05/05/22: BITKRAFT’s dynamic duo; DreamHack’s big Dallas plans; Complexity’s token drop

One month out from DreamHack Dallas, the three-day, immersive gaming lifestyle festival, unlocked additional content for June 3-5, including a Cosplay Championship, BYOC Tournaments, the Collegiate Rocket League 2022 World Championship, and more. Also available throughout the weekend will be a Cosplay lounge, repair station, photo studio. The Collegiate Rocket League 2022 World Championship pitting 16 of the best collegiate teams from around the world, and serve as the first major intercontinental competition for collegiate Rocket League teams and players. In the DreamHack Expo Hall, exhibitors present the world’s newest hardware and software, games, gadgets, gaming gear and swag. They also host activities such as game demos, giveaways, contests and more. Developers and programmers, streamers, pro gamers and other celebrities also frequent the expo.

Overwatch League returns starting today, with the org lining up perks for viewers, including that distribution of 1,500 Overatch 2 PvP beta code every hour, spanning all 13 matches over the period. Fans must watch one hour of the broadcast to be eligible, and are only eligible for drops at the end of any hour in which they watch. Fans with linked accounts will also receive five League Tokens per hour for all matches and double League Token drops for select matches.

Riot Games is going even bigger with Valorant, announcing the introduction of international and domestic leagues as well as a new competitive game mode for potential pro players that kick in next year. For top pros, the publisher is launching three international leagues dedicated to the Americas, Europe and Asia that will host weekly competitions and LAN events with live audiences with the best teams facing off in two Masters events before ending with a Champions event. Throughout the rest of the year, Riot will seek out teams for long-term “permanent partnership.” Selected teams won’t have to pay entry or participation fees, and will instead receive an annual stipend from Riot. Partnered organizations will also have the option to collaborate with the developer on in-game events and branded products. In addition, Riot announced it would launch domestic leagues for up-and-coming talent.

Speaking of Riot, the first international League of Legends event of the year is locked and loaded with the 2022 Mid-Season Invitational ready to rumble. Play begins on May 10 with six matchups, including Saigon Buffalo vs. T1 and Evil Geniuses vs. G2 Esports.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach discussed plans for the inaugural Olympic Virtual Sports Festival in 2023, and hinted that Singapore could host the event at a luncheon in the country. “In this fast-developing world, you either change or be changed,” he stated. “Singapore is one of the most dynamic countries in Asia and the world. You’re never getting complacent, never standing still. This is something that the IOC wants to follow.”

A new esports event will be live on Saturday, running on Twitch.tv/skaterXLofficial as Skater XL sees the game’s best players compete across all three platforms (8 competitors for PC, PlayStation and Xbox). To commemorate this first-ever Esports event, Skater XL will release a special Tampa Pro Esports Contest DLC Pack for Skater XL, with all proceeds going to the Boards 4 Bros skateboard charity.“Tampa Pro is just this iconic event in skateboarding and we wanted our best players in Skater XL to not just experience the competitive spirit of this event, we wanted them to feel what it’s like to skate at the Skatepark of Tampa with a real championship on the line,” said Easy Day Studios founder Dain Hedgpeth.

XSET inked an exclusive partnership with Mavix Gaming, the gaming chair and accessories company. With the deal, Mavix will be XSET’s exclusive gaming chair partner and will outfit XSET’s elite roster of athletes, streamers, and esports teams with the Mavix chair of their choice. In addition, the Mavix logo will be featured across all XSET social headers, and featured on all competitive jerseys. Also included in the partnership is the development of co-branded merchandise as well as a limited edition co-branded chair collaboration to be released later this year.

The NHL announced that League corporate partners — Great Clips, Honda, Navy Federal Credit Union and Scotiabank — have returned as sponsors for the 2022 NHL Gaming World Championship campaign. “The League is proud to welcome back Scotiabank, Honda, Great Clips and Navy Federal Credit Union, four committed corporate partners who have been a big part of making the NHL Gaming World Championship a great success,” said Chris Golier, NHL Vice President of Business Development and Innovation. “Collectively, we have built this powerful platform to engage younger hockey fans around the world, and in its fifth season has become the most dramatic and competitive hockey championship off the ice. This season, our sponsors will bring world class content to the community around our virtual and in-person events to show the passion of fans — whether they are ‘EA SPORTS NHL 22’ players or virtual spectators.” The NHL GWC North American Xbox Console Semifinals drops the puck on the 2022 NHL Gaming World Championship live stream schedule beginning May 14 at noon on NHL and ELEAGUE TV Twitch.

Complexity Gaming signed on for an expanded partnership with the U.S. Army Installation Management Command’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (Army MWR) to host the largest installation of the duo’s Soldier Showdown tournament series to date. This year’s tournament will feature a 23-week season kicking off on May 28. Each week, active duty military personnel will have an opportunity to go head-to-head across five of the most popular game titles – Halo Infinite, EA SPORTS Madden NFL 22, Call of Duty Warzone, Rocket League, and Apex Legends – to climb the ranks on the Global Leaderboard.

State Universities of New York locked in a partnership to become the Official Education Partner of Nets Gaming Crew, the NBA 2K League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets. NetsGC is the first professional esports franchise to team up with SUNY, and as part of the partnership, the organizations will work together to create an educational esports program aimed to boost recruitment pool of high school students, while driving awareness of esports career opportunities available to them after graduation.

FaZe Clan unlocked an exclusive, long-term partnership with Current, a U.S. financial technology platform serving Americans working to create a better future for themselves. The partnership will give FaZe Clan talent “new tools and resources to creatively engage their fans using Current’s mobile banking products.” To launch the partnership, Current is powering the finale episode of “Road to FaZe1.” “Over the past decade, we’ve witnessed FaZe Clan revolutionize gaming and internet culture as true innovators in the creator space,” said Adam Hadi, VP of Marketing, Current. “With this new commitment to each other, we’re able to work together to create meaningful cultural moments and produce content that’s not only engaging but also improves their fans’ financial lives, which furthers our mission at Current.”

SCUF Gaming cemented an expanded six-figure sponsorship deal that names SCUF the Official Controller of the OpTic Texas team in the Call of Duty League, as well as the OpTic Gaming and Envy brands. Elgato, sister brand to SCUF within parent company CORSAIR, will also sponsor the organization outfitting Hector “HECZ” Rodriguez and creators across the OpTic and Envy brands with its industry leading streaming equipment.

Today will see the launch of FaZe1: The Warehouse, running live starting at 2p and serving as the internet’s newest reality competition series on the FaZe Clan Twitch channel. The series will stream 24 hours a day for 15 consecutive days from the new FaZe Warehouse in Hollywood. Viewers can expect to see individual and group activities that challenge the contestants skills as streamers, brand ambassadors, content creators, and entertainment personalities. The winner of FaZe1 will be given the opportunity to become an official member of FaZe Clan with a signing bonus of $1M in cryptocurrency from MoonPay, a $250K brand deal and a Nissan GT-R. Fans watching could win special giveaways throughout the show including cryptocurrency from MoonPay, FaZe Clan gift cards and merchandise, plus products from partners including HyperX, Respawn and more. Rachel Dimita and Sabastian “FaZe CBass” Diamond host.

At the Cynopsis Esports & Gaming Marketing Showcase, G4 announced a commercial partnership with Smosh, a popular comedy brand on the internet designed to unite “the content and fandoms of two preeminent Millennial and Gen-Z focused entertainment brands, pairing G4’s enormous reach and brand power on screens with Smosh’s unrivaled scale on Creator Economy platforms like YouTube and TikTok” The talent collaboration element of the deal will bring together G4 talent with Smosh stars including Ian Hecox, Shayne Topp, Courtney Miller, Damien Haas, and other faces from the Smosh Cast. The brands will also develop new show formats for both digital and cable platforms, and G4 will distribute some of Smosh’s greatest-hit episodes of popular shows on the G4 network.

Esports Technologies announced a name change to “EBET, INC.” in a move to “better reflect the company’s business and its mission of providing innovative wagering and technology to the Millennial and Gen Z wagering market.” As part of the change, EBET has unveiled a new company logo and launched a rebranded website.

Generation Esports, founder of the High School Esports League, secured $19 million Series B funding round in addition to acquiring content creation platform Wizard Labs Inc. Funding was led by Altos Ventures, which also led the platform’s Series A funding round in May 2021. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Wizard Labs will look to simplify the creation of game videos that are shown on Generation Esports’ platforms.

Complexity Gaming announced its first-ever digital collectible drop in collaboration with ARterra Labs that will feature 2003 free-to-mint digital tokens designed to commemorate the organization’s founding year, as Complexity expands into the Web3 market. “As one of the first esports teams in North America, Complexity’s 2003 digital collectibles are a nod to our deep roots in the space,” said Jason Lake, CEO, Complexity Gaming; Global Head of Esports, GameSquare Esports; and ARterra Labs advisor. “Complexity wouldn’t be where it is today without our fans’ unwavering support. That’s why we’re partnering with ARterra Labs to offer this free digital collection as a token of our appreciation – it’s a chance for our fans to own a piece of Complexity’s history and engage deeper with our players and creators.”

FaZe Clan unveiled their first-ever immersive gaming lounge and retail pop-up store, titled The Armory. Located off Melrose & Fairfax in Los Angeles, the venue will be open to the public on select dates from May 14-June 10 in celebration of FaZe Clan’s foray into gaming products and electronics. The creative vision for The Armory was built from the mind of FaZe Clan’s longtime in-house designer and newly appointed Creative Director Jay Richardson. FaZe Clan teamed up with longtime partner NTWRK to operate. “This is an exciting moment for FaZe and a celebration of the next chapter of our consumer product offerings,” says Derek Chestnut, VP and Head of Consumer Products. “We’ve hosted pop-ups before, but have never had a retail space for this length of time allowing us to curate and program a true FaZe experience. Our goal is to bring gaming culture to life in the heart of the Fairfax streetwear scene while ultimately creating a space for our fans to interact with each other, our talent and our new products.”

Team Liquid and Alienware opened the doors to The Pro Lab, described as a “first-of-its-kind Performance Lab set to transform the competitive gaming industry,” implementing software designed to measure core cognitive skills and brain functions to optimize player performance. The Pro Lab’s testing and software implementation will be managed by Performance scientists and analysts who will collaborate with trainers and staff to continuously evolve the program, make data-informed decisions, implement new approaches as needed, and develop player-specific regimens.

Dignitas is coming for Fortnite, unveiling a new team roster headlined by Piero “pgod” Ramirez, Matthew “Mero” Faitel and Lucas “Dukez” Cardenas. “Dignitas has been scouting for the right opportunity to enter Fortnite, ensuring that our entry into this competitive and culturally relevant title would make a significant splash in the community,” said Dignitas General Manager, James Baker. “We have recruited three of the game’s most successful and promising superstars to lead our competitive Fortnite initiative and are confident pgod, Mero and Dukez will be successful in bringing even more Championships to our ever-growing trophy case.”

Square Enix announced that the company is selling Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal studios to Swedish publisher Embracer Group in a deal valued at $300 million, ending its run as owner of the Tomb Raider games, as well as Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain franchises. The publisher stated that the deal allows for more cash flow and allows the company to shore up investments in “fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.”

rEvolution, the global sports marketing agency, acquired Detroit-based integrated marketing agency Centigrade. Specializing in marketing communications, public relations, experiential activation and motorsports, Centigrade boasts Lamborghini, Lotus, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo, RECARO Automotive, Charge Enterprises and Hagerty Drivers Foundation amongst its client portfolio. “At rEvolution, we center our business on a team of experts. Our people-first approach leads every aspect of our relationship with our clients and partners. The Centigrade team aligned with us in this approach to their business, a critical factor in any acquisition,” said John Rowady, President and Founder, rEvolution. “And as a Detroit native, I am personally excited about investing in a city I love and expanding our presence in the auto industry and overall lifestyle and luxury categories.”

Blizzard officially revealed Warcraft Arclight Rumble for iOS and Android, in which players would build an army of their favorite heroes and villains from the World of Warcraft universe and before starting a slate of tactical-based battles. Blizzard developers call it a “mobile, strategy, fast-paced hero [and villain] collector” with a “vast PvE campaign.” They also say they were inspired by tower defense games, but Arclight Rumble is more of a “tower offense game.”