” North/YouGovDanish esports organization North are hoping to improve their market positioning through a deal with data analytics company YouGov. [jwplayer hJeqcv18] With the aim of developing North into one of the “most notable esports organizations in the Nordics,” YouGov will carry out market analysis on esports fans in the region to help their new partner make better decisions going forward. Should the market analysis go well, North will be looking to further tap into the esports demographic in the Nordics — which encapsulates Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden — to stand above other teams in the region. In a move that’s unique for this type of data and analysis-based partnership, YouGov’s logo will appear on North’s ‘Ragnarok’ jersey for the term of the deal. YouGov made their big move into esports in June 2020 when they hired Nicole Pike as head of esports and gaming following her departure from Nielsen, an analytics firm where she worked for 13 years. Read More: Kjaerbye announces departure from North CSGO – “We continue on our journey at becoming a leading Nordic esports organization,” said North’s chief marketing officer, Alexander Mørch Pedersen. “Partnering up with YouGov will help us get there. Their proven track record in gathering and analyzing data will help us in mapping out the Nordic esports community, becoming even better at seeing and acting on future opportunities as well as substantiating our knowledge within the community.” Despite rolling out a rebrand at the top of 2020 that was met with mixed reactions, North have shown they have plenty of commercial attraction. This year alone, the organization has announced deals with energy drink brand Nocco, audio brand EPOS, computer manufacturer MM Vision, and technology company Capgemini. The most popular org in the Nordics is still Astralis by quite a distance, so North will be looking to play catch-up to capitalize on the legion of fans that the region is home to.

NIP launch new company to help sports clubs get into esports Twitter: Ollelito/ShinobiSwedish esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas, also known as NIP, have started a joint venture with investment platform Aser Ventures that looks to help sports clubs enter the esports industry. The convergence of esports and sports has been noticeable over the past few years, with many popular clubs and athletes across the biggest sports either investing in existing esports organizations or starting their own competitive gaming initiatives. The likes of the NBA 2K League and ePremier League are examples of legacy sports teams and leagues embracing esports, though there are plenty of examples of clubs investing directly in esports orgs — a recent example is OverActive Media receiving $40m from NHL team Montreal Canadiens and two pro hockey players. NIP believe there are plenty more crossover opportunities for esports and sports, now launching a joint venture with Aser Ventures that will offer “management, studio and media services” to sports clubs looking to get into competitive gaming. Ninjas in Pyjamas and @AserVentures launch @shnbisports. Joint venture to help traditional clubs capitalize on esports opportunities.https://t.co/lfHi9UbWoi pic.twitter.com/uS3jylQtOf — Ninjas In Pyjamas (@NIP) October 21, 2021 The venture is called Shinobi Sports and will be led by CEO Danny Menken as they work towards their goal of “bridging the gap between traditional sport and esports to create new value for clubs, fans and partners.” NIP partnered with English football club Leeds United in December 2020. The alliance, which specifically centered around FIFA esports competition ePremier League, has now been revealed as the first initiative in their collaborative venture with Aser. The Swedish esports org announced a merger with Chinese esports company ESV5 in August 2021, creating a new entity in NIP Group. The deal will see NIP compete in the LPL, the premier Chinese League of Legends competition, from 2022 onwards. Marching On Together 🤍💙💛 NIP @ollelito to represent @LUFC in #ePremierLeague with @Patrick_Bamford & @ezgjanalioski #GONINJAS #MOT pic.twitter.com/ohemJthhrF— Ninjas In Pyjamas (@NIP) February 24, 2021 “We first connected with Aser Ventures last year, and our discussions led to an extremely successful collaboration with Leeds United,” said NIP CEO Hicham Chahine. We were impressed with Aser Ventures´ track record, experience and vision in the sports industry, and soon developed a desire to expand our collaboration. “We know there is a lot of potential to introduce esports as an attractive extension to sports clubs, and believe that Shinobi Sports are ideally placed to support this process. We are extremely excited to bring this project to life and share it with the world!”

Nintendo President warns of console shortage in 2022 NintendoNintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has warned about a possible shortage of Switch consoles in 2022, with a supply chain issue affecting both OLED and standard models. In an interview with Kyoto Shimbun, Furukawa revealed how Nintendo coped with the global semiconductor shortage that’s affected tech sectors including the mobile phone, automobile, and computer industries, among many others. Despite strong sales for the Nintendo Switch and OLED in 2021, the company will also battle worldwide supply chain strains that could contribute to a console shortage. Furukawa said the company lowered its target for how many console units it wants to ship in early 2022 but “if the supply stagnation is prolonged, it may not reach the plan,” according to the report. Nintendo Switch shortage issues This comes off the back of a Black Friday season that forced Nintendo to explore different avenues of transporting Switch consoles in North America and Europe such as airlift and railroads, respectively. Even still, Furukawa said the company wasn’t able to meet the holiday season’s demand as they look forward to the new year. “We cannot say that we were able to supply enough to meet the demand after Black Friday,” he said. Along with the base Nintendo Switch console, the company also has the Switch Lite and the new Switch OLED model. Popular consumer electronics like the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X|S have been hard to come by since they launched. Nintendo could experience a similar supply strain in 2022 with its Switch family of consoles. In September 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told The Wrap about issues holding back Series X|S production that was “regretfully [going to] be with us for months and months, definitely through the end of this calendar year and into the next calendar year.”

Nintendo facing lawsuit in the EU of over eShop policies NintendoA host of online game vendors including Nintendo’s eShop, Valve’s Steam, Sony, Electronic Arts’ Origin, and others were issued a complaint for questionable practices to their sales platform, and after the dust settled, Nintendo was handed a lawsuit for policies concerning its eShop. The online retailers were first put into question by the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) for their policies regarding the right of withdrawal, with Nintendo drawing a lot of fire for its non-refundable purchases on pre-orders. The NCC holds that Nintendo is breaking European law, particularly under the Consumer Rights Directive, by not allowing consumers to refund or cancel a purchase before the game has been released. The NCC have held this position against Nintendo since the tail end of 2017 and in conjunction with the German Protection Authority (VZBZ) have no started proceedings for a lawsuit against the worldwide publisher. Article 16 (m) of the Consumer Rights Directive says that if the consumer has begun using the purchase along with their prior consent of their forfeiture to their right of withdrawal, then all would be fair and exempt. Read more: Twitch streamer has hilarious reaction to the number of growing Fortnite channels on Twitch – However, those bringing the suit to Nintendo see a discrepancy in their eShop. “This exemption only applies to digital content where the performance has begun. The performance has not begun for games that have not yet been released,” said Finn Lützow-Holm Myrstad, Head of Digital Services and Energy. The case has been brought to regional court in Berlin, with the formal legal initiation to begin in the next three to four weeks. The lawsuit will be expected to be hotly contested, and results are not expected to happen for another year. The final verdict, however, could be monumental in setting a precedent for the entire video game industry.

NICKMERCS joins Steph Curry and Tom Brady as Under Armour ambassador Under Armour / NICKMERCSPopular Twitch streamer NICKMERCS has joined Under Armour as a global ambassador for the brand, putting gaming stars alongside traditional athletes like Steph Curry, Tom Brady and more. Nicholas Kolcheff, who goes by the name of NICKMERCS, is one of the most recognizable personalities in streaming. He’s a co-owner of FaZe Clan, and head of the popular MFAM collective. Now the 30-year-old is taking his platform to new heights with global representation for one of the biggest athletic equipment companies in the world. The company revealed NICKMERCS as the latest signee to work with the UA Human Performance Team while the streamer promotes their brand and products to his audience, according to an SBJ report. BETTER TOGETHER. @NICKMERCS is now a Global Ambassador for #TeamUA alongside sports stars Stephen Curry, Tom Brady and Anthony Joshua. #MFAMGBT pic.twitter.com/60i4WnMbAi — The Kinetic Group (@thekineticmgmt) August 4, 2021 The performance team examines and analyzes how consumers train, compete, and recover, with their latest ambassador opening up an entirely new market for UA to learn from. NICKMERCS has long been about promoting a healthier lifestyle with his ‘Get Better Together’ initiative that consists of dedicated fitness streams where his 60,000 subscribers and 6 million followers on Twitch can get inspired and learn how to workout. Now a UA ambassador, the streamer is going to stand on a greater stage that aligns with what the MFAM already know him for. “The fitness grind, the gym, the health grind, has been a big part of my life,” NICKMERCS said after revealing his UA partnership. “It’s been a staple. The most important thing is our health. Getting after it, staying hungry. This partnership is what that’s all about.” NICKMERCS was in high spirits for his new brand collaboration, joking that he’s technically now “teammates” with long-time inspiration Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, along with other Hall of Fame talent in the entertainment world. This is a unique signing for Under Armour which could be the start of a new opportunity in the streaming and gaming world for the brand with Nick leading the way.

NICKMERCS confirms he’s now a part-owner of FaZe Clan FaZe ClanSuperstar Twitch streamer and content creator Nick’ NICKMERCS’ Kolcheff has received an equity stake in FaZe Clan, confirming in a tweet on April 23. NICKMERCS is one of the most popular gaming content creators in the world, and his recruitment to FaZe Clan became one of the bigger stories of 2019 after his surprise departure from 100 Thieves. The news was initially announced by The Verge in an April 22 piece on Kolcheff, in which they introduced him, among many things, as a “part-owner” of FaZe. At the time, neither he nor the organization had publicly announced an ownership deal – but on April 23, with the info spreading through various outlets, the streamer put out a tweet essentially confirming the news: Got the equity I was promised too 😎 It all worked out in the end Jakey boy 🍻 #FaZeTheFuckUp — FaZe Nickmercs (@NICKMERCS) April 24, 2021 NICKMERCS being a FaZe co-owner makes sense It certainly isn’t shocking by any stretch of the imagination that NICKMERCS has received an equity stake in FaZe Clan. He is one of the biggest names in gaming that’s associated with FaZe, and when he first joined back in 2019, he emphasized that it was more so a partnership rather than him being under the org’s content creation umbrella as with most other members. Since then, FaZe extended Kolcheff’s deal by a further three years in September 2020, setting him up to be a part of the organization until 2023. Of course, being a part-owner, he’ll more likely be involved with them for much longer. In light of Valkyrae and CouRage being announced as part-owners of 100 Thieves in April, Kolcheff was recently asked during his stream about potentially becoming the same for FaZe. At the time, all he offered in response was a wry smile before walking away from the camera. Nickmercs when asked if he’s gunna be a co-owner of FaZe Clan 👀👀👀 pic.twitter.com/bcf8KdQMhr — Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) April 12, 2021 At this time, it’s not yet clear exactly when he received the ownership stake as it could have been at the time of joining, the contract extension, or a separate deal that hasn’t formally been announced yet. We have since reached out to FaZe Clan, but they have yet to respond with an official comment.

NICKMERCS and FaZe Clan extend partnership with new deal FaZe ClanSuperstar Twitch streamer Nicholas ‘NICKMERCS’ Kolcheff and top esports organization FaZe Clan have agreed to a new deal that extends their partnership by an additional three years. NICKMERCS stunned the world of online gaming when he left 100 Thieves back in May of 2019 to join FaZe Clan several weeks later, tying together two of the biggest names in gaming entertainment. It’s been over a year now since that partnership was cemented and things have gone well for both parties, which has led them to extend it for another three years. The extension, which is until 2023, “firmly entrenches Nick as the face of FaZe Clan, as the organization will look to Nick to produce more creative and engaging content that aligns with FaZe’s reach within the sports, music, and entertainment landscapes,” the org said in a press release. The exact dollar figure of the deal was not disclosed, although it would be reasonable to assume that it’s a multi-million-dollar partnership, considering Kolcheff’s growth over the past year since he initially joined FaZe. Already one of the biggest content creators in gaming when he first joined, NICKMERCS’ popularity somehow skyrocketed to even higher levels, especially with the release of Call of Duty’s successful battle royale, Warzone. Ever since turning his focus fully on Warzone, the former Gears of War pro has hit career highs in active monthly Twitch subscribers (over 60,000) and monthly YouTube views (over 40 million), along with several other major milestones. He’s also been involved with a variety of massive online events, including his own MFAM Gauntlet tournament series, which garnered so much success in terms of viewership and participation that Activision itself began sponsoring it. To this day, the Gauntlet series remains the most-watched Warzone competition. Two other events that really showed the expanse of Kolcheff’s current online presence were Twitch’s Crown Cup in July, which he headlined along with celebrity guests Sarah Silverman and Trevor Noah, and being part of Got Milk?’s revamped marketing campaign, which saw him play alongside legendary skater Tony Hawk, in front of tens of thousands of viewers. On top of that, he also took part in the recent TechCrunch Disrupt, joining executives on FaZe’s keynote panel to talk about how he balanced his lifestyle as both a top-level streamer and competitor. FaZe Clan have also gotten their fair share out of his partnership as well; Sharablee recently published their first-ever Global Esports PowerRanking, which ranks the organization as number one in terms of audience engagement and video impact. FaZe pulled in a whopping 14.4 million social media engagements in August 2020, significantly more than the total of the other nine orgs on the list. It’s hard to imaging that stopping anytime soon, either. Now that this extension is finalized, it appears that both NICKMERCS and FaZe will continue to bask in the success of being at the pinnacle of gaming entertainment for at least three more years.

Newzoo seek more Southeast Asian esports data in new partnership EVOSGames and esports analytics agency Newzoo have established a partnership with leading Southeast Asian organization EVOS Esports. [jwplayer 25W40tQz] Housing teams in Arena of Valor, Free Fire, Mobile Legends, and PUBG Mobile, EVOS Esports compete in both Indonesia and Thailand. Through the deal, the organization will provide insights that give Newzoo a better look into esports in Southeast Asia. The region is slated to be a future major player in the industry alongside China, Europe, Korea, and North America. Considering the emphasis EVOS Esports places on mobile esports, the collaboration provides an additional element of benefit to the agency as they look to provide unparalleled insights on esports. In return, Newzoo will provide their latest partner with value by helping to “benchmark and spot opportunities” and providing “strategic insights for its further expansion.” Newzoo have worked with the likes of Google, Facebook, Warner Bros., Nvidia, ESL, and Microsoft, helping them to make informed decisions within gaming — and technology more broadly. “Southeast Asia is currently the most exciting region for the overall future growth of esports and gaming, both from a business and consumer engagement perspective. EVOS Esports is right at the center of this,” said Newzoo’s CEO Peter Warman. “Partnering with an ambitious and forward-thinking esports organization like EVOS Esports supports us in keeping up with this huge esports region to further strengthen our view on the global and local esports ecosystems.” EVOS Esports’ deal with the firm is similar to what’s in place for organizations such as Team Liquid, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, Team Envy, Fnatic, INTZ, Natus Vincere, and Astralis. Newzoo are best known for providing consumer insights through market research and forecasting, as well as consulting with companies that are looking to better understand markets.

New PayPal fees could cost streamers thousands of dollars in donations PayPalNew PayPal fees could end up costing some streamers a lot more money, especially ones who rely on smaller donations. Just as the majority of streamers, both big and small, flock to Twitch, most of those who accept donations use PayPal. Like any business, the payment system needs to turn a profit, which is why every transaction is subject to fees. PayPal changes donation fees On August 9, PayPal seemed to update their merchant fees, which streamers are required to use to cash out. According to streamer LowcoTV, now, if a streamer received a $1 donation from a viewer and use PayPal, they’d only receive $0.48 of that. Streamers, PayPal has recently increased its transaction fees. A $1 tip will now only net you $0.48. That’s right, less than half of a $1 tip actually goes to you. Please be aware of this when setting tip goals and checking revenue reports! pic.twitter.com/nEgioA1hmY — Lowco (@LowcoTV) August 9, 2021 If we want to get technical, PayPal used to charge 2.90% of the total amount, plus a $0.30 fee before the change. Now that fee has been reduced to 2.89%, but the added fee has been bumped to $0.49. So, say a streamer gets a $100 donation. After it goes through PayPal, with the new fees, they’ll only end up seeing $96.62. Not too bad at all, but streamers outside of the most popular ones probably aren’t getting too many $100 donations. However, PayPal has clarified that these fees will not apply in all scenarios – thanks to Dynamic Micropayments pricing. In a statement to Dexerto, PayPal explained: “Streamers with a PayPal business account accepting qualifying donations may have higher pricing, but if the transaction is below ~$20, and the merchant has applied and been approved for Dynamic Micropayments pricing for qualifying donations, the transaction rate would be 4.99% + $0.09. “Therefore, in the case of the $1 example mentioned previously in the article, a streamer would net roughly $0.86, reducing the fees on smaller transactions. For additional clarification, you can go to our blog or US merchant pricing page.” PayPal charges a flat + % fee for every transaction. Old: 2.90% plus $0.30 New: 2.89% plus $0.49 Source: https://t.co/cN6HAmEGOl— Lowco (@LowcoTV) August 9, 2021 It’s not only donations either, if Twitch-affiliated streamers choose to get their sub payouts through PayPal. Possible to cut out PayPal? So, what can you do if you want to avoid these new fees? If you rely on PayPal and the convenience it provides, then not a whole lot, unfortunately. But if you want to cut out the middleman, Twitch does give affiliates the option to have the money sent directly to their bank account, or even receive a check by snail mail. Donation services like Stream Elements also have an option to link directly to your account as well. Though these options might take longer, you won’t be paying an extra fee. PayPal is definitely a lot of people’s go-to, but if you’re a smaller streamer or just starting out, you may want to consider other options to get more of your money.

New Activision-Blizzard committee demands measures to prevent breastmilk theft Activision-BlizzardActivision-Blizzard employees have formed an anti-discrimination committee and are demanding the company take measures to ensure their breastmilk would no longer be stolen. Back in December of 2021, employees at Blizzard made disturbing allegations about how their breastfeeding room was unsanitarily consisting of wood tables with caked up milk on them. To make matters worse, they also claimed that refrigerators needed to be padlocked because other employees would place beer inside of them and even sometimes steal the milk. “Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason,” alleged Stephanie Lyon Peters. “This was devastating, not just for the creep factor but because I was already very low on supply and had a baby who wouldn’t latch.” Blizzard employees aim to stop breastmilk thievery Now, the anti-discrimination committee wants to ensure this will never happen again in its list of demands to the company. Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason. This was devastating, not just for the creep factor but because I was already very low on supply and had a baby who wouldn’t latch. I was already supplementing and struggling to get milk. — Stephanie Krutsick (@skrutsick) December 9, 2021 According to The Washington Post, the demand letter sent to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick along with other high-ranking company officials had a whole page dedicated to breastfeeding. In it, the committee called for private lactation rooms for women who are breastfeeding or pumping. Additionally, they want the rooms to be locked and only available for those who lactate. Furthermore, they are requesting that workers receive compensation for their time breastfeeding instead of having to clock out. So far, it’s not known if Activision-Blizzard has accepted the demands for a lactation room among other things, but with the company facing a plethora of lawsuits, the pressure for change continues to mount.

Nerd Street Gamers CEO explains new service making esports accessible Nerd Street GamersNerd Street Gamers are on a mission to make esports accessible to all, and their newly-announced subscription service is the next step in making that dream a reality. [jwplayer WGyDcVLl] The Philadelphia-based company has been working towards serving amateur and semi-professional gamers for years, creating a network of esports facilities, events, and content. Now, with a subscription service officially launched, they’re making all of their core pillars available to everybody for a very fair fee. Nerd Street+ is described as giving gamers, no matter their skill level, a “gateway to a curated library of competitive opportunities” through access to high-end equipment and the ability to compete with others on a consistent basis. The service provides subscribers with unlimited access to live and digital competitions on a weekly basis, discounts on larger tournaments, and monthly training time at esports venues across the United States. The program initially provides nationwide access to Nerd Street Gamers’ Localhost facilities in Philadelphia, Denver, Austin, and St. Louis, as well as partner venues such as Esports Stadium Arlington, HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, Axis Replay in Atlanta, Balance Patch in Boston, Digital Battlegrounds in Orlando. More affiliate centers are set to be announced in the coming months. Nerd Street+ will cost subscribers $20 per month and provides all of the aforementioned perks. A more basic package is available at $5 per month, which is a digital-only option that allows players to compete in the company’s online tournaments. John Fazio, CEO of Nerd Street Gamers, spoke with Dexerto in an exclusive interview to explain how this new service is leveling the playing field in esports — making it more viable for budding professionals to get regular practice, no matter where they are in the country. Open to all With the global health situation resulting in most esports events either being canceled or moved online, now may not seem like the most opportune time to launch a service that is heavily reliant upon physical venues. However, Nerd Street Gamers think it’s more timely than ever. “When we shut all our venues down, we saw a lot of our consumers didn’t have access to equipment at home as others do,” Fazio told Dexerto. “Some could stay at home and compete in our events, our digital platform saw exponential growth, but still a lot of our customer base didn’t have access. “We saw school districts like Philadelphia and Detroit find out that a major percentage of their students didn’t have access to the internet at home for remote learning. As we eventually come back to normal, we wanted to launch this subscription service to answer ‘Where do I get access to technology to participate?’” Creating a network of esports centers and gaming facilities means that, now more than ever, aspiring competitors across the country have access to high-end, up-to-date technology that puts them on the same level as their peers. It’s a play to create consistency across the board for amateur esports, where many of the future gaming stars are to be molded and discovered. “Our subscription offering takes a curated library of events, that we’ve built a really good reputation for ourselves running, and allows you to connect to the equipment necessary to participate,” he said. “It’s not just our venues you have access to, it’s all of the renowned venues in the country. Taking these partners and putting them in the same offering means we get to reach many more consumers to give them access to the industry. “If you don’t live near one of the venues or you have a good set-up at home, you can sign-up to the digital-only version and still compete in our events. However, there’s a lot of consumers who don’t have that equipment at home — especially now new consoles are launching and somebody playing on a PlayStation 5 is going to have a competitive advantage at double the frames per second as somebody on an older model — things like this have widened the gap so our service is meant to help address that.” Physical venues in a digital industry Esports has received more spotlight than ever in 2020 because of the industry’s collective resilience, swiftly moving to online play when LAN events were no longer viable. Despite the digital-first nature of video games, Nerd Street Gamers and partners such as Esports Arena believe that competing in person is necessary for the scene to continue growing. “I watched where this industry went for two decades and the biggest issue on the venue-side is that we focused on internet cafes and LAN centers, it’s the wrong model,” said Fazio. “The right model is event-driven where it scales a lot better. We’ve started to shift what a venue could look like, and so have our partners that are part of this subscription. “There’s this myth in the industry that because video games are software we can use software to scale them, but that’s not true. Video games require people to compete and when you compete, you need other people to manage it just like in traditional sports. You can’t run a basketball tournament with software; you need coaches, administrators, court facility managers, and so on.” The importance of physical venues doesn’t mean that the digital experience can be an afterthought or all-out neglected, however, and that’s why it’s a huge component of the company’s new service. Without being able to monitor players in-person during events comes a threat to integrity, and there are instances of cheating taking place at even the top level of competition. “Right now there’s an amazingly-wide reach of competitive opportunities online — there are tournaments running by the thousands every day — but it’s very hard to find professional, quality events where there are no cheaters or people manipulating the game. With the way that we curate and spend a lot of time investing in the programming, you always know a Nerd Street event has that integrity and equal opportunity.” Competitive platforms coming together To complement their matrix of esports venues and facilities, Nerd Street Gamers utilizes many of the competitive tournament platforms in the market for their own events. This area of the industry is crowded but lucrative, with G-Loot and Challengermode securing $56m and $12m investments respectively in the past few months alone. Battling it out to obtain a larger market share than their competition, it would be fair to think that these companies would not want to be listed among their rivals in a single place. That’s the opposite of the truth in the case of Nerd Street+, Fazio explained. “As far as the competitive events that we offer, what we do that is unique is run them across a variety of platforms and make a decision based on what’s best for the consumer,” he said. “You get a truly professional experience as an amateur. “We have really good partnerships with each of these platforms because we’re investing a lot of resources and capital to run and produce events that ultimately drive users to their platforms. While I understand there’s a competitive nature between the different platforms, we’re just going to choose what’s best for the consumer or what a publisher may mandate to us.” Nerd Street Gamers have plenty more tricks up their sleeves to unveil in the coming months, but it’s already evident that their goals and ambitions are far-reaching and even selfless in nature. Making esports accessible to all won’t come easy, nor overnight, but they’re committed to the cause.

Natus Vincere allows fans to vote on future moves with crypto deal ESLUkraine-based organization Natus Vincere will launch their own fan token on blockchain rewards platform Socios.com. [jwplayer XspgPHzf] The tokens will allow fans to be included in decisions made by the org and receive rewards based on engagement. There will also be a points-based leaderboard that ranks how fans have interacted. This partnership comes at a time in which the team are looking to expand into new titles. Natus Vincere have a wide-ranging fan base due to the range of games they compete in, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, PUBG, Apex Legends, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, and Rainbow Six Siege. There will be a maximum supply of 5m NAVI fan tokens, though only a limited number will be made available at a price of $1 when they go on sale in the coming months. Tokens will still be available but priced based on demand once the initial offering has closed. Natus Vincere is the third esports organization to join Socios.com, joining Spanish brand Team Heretics and European team OG. Your hand crafted picks for the @TeamHeretics Smurf poll have been selected!@espesfc will: Only use “Stark Rifle” Perform the Rollie Dance IRL Not use any wood mats!Tune in at 17:00CET tomorrow to see your choices in action! 🖥: https://t.co/T67oHS4b91#VamosHeretics pic.twitter.com/rYOV2juMBx — Socios Gaming 🎮 (@Socios_Gaming) October 23, 2020 “It is people that are one and only means of recognition of an esports club,” said Natus Vincere CEO Yevhen “HarisPilton” Zolotarov. “NAVI reached a mark of almost eleven years of support and love from its fans, equally sharing the bitterness of defeat and the everlasting joy of victories. What we are launching today is the next eventual step in switching to a new dynamic of interacting with our devoted audience. “Socios.com creates an opportunity to become an actual and viable part of NAVI, as $NAVI tokens are the real way to influence our decisions. In fact, it is a way of making all the crucial decisions together. We truly hope that our #NAVINATION members will enjoy the opportunity to make a real difference with NAVI during the next few years.”

Nadeshot says 100 Thieves wouldn’t be in esports if he had to start again Colin and Samir YouTubeMatthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag and Jack ‘CouRage’ Dunlop were interviewed on the Colin and Samir podcast about the state of 100 Thieves and esports in general. The two hosts grilled Nadeshot and CouRage about 100 Thieves and its current business model, Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry are two veteran content creators who talk to top creators about trends and the creator economy in general. When discussing the potential of creating esports events under the 100 Thieves brand, Nadeshot said esports and creators are two different businesses. He then revealed that esports wouldn’t be part of the equation if he could start 100 Thieves again. “With the amount of capital that we have raised, if we could go reset and start from scratch there probably would not be any focus on esports, if I had to make that decision today as a businessman who has 10s of millions of dollars at his fingertips to deploy as CEO of the company,” he said on the show. (Topic starts at 48:15) Nadeshot explained that based on where esports and his company are positioned, and the amount of money it has raised, it is best for 100 Thieves to act like a “traditional sports company.” The former Call of Duty pro did not say he was completely out on esports, because with gaming and competitive titles there “will always be another opportunity in the future” for the business. Nadeshot also talked about how 100 Thieves makes money as a company. He broke down their revenue streams as 50% from partnership revenue, 30% from merchandise and Higround keyboard sales, and 20% from in-game revenue from cosmetics sales in Valorant and Call of Duty. Samir also asked the 100 Thieves CEO later in the interview if he thinks esports and its teams should still be backed by venture capital at the scale the business is now. The 100T founder said he “would never write that check again” if he ran a venture capital fund based on how esports has grown since the late 2010s. Nadeshot also pushed back on the idea that esports could reach the rights people in the industry claimed it could be before the esports winter hit. “It’s okay if we don’t reach the ceiling that really didn’t even exist at the time… there’s something pure about esports,” he said. Nadeshot was hopeful about the future of gaming and esports as a whole. He said teams that focus on maintaining profitability and who can stick in it for the long haul, can still make it big if esports does become as big as they pitched to investors.