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07/20/23: Riot Games first-person shooter VALORANT released in China on July 12


 

Medias First Morning Read
Thursday July 20, 2023

Good morning! It’s Thursday and this is your early morning Esports and Gaming brief.

Riot Games first-person shooter VALORANT released in China on July 12 after lengthy hangups in the country’s approval process for the title. First released in June 2020, VALORANT quickly became a globally recognized esport thanks to the expertise and ecosystem-building of Riot, which also developed League of Legends and operates its esports presence.

Several China-based teams already had VALORANT teams prior to the country green-lighting the release, which will be facilitated by Riot parent company and Chinese gaming conglomerate Tencent. Now, those teams will be able to compete domestically, and the decision also opens the door for a larger VALORANT ecosystem in China.

That would be a boon for Riot, particularly if VALORANT viewership in the country aligned with that of China’s massive League of Legends audience, which conservatively estimates to be in the tens of millions. The VALORANT developer hopes to welcome China into its premier league, the VALORANT Champions Tour, in 2024.

COMPETITION AND GAMING NEWS

EA SPORTS FC 24 will release Sept. 29, marking a new beginning for the soccer franchise following the end of Electronic Arts’ and FIFA’s 30-year partnership. Erling Haaland of Manchester City will be the cover athlete for the first EA SPORTS FC release, with popular game modes such as Ultimate Team, the primary esports competition format, returning. Along with the release date, EA revealed some FC gameplay and new info such as the addition of women players to Ultimate Team.

DarkZero Esports claimed the Apex Legends Global Series Split 2 Playoffs title this weekend following four days of competition at London’s Copper Box Arena. DarkZero, the 2022 ALGS champions, finished 13th in the Split 1 Playoffs in February but bounced back going into last week’s competition to earn $300,000 of the event’s $1 million prize pool. The first-place finish also qualified DarkZero for the ALGS Year 3 Championship, which was revealed this weekend to take place from Sept. 6-10 in Birmingham, U.K.

The Riyadh Masters Dota 2 tournament is underway, with $15 million on the line for top teams competing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of the Gamers8 esports event. Twenty teams will take part in the tournament, with play-in matches that began Wednesday and the final scheduled for July 30 at 11 a.m. ET. The top finisher will earn $5 million as part of the country’s broader celebration of esports, which features a $42 million prize pool across multiple games from July 6-Aug. 27.

The GIRLGAMER Esports Festival has added Atlanta as a host city for the GIRLGAMER Esports Festival World Circuit, bringing the festival to the U.S. for the first time. Atlanta-based esports organization Ghost Gaming will be the host esports team for the competition, while Skillshot Media’s venue in the city will host the event and be the production partner for the Atlanta leg of the circuit. Mexico City (Mexico), Cape Town (South Africa), Daejeon (South Korea) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) are also hosting GIRLGAMER World Circuit stops.

REV/XP PRESENTS
This week’s REV/XP Presents features one of mobile gaming’s top creators and industry leader Lance Frisbee. Lance is the CEO at Aftershock Media Group, a mobile focused agency working with brands and publishers on end-to-end marketing solutions.

SPONSORSHIP & ACTIVATION

G2 Esports is working with Ralph Lauren for a limited-time apparel activation kicked off by G2’s League of Legends EMEA Championship playoff appearance July 15. The apparel capsule collection will include a new combined crest with G2 and Ralph Lauren in the logo and gear including hats, hoodies, tracksuits and t-shirts, the companies said in a statement. “At G2, partnerships are all about creating better experiences and offerings for the consumer, bringing fans closer to the brand, and attracting new audiences,” G2 COO Sabrina Raith said. “This collaboration does all of that and more.”

Luminosity Gaming has brought on office furniture manufacturer Steelcase as its “official performance seating partner,” the companies announced Tuesday. As part of the partnership, Steelcase will work with Luminosity’s content creators and esports programs to highlight Steelcase’s ergonomic chairs. “Our creators and players spend countless hours at their setup on a daily basis, and Steelcase’s industry-leading design philosophy aligns perfectly with their needs,” Head of Luminosity Alex Gonzalez said in a statement.

The Pittsburgh Knights announced HyperX will remain the esports organization’s peripheral partner following a renewal of the organizations’ agreement. HyperX has been partnered with the Knights since 2019, two years after the esports org launched, and the companies will aim “to create engaging content, immersive gaming experiences, and community-driven initiatives” following this renewal, according to a statement.

U.K.-based esports organization Guild Esports is looking to optimize its programmatic revenue via a partnership with Pixels AI, an advertising solution that uses artificial intelligence to place video content with potential customers. Guild Esports CEO Jasmine Skee said in a statement that the company expects the deal will help Guild build additional ad revenue and “talk to gamers away from the traditional social and streaming platforms, which is vital for our growth.”

STREAMHATCHET

The Resurgence of Battlegrounds Mobile India

Battlegrounds Mobile India has shown dramatic growth on live-streaming platforms since it was unbanned in India at the end of May. From June 1 to July 18th of this year, the game’s hours watched across live-streaming platforms has increased 90% since the same timeframe before its ban in 2022.
The Indian mobile gaming landscape saw a dramatic upheaval in 2020 when the beloved PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) mobile game was banned by the government. The game had over 50 million downloads on Android and an average of 33 million active users before the ban. The ban was imposed due to national security concerns as the government perceived the game’s data handling processes as potential threats.

Read more on Stream Hatchet’s blog.

2023 Esports & Gaming Business Summit

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TEAMS

The best League of Legends player of all time is back from injury after a two-week scare and preparing for a return to the big stage. Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok of T1, whose team has struggled during his time away, has been playing the game as a return to play in League Champions Korea approaches for the mid laner. The timing for a full return is tight, however, as his team has limped through July without its lynchpin and will need Faker back to make a run in the Summer Playoffs and make the League of Legends World Championship.

Standout Apex Legends pro Jacob “HisWattson” McMillin has retired following his team’s exit from the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs last week. HisWattson, who played for Brazilian organization FURIA Esports, announced he is stepping away from pro play to focus on content creation, with former TSM player Mac “Albralelie” Beckwith taking his spot in the lineup. FURIA finished 37th out of 40 teams at the Split 2 Playoffs, and the ALGS 2022 World Championship runners-up will need to integrate Albralelie quickly to make it into this year’s championship via the ALGS Last-Chance Qualifier, which begins Friday.

Team Liquid donated $50,000 to Rainbow Railroad, an LGBTQ+ charitable organization, as part of its participation in the Riyadh Masters Dota 2 tournament. Teams have faced backlash for competing in the Saudi Arabian Gamers8 events, which have been seen as part of the country’s efforts to draw attention from Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations targeting women and LGBTQ+ people. Liquid, one of the few organizations that’s been vocal about the rationale for its participation in Saudi tournaments, released a video from CEO Victor Goossens explaining the company would face “all sorts of challenges” financially if it did not take part in the event. “The money that is flowing in from a prize pool perspective and participation perspective, is absolutely enormous,” Goossens said.

INDUSTRY

Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard agreed to extend the deadline for Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of ATVI to prevent a $3 billion payout from Microsoft and renegotiation of the deal. Following a victory against the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to prevent an injunction last week, the companies faced a deadline of July 18 to finalize the acquisition. With the United Kingdom still blocking the deal and potential regulatory challenges remaining in the USA, however, the companies mutually pushed the finalization date to Oct. 18 of this year, with the kill fee for the deal bumping to $4.5 billion.

Rocket League coach Noah “Noah” Hinder and Sixteenth junior talent manager Jonny Davies have launched a players’ association for Rocket League esports competitors. The Rocket League Players Association, first reported on by Esports Insider, includes two other coaches and one player alongside the Moist Esports manager: G2 Esports coach Matthew “Satthew” Ackermann, Team Falcons coach Nicholas “Nick” Marrone and unsigned pro player Leonardo “Turinturo” Wilson. The RLPA has not communicated with Rocket League creator Psyonix, according to Esports Insider, and is working to build a base in the Rocket League Championship Series community before approaching the developer.

Bungie founder Alex Seropian has launched a new game studio known as Look North World, and its first title will lean on past expertise in the shooter genre. Seropian, who is credited with building the Halo franchise, is building the new title in Unreal Engine for Fortnite, which is quickly becoming a game-changing tool for both emerging talent in the game development industry and mainstays like Seropian and his new team.

2023 Tempest Awards

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Did you know the Esports and Gaming Tempest Awards were named one of the top 5 eGaming and eSports Awards in the World by Bold Awards? Don’t miss your chance to be recognized among other GOATs in the industry. Entries close TOMORROW, July 21.

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When will EBS take place this year? Answer: October 22-24. Kudos: Too many to list, hope to see you all there!

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