Category: Esports News

Read the latest eSport news on MoneyMakers.com. Who won? What did they win? Who’s best in Fortnite? Read it all here.

  • Making Money From eSports

    Making Money From eSports

    The rapid expansion of the eSports industry, including the growing millions of viewers who tune into to watch their favorite players battle it out, means there is plenty of money to be made from this lucrative new space.

    The opportunity eSports presents is not just one for the game creators or media giants, players and teams are set to make their fortunes too. That’s not all, a thriving new sector creates possibilities for startups, entrepreneurs, and investors.

    The sector is driven by, and for, the millennial and Gen Z generations, many of whom lean more to the space than to traditional sports, hobbies, or viewing.

    Kent Wakeford, Co-founder, and COO of the world’s 7th most valuable eSports company, Gen.G, told VentureBeat recently:

    “What you’re seeing is a tectonic shift in viewership and consumption from the millennials and Gen Z — gaming is the preferred entertainment.”

    The eSports industry is likely to generate around $1 billion dollars this year, a figure set to grow to $1.65 billion in 2019. By 2023 the value of the eSports industry could reach $2.17 billion. Wakeford’s company Gen.G is valued at $110 million.

    The U.S eSports Industry is Set to Grow

    Wakeford says that more than 22% of American millennials watch eSports, and that’s more than the number who watch Major League Baseball or the NHL. The total number of eSports viewers is around 300 million today and likely to grow by as much as 50% by 2019. Around 50% of eSports viewers live in the Asia-Pacific region, a further 15% in the U.S, and around 18% in the EU.

    “I believe that in the future we’re going to see viewership continue to grow and surpass traditional sports, including the NFL.”

    Prizes, Endorsements, Streaming, and Merchandising

    eSports players and teams are making their money from tournament prizes, sponsorship, and endorsement, as well as appearances and merchandising.

    Just a handful of Fortnite’s top players have earned a combined $1.2 million already in prize money and the top ten eSports companies and teams are worth a combined $1.5 billion.

    Nike recently sponsored it’s first eSports player, League of Legends player “Uzi.”

    Players can also earn as much as millions, and certainly thousands, from streaming their live play and other broadcasts on platforms like Twitch and YouTube. Tyler Blevins aka “Ninja” now earns more from streaming than he does winning tournaments and is worth around $10 million.

    eSports fans are engaged by the stories and daily lives of their favorite players. Celebrities like Ninja can make their fortunes, but amateur players can also make plenty of money through streaming and vlogging, taking advantage of the monetization opportunities of the web.

    Other players are paying their way through college by coaching online for popular game titles.

    Game Revenue, Live Events, Media Rights, Advertising and Big Buck Sponsorship Deals

    Event organizers, gaming companies, and rights owners earn millions from live events, sponsorships, and a very lucrative income from media rights.

    In January 2018 Overwatch League and Twitch signed a historic partnership which made sure the Overwatch tournaments were available to viewers around the world.  Overwatch creator Blizzard entertainment is worth around $18 billion. League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, is worth $15 billion alone significantly contributing to the overall value of Riot Games at $21 billion.

    Gen.G COO, Wakeford, expects media rights to be a key growth area for both big game leagues and for individual teams and players:

    “That’s a key area of differentiation from traditional sports, where esports teams are highly engaged and doing a lot of innovative content creation through streaming platforms.”

    Sponsorship deals, as well as the number of opportunities, are becoming more profitable too, Wakeford explained why:

    “Well-known Fortune 500 brands and marketers coming into the space.”

    These brands are beginning to understand the eSports industry and the scope it presents for sponsoring teams and players, as well as live events with audiences set to rival traditional sports.

    Mastercard became the first global sponsor of League of Legends in September 2018, joining other big name sponsors who have committed at a regional and national level including Mercedes Benz, Doritos, Gillette, and Adidas.

    Spin-Off Opportunities

    This burgeoning industry is creating eSports cities, jobs, inspiring startups and entrepreneurs, and even reviving traditional sports as this sector learns from eSports how to engage the millennial and Gen Z generations.

    Let’s not forget too, the impact on game development and the wider video game industry. eSports may be dominated by brands like Epic Games and Riot Games but independent developers publishing directly to the web and app stores have an enthusiastic gaming audience to lever too.

  • New Fortnite Games Modes Available in Wake of Season 7

    New Fortnite Games Modes Available in Wake of Season 7

    The online battle royal game Fornite has been one of the success stories of 2018. In the wake of the launch of the eagerly-awaited season 7, two new Fortnite game modes are now available that takes the chaos to new levels of craziness.

    If you are a Fortnite fanatic, it’ss an exciting week as Epic Games are poised to launch the new Season 7 at the end of next week.

    Check out the New Fortnite Games Modes

    If you are already chomping at the bit for the next season, you can get some respite by playing the two new Fortnite game modes that were released on November 27 that are now available on the Fortnite Battle Royale.

    The two new games modes are Team Rumble Limited Time Mode and the Alchemist Pop-Up Cup event. The modes were part of the v6.31 update.

    The Team Rumble Limited Time Mode allows two teams of 20 players to fight it out until one team eliminates 100 foes. This is a team-based mode and even if you are eliminated, you will be continually respawned until one team makes the 100 eliminations to take the game. And the best part is that you even get to keep your inventory when respawned.

    The second of the new Fortnite game modes is the Alchemist Pop-Up Cup event that is only available in duos mode. In short, you will need to link up with a friend to play this mode. It’s very similar to the Scavenger Pop-Up Mode that is testing new game adjustments and formats.

    This mode pits pairs against each other in designated lobbies with the aim of getting the highest score. The duo who achieve 20 or more points will be rewarded with an achievement pin.

    Fortnite Season 7 Release Date

    As we move into week 10 of Fortnite Season 6, it has been an exciting experience with the now-defunct cube and the surprise appearance Wreck-It-Ralph.

    Although we thought Season 7 of Fortnite was still quite a while away, it seems we were wrong. The release of the next season is set for December 6. The countdown clock is already underway on the game.

    It is important to remember that when seasons 5 and 6 of Fortnite were launched that they experienced delays. There was a 10-day delay between the two seasons, so don’t be surprised if everything doesn’t go according to plan.

    In the meantime, you can enjoy the two new Fortnite game modes that are getting gamers talking and keeping the game relevant.

    Featured image from Epic Games.

  • Forget Blockchain or Smart Cities, You’ll See an eSports City First

    Forget Blockchain or Smart Cities, You’ll See an eSports City First

    In truth, eSports cities are just as likely to combine internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology as it progresses, but the first entire eSports town has already opened in Hangzhou, China.

    After a $280 million investment by the Hangzhou government the eSports town, operated by the government and covering over three million square feet has now open to the public.

    It’s the largest project of its kind in China to date but Hangzhou has also promised a further $1.26 billion to 14 further eSports projects including an eSports training academy and a hospital focusing on eSports players.

    The town will be home to Allied Esports and LGD Gaming and the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in China. The two firms agreed a partnership earlier this year to build their specialist venue and the LGD Gaming management team will be moving to the eSports town. LGD’s eSports team has already won over $10 million in prizes and are rated 4th in the world globally.

    Allied eSports also has venues in Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Beijing, as well as the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas.

    The Hangzhou government expects the new high-tech town to attract more than 10,000 eSports professionals and players as well as $140 million in estimated tax revenues.

    Hangzhou will also play host to the 2022 Asian Games, likely to include eSports as a medal event alongside traditional sports for the first time.

    eSports at the Olympics

    The International Olympic Committee approved eSports as a real sport in November 2017, and it emerged in April 2018 that the Paris 2024 Olympics’ organizers were discussing the inclusion of eSports as a demonstration event for 2024.

    The biggest concern over the inclusion of eSports in such as massive event as the Olympics is the potential promotion of violence. Most of the popular eSports titles do involve in-character fighting, killing, and aggression.

    Paris too hopes to become an eSports hub for Europe. International Esports Federation acting secretary general Leopold Chung speaking in April also said:

    “There are great engagement numbers, great fan numbers who live in France and especially in Paris, who would definitely want to come to an esports game.”

    Largest Arena in North America

    This weekend also sees the opening of the eSports Stadium Arlington, Texas, U.S, now the largest eSports facility in North America. The 100,000 square foot stadium is owned by the city of Arlington and cost $10 million to build at the Arlington Convention Center.

     

    The site will be managed by NGAGE eSports, part of Infinite Esports & Entertainment. NGAGE founder Jonathon Oudthone said:

    “Maybe we’ll take over the old [Texas] Rangers stadium one day.”

    The stadium will see 30-50 eSports events per year with the eSports team from the University of Texas at Arlington, one of the top U.S college teams having its own room in the arena. The facility will also be open to the public daily for gamers to play on dedicated computers in the lobby.

    California is also home to a number of key eSports destinations including in Los Angeles, there is a dedicated eSports arena planned for Orange County, and the state is home to Riot Games and Blizzard. The University of Southern California last week announced the launch of the USC Esports Union.

    Elsewhere around the globe Seoul, South Korea, is home to a dedicated eSports stadium at iPark Mall and Sangam Stadium hosted the League of Legends World Championships. The latter event in 2014 saw 45,000 attendees.

    Cologne in Germany hosts many tournaments and is one of the biggest sites for League of Legends events. Stockholm, Sweden, also hosts many events including the world’s largest LAN occasion, Dreamhack.

    The global market for blockchain technology is predicted to reach $2.3 billion by 2021. For IoT the predicted value by 2021 is $1.1 trillion. For artificial intelligence, the market value could reach $3.3 billion by 2021.

    The predicted value of the eSports industry, is an estimated $1.65 billion for 2021 with an estimated audience of 427 million consumers by 2019. eSports is already here, and although it will incorporate today’s emerging technologies, gaming technology is ready. With a focus on the consumer market, eSports towns and even cities for fans and players are already appearing.

  • Open Tournament Fortnite Winter Royale Begins this Weekend with $1m in Cash Prizes

    Open Tournament Fortnite Winter Royale Begins this Weekend with $1m in Cash Prizes

    Epic Games’ Fortnite has today announced its next competition – the Winter Royal Online Tournament.

    The latest tournament is open and part of Fortnite’s ever-improving Online Tournament system. Its Solo events will consist of the Winter Royale Qualifiers and the Winter Royale Finals, the finals will have the $1 million total prize fund for the event.

    Winter Royale is for Everyone

    The great thing about Winter Royale is that anyone can play, new or experienced players, and you don’t have to have your own squad of players or team up with other random players. This tournament is entirely on your own merit so a fantastic chance to get practicing and take a shot at some big prize money.

    Epic has been improving the Fortnite “matchmaking” system, now player’s points totals are taken into account, so players will be pitted against those with similar abilities. Again, perfect if you are a newbie but as you improve the game will get more difficult.

    Fortnite warns that players with a high points score may have to wait longer in the games loading and matchmaking process to join a game with equivalent opponents.

    On Winter Royale Qualifier days the highest score in any event session will be the one that determines access to the Winter Royale Finals.  Qualifying opens on November 24, 2018, and the finals begin for Europe on November 30, 2018.

    The highest scorers in each, North American (NA) and European Union (EU), region will be verified and players will go on to compete in the finals for their region. The tournament is restricted to NA and EU, but Fortnite plans to expand regional tournaments in the future.

    The Winter Royale tournament will follow the same game settings as Fortnite’s current Pop-Up Cup. Pop-Up Cups are a new way for Fortnite developers to try new settings and competitions. The settings are available via the “Tournament Details” button. Pop-Up Cups will change over time in the same way as Limited Time Modes like the current and pretty hilarious Food Fight.

    As well as Pop-Up Cups Epic has been improving the in-game online tournament system and the latest update of Fortnite makes some critical upgrades to improve processes like matchmaking.

    The improved Online Tournament system will be used next year for qualifying for the Fortnite World Cup. The $1 million prize fund for Fortnite Winter Royale ranks among the top 50 esports prize pools of all time but pales in comparison to the $100 million fund Epic Games has allocated to Fortnite tournaments across the 2018-2019 season.

    Fortnite World Cup prizes are sure to be higher and both tournaments will attract the best eSports professional players there are. That doesn’t mean new players won’t stand a chance though. Fortnite is relatively easy to learn so it’s just a case of honing skills and giving it a go or you could get really serious and hire a Fortnite coach.

    Featured image from shutterstock.

  • Fortnite Beats Red Dead Redemption 2 as Game of the Year

    Fortnite Beats Red Dead Redemption 2 as Game of the Year

    Wildly popular online video game Fortnite has beaten out Red Dead Redemption 2 to win the Golden Joystick Awards Game of the Year. In the same competition, Subnautica took the prize of PC Game of the Year, while CD Projekt’s still-to-be-released Cyberpunk 2077 ran away with the Most Wanted Game title.

    Launched in 2017 by Epic Games, Fortnite has set the world alight with some 78 million monthly players winning hundreds of millions of dollars between them. It has also inspired plenty of esports teams to compete for huge prizes in key competitions around the world including Team Liquid, Cloud9, and CLG.

    Red Dead Redemption 2 Was a Fortnite Contender

    Red Dead Redemption 2 was certainly a contender and despite making a record-breaking $750 million in its first weekend, it was released just this month and perhaps yet to gain its full traction.

    While Red Dead Redemption 2 was an instant hit among the gaming community, Fortnite has become something more of a cultural phenomenon, with massive appeal. It attracts seasoned gamers as well as people who’ve never picked up a controller before.

    While Fortnite scooped the award for the overall Game of the Year, it also won in its category not-on-PC. Survival game in the deeps Subnautica was a deserved winner of the PC Game category, offering players an immersive and captivating gaming experience–with a touch of the truly horrifying thrown in when you come across underwater creatures, including the spine-tingling terrifying Sea Dragon Leviathan and the Reaper Leviathan.

    For a full list of all the winners and categories, visit PC Gamer here. And if you want to catch up on the glitz and glamour of the awards, check out the video of the full show below:

    Of note also is that the Golden Joystick lifetime achievement award this year went to producer/director on the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne, and president of From Software, Hidetaka Miyazaki.

    Featured image from Epic Games.

  • The University of Southern California Starts Esports Union Gaming Program

    The University of Southern California Starts Esports Union Gaming Program

    The University of Southern California (USC) has announced the launch of the USC Esports Union (ESU), its official collegiate Esports program, during the USC Conquest Event, Variety reports.

    The Conquest Event is held yearly as a means of celebrating the cross-town rivalry between the USC and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The event is slated to take place right before the football game between the UCLA Bruins and the USC Trojans on Saturday, November 16, 2018.

    Danny Bilson and Elizabeth Daley, the Dean of USC Cinematic Arts and Chair of the Interactive Media & Games Division at the USC commented on the launch of the ESU.

    According to both lecturers, the ESU will be focused on individual video games with a large following for a start. The end goal is to make gaming a part of the student’s consciousness. Publishers will sponsor teams and clubs to be developed at the ESU; the university will also organize events and provide the resources and staff to bring these events to life.

    The USC Esports Union Isn’t Only About Games

    The initiative won’t just be about actual game playing. It will also come with a special curriculum that includes design courses, as well as marketing, promotion, management, and other integral aspects of the general business of Esports.

    The school will organize and send students out to conferences, where meaningful discussions around the promotion of diversity within the gaming industry will be discussed.

    The ESU has chosen “League of Legends” as its inaugural title, due to the involvement of Riot Games founder and USC alumni Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck.

    To participate, USC gamers will be expected to practice playing “League of Legends” four times a week, with each session lasting no less than three hours.

    The USC Games is a design program for gaming offered by the University of Southern California, and Princeton Review rates it as one of the top gaming programs in the country.

    Featured image from LA Times.

  • 8 eSports Leaders and Professional Gamers Make #ForbesUnder30

    8 eSports Leaders and Professional Gamers Make #ForbesUnder30

    Forbes this week released its Forbes 30 Under 30 lists, the “Games” list for 2019 includes five eSports pro-gamers, a YouTuber, and a Twitch streamer, versus just two players and one eSports streamer last year.

    Here are the eight eSports celebrities to make the Forbes Under 30 Games list for 2019, marking the increasing popularity of the eSports industry. Let’s take a look at them here.

    1. Jason Zimmerman – Professional Gamer

    Zimmerman has won multiple world championship titles playing Super Smash Bros Melee under his gamer name “Mew2King,” or “M2K.” At 29, he’s also the co-owner of Most Valuable Gaming. The US-born Zimmerman is known as one of the “Five Gods” of Super Smash Bros Melee and his methodical style of play also earned him the nickname “The Robot.”

    Zimmerman began competing at the age of 16, in 2005 and joined professional eSports team Echo Fox, founded by ex L.A Laker Rick Fox, in 2016. He recently finished first in Melee singles at the Smash Summit 6 in May 2018 and is still a full-time player who also streams on Twitch.

    Most Valuable Gaming (MVG), of which Zimmerman owns 10% as well as playing for them, organizes games events and manages players.

    2. Jacky Yip – Professional Gamer

    Jacky Yip

    American Jacky, or Jake, Yip plays Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for the Brazil-based eSports team MIBR. The team is made of players from both Brazil and around the world. Yip, or “Stewie2K,” aged 20, previously played for Cloud9. Cloud9 is the highest valued eSports team and company at $310 million.

    Despite only competing since 2014, Yip is regarded as one of the best players in North America. His last big prize win of 2018 was for placing 1st in the ZOTAC Cup Masters 2018 where he won $200,000 but he also won the ELEAGUE Major in Boston in January 2018, netting the young player $500,000. In total Yip has won over $1 million worth of eSports tournament prizes since 2016.

    3. Aileena Xu – President of eSports for TSM

    Aileena XuAt 25, Xu leads eSports initiatives for the most successful North American League of Legends Team SoloMid (TSM).

    Just after Cloud9, TSM is the second highest valued eSports team worth an estimated $250 million and is one of the best-known eSports brands.

    In October 2018, TSM also signed their first female Fortnite player Maria “ChicaLive” Lopez who said:

    “I have a deep respect and admiration for the individual members of TSM as well as the organization.”

    4. Lauren Williams – Professional Gamer

    Williams, aged 22, plays under the gaming name “Goddess” and is team captain for Cloud9’s Rainbow Six Siege team and is the first female professional gamer in the Rainbow Six Siege Pro League.

    Her tournament wins date from July 2017, and she began competing for Cloud9 in July 2018. The team was placed first at DreamHack Montreal in July winning $25,000. Cloud9 tweeted to Williams on her success at making the Forbes 30 Under 30 Games list:

    “Look who made it on the @Forbes 30 under 30: Games list! Congratulations @Goddess_R6! We can’t wait to see what’s to come in 2019!”

    5. Yiliang Peng – Professional Gamer – Team Liquid

    Yiliang PengPeng, or “Doublelift,” is billed as one of the best American players of League of Legends. He plays as the marksman in the Team Liquid League of Legends squad. Peng has now won five North American championships and has over 500,000 YouTube, and 800,000 Twitter fans. He’s 25 and lives in California.

    Peng’s professional gaming career began in 2011, he joined TSM in 2016, then Team Liquid in 2017. His team winnings for 2018 total over $300,000 to date.

    Team Liquid is now the most successful eSports team in the world.

    6. Sam Braithwaite – Senior Global eSports Franchise Lead

    Braithwaite, just making the list at age 29, heads eSports for Blizzard and was part of two of Blizzard’s biggest eSports initiatives.

    The first, a 2017 partnership with Disney brought 56 episodes of the Heroes Global Championship to mainstream TV. The second was a multimillion-dollar Twitch broadcast rights deal.

    Blizzard is both a game developer and publisher, hosting a number of global conventions and behind games like World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft.

    7. Tyler Blevins “Ninja” – Twitch Streamer

    Blevins, known to fans as “Ninja” is one of the most popular faces in eSports. He has 12 million followers on Twitch and broke the platform’s record for the most concurrent viewers for a single user with 600,000 people watching.

    He won 1st place at Epic Games first official Fortnite Tournament earning him a lucrative sponsorship with Red Bull.

    Blevins earns more from streaming than he does from playing and winning tournaments and has reportedly earned nearly $6 million to date. Fortnite’s five top players have won a combined $1.2 million so far but are each set to win around $1 million each in Fortnite’s tournaments this season.

    8. Alastair Aiken – Fortnite YouTuber

    Aiken, aged 25 and from the UK, alias “Ali-A,” is one of the most popular YouTube content creators for Fortnite with a massive 15 million subscribers and 5 billion views on YouTube. He’s won two Guinness World Records for subscribers and has his own CBBC car show titled “Ali-A’s Superchargers.”

    Aiken lives in London and is worth an estimated $4 million.

    The media production side of eSports is as valuable as the eSports gaming industry itself. The estimated eSports audience is likely to top 427 million in 2019 and eSports revenues for 2018 will likely reach $906 billion up 38% on last year.

    eSports players, promoters, and influencers are likely to make up more and more of the Forbes Under 30 in future years as the gaming generation build an industry that is beginning to rival traditional sports.

    Image credits from Forbes. Featured image from Shutterstock.

  • Esports Team Order Wants to Raise $1 Million Through Crowdfunding

    Esports Team Order Wants to Raise $1 Million Through Crowdfunding

    In a bid to become the first fan-owned team, Australian based esports team Order has floated an equity crowdfunding campaign to members of the public, according to the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

    The team had been planning the campaign, which was approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, for the first quarter of 2019.

    Order is offering 577,407 shares at an issue price of $1.74 per share for its seed fund investment, and it hopes to raise $100,000 minimum to a $1,000,000 maximum. At press time, it had been 246% oversubscribed leading to a total of $246,925.14 invested so far.

    Jake Tiberi, who is a founder of Order, was quoted in the report:

    “A lot of the messages that [Gerard] had around improving players, ensuring we’re investing in their future, trying to create longevity and jobs for them was the kind of professionalism the industry needed.”

    Order is owned by Gerard Murphy, the Leading Teams co-founder, and Jake ‘Spawn’ Tiberi, the team’s General Manager and co-founder. Last year, the team joined the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League.

    Sitting on Order’s board, is former Hitwise boss, Adrian Giles, as the chairman of Order and he credits the:

    “timing of the legalization of crowdfunding”

    as being key to their choice of this capital fundraising medium.

    Giles was referring to the equity crowdfunding legislation that was passed by the Australian legislative upper house in September, which opened up the funding method to a larger pool of startups.

    “The regulations that were put in around crowdfunding removed some of the requirements that normal public companies had around reporting and governance and so on to the nature of earlier stage organizations that were crowdfunded.”

    The seed funding raised from the campaign will be used to develop the team, and while the medium used by Order is entirely new in the industry, Giles sees it as being effective. He went further to argue that the success of the industry in the long-term will come down to how quickly it can attract sponsors. He noted:

    “Most esports organizations see around 70 percent of their revenue from sponsorship, and we’re predicting that it would sit at a similar number in the future. Endemic brands don’t require as much education, but there are non-endemic brands that we want to be associated with too… So one of the challenges is to continue that education process and hope that our brand and our place within the esports industry resonates.”

    Featured image from SportTechie.

  • US Army Says Games like Fortnite Will Change How They Recruit

    US Army Says Games like Fortnite Will Change How They Recruit

    15 years after launching first-person shooter game “American Army” used to enlist recruits, the US Army has taken its strategy up a notch by asking its active troops to participate in Esports as it seeks to revamp its recruitment strategy. As reported by Stars and Stripes, the US Army is making use of gaming competitions as a means to engage recruits.

    They have found this strategy to be more effective than having to speak with potential recruits over the phone—a method proven to be less attractive to potential recruits over the years.

    Stars and Stripes quoted Army Recruiting Command spokeswoman Kelli Bland, who stated:

    “They will be in a support role to help young people see soldiers in a different light and understand the many different roles people can have in the Army (and) help the Army address the growing disconnect with society.”

    The report states that gaming competitions for the likes of “Fortnite” and “Madden NFL,” which have massive followings, are some of the competitions which the Army has participated in to reach their target audience.

    There are also plans to create a “functional fitness” team that will serve as a viable alternative to the classic “Army Strong” program and also compete in a wide array of CrossFit athletic events.

    They are also reportedly looking to hold tryouts across various esports gaming platforms. The members of those teams will be able to travel to multiple esports events nationwide. They will also have a first-hand view of high-end Army apps and training simulation software.

    This new resolution came after the Army fell short of its recruitment goal for the first time in 13 years, according to the New York Post.

    The shortage was reportedly as much as 6,500 soldiers, and this is despite the extra bonuses, totaling up to $200 million as well as waivers for “bad conduct” and health issues.

    Featured image from ithothit.blogspot.com.

  • Chinese City Xi’an Is Set to Build an Esports Cluster

    Chinese City Xi’an Is Set to Build an Esports Cluster

    Megacity and capital of Shaanxi Province Xi’an has announced plans to build an Esports cluster dedicated to developing the industry, per reports in a local news outlet. The framework was signed between the Dalian Morningstar Network Technology and the Xi’an Economic and Technological Development Zone.

    Based on the report, the new location will be used to facilitate esports training for games, as well as a major source for investments into the industry. The local Xi’an development commission will supply the workforce and the real estate needed to build the esports cluster.

    It will be contracting Shaanxi Hanyun Real Estate as the general contractor to build it, while mobile hardware gaming company Morningstar Network Technology through its subsidiary Halcyon Network, will run the project and the installation of gaming hardware in the facility.

    While the news outlet didn’t offer specifics, we can expect a much bigger space, more substantial than the new arena built in Denver, featuring hundreds of custom-made gaming hardware connected to super-fast internet fiber connections.

    Xi’an as an Esports Center

    Known for its rich heritage, Xi’an has quickened its pace in the esports industry. In September, it signed an MOU with the World Cyber Games (WCG) to hold the WCG 2019 finals in the city of Xi’an.

    China is seen as one of the largest markets for the global esports industry. According to recent data from Newzoo, China currently has 619.5 million players, who are expected to spend $37.9 billion in 2018 alone.

    The WCG finals have been held previously in China in 2009, 2012, and 2013. This is the first time they will be held in Xi’an.

    At the WCG finals announcement, an official of the Xi’an municipal government stated:

    “I am very pleased to announce that Xi’an will partner with WCG to host one of the most successful global esports festivals next year. Xi’an will spare no effort for the success of WCG 2019 finals.”

    The popularity of Esports has continued to grow globally. Last year, ESPN signed a multi-year deal to broadcast the Overwatch Esports League on its network of channels including ABC and Disney XD. League of Legends championships were also viewed by a global audience of over 60 million people, way more than the 2017 NBA Finals.

    Featured image from Shutterstock.