Your Gaming and Esports Update

Deals

Women’s Esports Org, Callisto Gaming, Raised $500k

Earlier in April 2019, Callisto received capital from its founders and angel investors for a soft launch for its pilot project in Taiwan. They are currently in the midst of securing more investments to finalize their seed round. With this new funding, Callisto will be focusing on establishing a foothold in the Southeast Asia region within the next 6 months. Their aim is scouting the best women esports players across the globe to join the organization and to develop a base of gamers who enjoy streaming and aspire to become content creators and/or social media influencers.

Infofed Raises Pre-Series A Funding

Thai esports startup Infofed has secured pre-Series A funding from Japanese gaming media company GameWith. The funding will go towards Infofed’s expansion into the Southeast Asian esports market. Jirayod Theppipit, COO of Infofed discussed the funding in a release: “There is a huge untapped potential for the eSports industry in Southeast Asia and the investment from GameWith will help us to establish a stronghold in this region by creating a proper esports ecosystem for e-sports lovers. According to Esports Insider, “ Infoded is a startup based in Thailand which hosts tournaments in its Thailand e-Sports Arena in Bangkok. It also operates the online tournament platform eArena. Its goal is to become the leader in Southeast Asian esports and “make esports happen anywhere, anytime,” which this funding will help to achieve.”

Soteria AI Raises $5M

Soteria AI, the company developing the first AI assistant for gaming, has secured $5MM in private funding from N5 Holdings, led by CEO and Chairwoman Princess Nouf bint Bandar Al Saud. The funding will drive the continued development of Natasha, Soteria’s AI assistant for amateur and semi-professional gamers. Soteria is working closely with AI experts Aigo and innovation lab Axion Ventures to develop its AI assistant. It will release its first game next year, Rising Fire Battle Royale, soon to be available in Asia through Tencent’s distribution network. The game features a Fortnite-style battle royale arena, and the North American release will see players receive in-game assistance and support from Soteria’s AI support, Natasha.

Bilibili Acquires Chinese Broadcast Rights for LoL Worlds

Live streaming platform Bilibili has reportedly acquired the Chinese broadcast rights for the League of Legends World Championship. As reported by Beijing News, Bilibili is said to have obtained the exclusive rights to broadcast Riot Games‘ annual tournament for three years. The report states that other live streaming platforms DouYu, Huya, and Kuaishou also bid for the rights to Riot Games’ flagship global event. It’s said to have cost Bilibili 800 million yuan (£87.2 million, $113 million) for the three-year deal. This is the first instance of a bidding process for the exclusive media rights for an esports event property in China, according to the report.

ZeRO Signs Exclusive Deal With Facebook Gaming

Former top Super Smash Bros. player and streamer Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios is one of several content creators changing streaming platforms. He’ll now be streaming on Facebook Gaming, the player announced today. With this move, ZeRo will try to uproot his more than 500,000 followers and bring them over to one of Twitch’s growing competitors as the steaming service battles rage on. He’s also the second major streamer to move to the platform in the last few weeks after Facebook agreed to a deal with Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang.

Updates

Riot Games to Pay $10M Discrimination Settlement

In August, Riot Games settled a class-action lawsuit over gender discrimination and its sexist culture, though details of the settlement weren’t clear. Now according to new court documents seen by Los Angeles Times, the developer has agreed to pay at least $10 million to employees and contractors who identify as female and who’ve worked at the company over the last five years. Around 1,000 workers will be entitled to a payout from the pot, but the amount they’re getting will depend on how long they worked for the company. Full-time employees are also getting more money than contractors. The developer’s “men-first” and “bro” company culture was first brought to light by a Kotaku investigation, which described a sexist environment where women are routinely discriminated against.

Saudi Arabia League of Legends Event Announced

Riot Games has announced that it will be hosting a The Nexus event in Saudi Arabia December 5–7 for League of Legends. Celebrating the first official event of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, the activation will feature exclusive family-friendly opportunities for players of the MOBA. There will be 23 different activities, events, and opportunities that let players “mingle with their favorite champions,” according to an official statement about the festival. It will also feature five different tournaments with a total prize pool of $2 million, and it will feature influencers, one-versus-one duels, Teamfight Tactics, cosplay events, and a traditional fight on Summoner’s Rift. The five-versus-five League of Legends tournament has been taking place over 13 countries with the final winners getting $850,000 at the final rounds at The Nexus.

New Game Releases (Credit: GameSpot)

1. SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions — December 3 (PS4, PC, iOS, Android): SaGa: Scarlet Grace has never been released outside of Japan, until now. The RPG has been remastered with improved graphics and technical enhancements like faster load times and game speed. It looks to be the best way to experience the story of four heroes adventuring across a shattered empire.
2. Arise: A Simple Story — December 3 (PS4, Xbox One, PC): Arise is part-platformer, part time-manipulator. It stars a deceased old man reliving key moments from his past life, and as you run, jump, and grapple hook around, you can also fast forward, rewind, and slow down time to control how the stages move around you. It’s playable in co-op too, with one person controlling the man and another in charge of scrubbing through time.
3. Alien: Isolation — December 5 (Switch): The survival horror game is coming to Switch with every bit of previously released DLC packed in. Isolation stars Amanda Ripley, daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s Eleanor Ripley, the protagonist of the Alien films. As Amanda explores the abandoned Sevastopol station, she’ll have to hide from the Xenomorph and craft improvised weapons to fight back.
4. Darksiders Genesis — December 5 (PC, Stadia): The Horsemen are back: this top-down hack-and-slash game puts you in control of Strife and War. You can swap between the two on the fly, using Strife’s pistols and War’s sword to chop down the horde of enemies on screen. It’s headed to PC and Google Stadia this month, with a console release coming next year.
5. Shovel Knight Showdown / King of Cards — December 10 (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC, Switch, Wii U, 3DS, Vita): Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is getting its final pair of expansions: Showdown and King of Cards. The former is a Super Smash Bros.-like multiplayer mode where the various knights can duke it out. The latter is a whole new adventure starring King Knight. You’ll get both for free if you own Treasure Trove, which runs $25.
6. Wattam — December 17 (PS4, PC): Wattam is the latest goofy adventure from Katamari and Noby Noby Boy creator Keita Takahashi. It’s all about making friends with personified objects like trees and toilets. You can befriend them in single-player or team up with a friend of your own to play through the game in co-op.

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