Your Gaming and Esports Update

Deals

G2 Esports Raises $10M

Joseph Tsai, the billionaire owner of the Brooklyn Nets, has become a minority owner of G2 Esports after investing $10 million, the esports organization announced Tuesday. G2, a European company, also said it intends to open an office in New York in 2020. “New York is an under-leveraged and under-represented market in esports, which is odd because it, in particular, is where so many impactful subcultures have been born in the U.S.,” Jens Hilgers, one of G2’s founding owners, told Forbes. “This is an opportunity for G2 to capitalize on playing to the East Coast.” G2 teams compete in a variety of platforms, including League of Legends, Fortnite, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Rocket League.

Patron Raises $1M

Berlin-based esports outfit PatronGG has secured an investment of $1 million for its forthcoming app Kokyo. It received the funding in a seed round led by Bitkraft Esports Ventures and followed on by Trust Esport. The money will be used to “expand the app’s features, allowing it to be used in more games including Dota 2 and Rainbow Six: Siege, enriching match data and giving more value to be fans esports companies.”

Turtle Beach Partners with Mossad Aldossary

Professional FIFA player Mossas “MSdossary” Aldossary has officially entered into a partnership agreement with gaming accessory brand Turtle Beach. According to Esports Insider, the partnership was facilitated through Roc Nation Sports International. MSdossary, from Saudi Arabia, is considered one of the best FIFA players in the world, having won the 2018 FIFA eWorld Cup Final and being named the 2018 Console Esports Player of the Year at the Esports Awards.

Updates

High School Esports League to Feature $30k Scholarship Prize Pool

The High School Esports League on Tuesday announced the playoff schedule for the Fall Majors, where teams from across North America are competing for a $30,000 college scholarship prize pool. The semifinals will take place on Saturday and Sunday. The grand finals run from Dec. 16 to 20 and will be live-streamed on twitch.tv/VarsityNetwork. A total of 30 champions will be crowned in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Fortnite, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, Smite, Super Smash Bros: Ultimate, Madden 20 and NBA 2K20. Each winner will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The HSEL Fall Major playoffs will be hosted by FBI_Tugboat, Irelique, topical_tv, and Zark.

Streaming Wars Heat Up (Credit: Roundhill Investments)

The streaming wars continue to heat up with Twitch locking down three (timthetatman, LIRIK, and DrLupo) of their top streamers to exclusive and long-term content deals. It is rumored that these have seven-figure AAV’s but official details have not been announced. We believe this is something that is going to spill over into 2020 with countless individual streamers signing deals but more importantly entire organizations signing contracts. Organizations like FaZe Clan could potentially fetch up to 8 figures annually just based on their following.

PUBG Corp Announces 2020 Esports Plans

The inaugural season of PUBG Corp. taking control of its competitive scene wrapped up on November 24th with the PUBG Global Championship. The developer plans to host four global events — under the banner of the PUBG Global Series — which are all said to be of a similar scale and “prestige” as this year’s PUBG Global Championship. The six regional leagues introduced at the top of 2019 will now act as open qualifiers that feeds “the region’s teams into each PGS event,” utilizing both online and offline elements. PUBG Corp. has also announced that it’s bolstering its revenue-sharing efforts in the new year. It plans to create in-game items for each event in the PUBG Global Series, supplementing prize pools and going towards participating teams.

New Game Releases For December (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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