NANJxBitCash Collaboration Project Commences
NANJxBitCash Collaboration Project Announcement
Today we would like to announce our collaboration project with BitCash Inc. On May 25th, the NANJ Corporation, together with BitCash Inc, will be supporting 4 CYCLOPS athlete gaming pro-gamers as they enter the COMBO BREAKER 2018 e-sports tournament held in Illinois.
This is a joint press release with BitCash Inc, so we would appreciate it if you would read the two press releases together.
This press release is translated on NANJCOIN’s official English blog. See “BitCash×NANJ Press Release Translation” for the full translation.
If you’re from Japan you’ve probably already heard of BitCash. It is a digital currency which currently holds a large market share in the Japanese digital payments industry. Many of you may be unaware, however, of how this company is connected with esports. We’re going to explain the relationship between BitCash and pro-gaming team CYCLOPS athlete gaming so that even those outside of Japan can understand it with no problems.
What is BitCash Inc?
BitCash Inc. is the Japanese company behind the digital currency “BitCash”.
Since it began in 1997, BitCash Inc. has been developing its digital currency to connect participating stores and customers with its solution to digital payments. As a result, it has earned itself a large market share in the Japanese digital payments industry.
Annually, a total of 40 billion yen is spent using BitCash, which can be purchased in over 60,000 stores, including convenience stores and other locations.
BitCash Inc. is actively working with e-sports related companies, including CYCLOPS athlete gaming, Japanese Competitive Gaming(JCG), and SHIBUYA GAME.
BitCash Inc.’s Homepage:http://bitcash.co.jp/docs/index
What is eSports connect?
eSports connect is a company affiliated with BitCash Inc, the company that manages CYCLOPS athlete gaming.
The president of both eSports connect and BitCash Inc is Masayuki Igusa.
eSports connect also manages “Osaka esports basement”, which is an underground facility, with standing room for 40 people, that is used to host various events such as tournaments, conventions, seminars, and networking events.
In addition to gaming monitors, Osaka esports basement also has streaming equipment, a business-class wireless router, and a projector. This space can be used for a variety of events, even those unrelated to gaming.
If you plan on holding an event in Osaka, please consider the Osaka esports basement.
eSports connect’s Homepage:http://esports-connect.com/
What is CYCLOPS athlete gaming?
CYCLOPS is a globally active pro-gaming team based in Osaka, Japan. Their team mascot, the cyclops of greek mythology, is a one-eyed giant who possesses unparalleled smithing abilities. Like the cyclops of legend, the CYCLOPS of gaming aim to battle with all of their might, training mind and body, with the world in their sights. Starting in April of this year the general manager and athletes of CYCLOPS have been active as lecturers at the OCA Osaka College of Design & IT in order to help cultivate the next generation of e-sports talent.
CYCLOPS athlete gaming’s Homepage:http://cyclops-osaka.jp/
CYCLOPS Athlete Profiles
The CYCLOPS roster features a multitude of highly skilled athletes, however today we are going to introduce you to Dogura, GO1, Tanukana, and Fenritti, the four athletes who will be participating in COMBO BREAKER 2018.
Who is Dogura?
Dogura is a pro-gamer who is active all over the world, having won tournaments in Japan, America, Canada, Thailand, and Taiwan as well as other countries. His undeniable talent led him to victory in more than 10 countries just last year.
Dogura has been successful with several games including Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition(hereafter referred to as SFVAE), BlazeBlue: Centralfiction(hereafter referred to as BBCF), Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2(hereafter referred to as GGXrdR2), and Dragon Ball FighterZ(hereafter referred to as DBFZ). At last year’s COMBO BREAKER he won the GGXrdR2 competition, was a semifinalist in BBCF, and came in 9th in SFVAE. We hope you are all looking forward to seeing Dogura demonstrate his skills in a variety of titles.
Dogura’s Official Profile:http://cyclops-osaka.jp/member/dogura/
Who is GO1?
GO1(read as go ichi in Japanese) is currently the strongest player in the worldwide hit game DBFZ, which went on sale in February of this year. At Final Round 2018, a large tournament held in America, GO1 took down one of America’s strongest and most well-known DBFZ players, Sonicfox, to win the tournament.
Not only is he skilled in DBFZ, but he is also competitive in SFVAE as well as others.
He is a contender to win the DBFZ tournament, however the other players will have been studying his moves. We hope he can overcome the pressure, get past the many accomplished pro-gamers who stand in his way, and become champion. Thank you in advance for your support of GO1 at COMBO BREAKER 2018.
GO1’s Official Profile:http://cyclops-osaka.jp/member/go1/
Who is Tanukana?
When e-sports fans think of Tekken players who use Xiaoyu, the first name that probably comes to their mind is Tanukana, Japan’s second ever female professional gamer. In an industry where females are still few in number, Tanukana displays a gaming prowess equal to that of even her strongest male counterparts. Starting in her native Tokushima Prefecture, Tanukana began dominating competition throughout the Shikoku region of Japan. Eventually being led by her passion for Tekken to places as far away as the Kansai region. Outside of Japan her popularity is just as strong, with a seemingly endless line of fans forming whenever she holds photo-taking events at tournaments in places such as Korea and Shanghai. One such event took over 2 hours to complete. In 2017, Tanukana placed 3rd in COMBO BREAKER’s Tekken competition and is expected to continue performing just as well. We hope you will be rooting for Tanukana to win the Tekken competition at COMBO BREAKER 2018.
Tanukana’s Official Profile:http://cyclops-osaka.jp/member/tanukana/
Who is Fenritti?
Fenritti is a young BlazBlue player who will stop at nothing to make sure his favorite character, Jin, comes out on top. Being labelled as having poor knowledge of the theory of his sport by some, Fenritti’s intuitive abilities have shown him to have a genius-like sense for gaming. Even among professional gamers, whose so-called “human performance abilities” are at high levels, Fenritti’s ability to read his opponents and perform smooth, accurate combos stands out. One famous pro-gamer said that encountering Fenritti made him research what he called “Aura Theory”.
(When asked about aura, this famous gamer said “Aura represents that certain je ne sais quoi that transcends the theory of ‘why was he able to read all my moves? why did my buttons break?’” Please research for further details.)
Other pro-gamers hold Fenritti’s abilities in high regard. At the EVO tournament, a major tournament that has been held in America since 1995, Fenritti was a BBCF semifinalist in 2017, and the BBCF champion at the 2018 competition. We’re rooting for him to take home the top prize in this year’s BBCF competition at COMBO BREAKER as well, and we hope you are too.
Fenritti’s Official Profile:http://cyclops-osaka.jp/member/fenritti/
And that is all for the CYCLOPS athletes who will be participating in COMBO BREAKER this year.
Knowing a little about each of the athletes can make supporting them at the tournament that much more fun. It’s the background information that draws you in to connect with your favorite characters in books and comics. If you identify with a character you start thinking as that character, maybe about what you would do differently than he or she has. Watching e-sports is similar, in that knowing more about the athletes beforehand will make the experience more enjoyable and those emotional moments more meaningful.
All four of these wonderful athletes have stories that we couldn’t possibly do justice in such a small space, so we encourage those of you whose interest we may have piqued to please research them further.
We would be grateful if you would support them together with us. Thank you.
The Next Stage of e-sports and Beyond
What did you think?
We hope you learned more about BitCash Inc’s e-sports related businesses. There were probably more than a few of you who were shocked to realize that there are so many top-class professional gamers from Japan who are successful all over the world.
The American, Chinese, and Korean e-sports markets are robust, with China in particular making dramatic developments in recent years.
Now we would like to introduce you to a few bullet points of recent e-sports related news
・In 2017 the size of the Chinese e-sports market was roughly 80 billion yuan.
・The user base is at 260 million.
・The global e-sports audience is continuing to grow on an average of about 14% compared to the previous year.
・In 2018 the size of the global e-sports market is projected to be $956 million(a 38% increase on the previous year)
・The market is predicted to grow to $1.4 billion by 2020 and $1.65 billion by 2021.
This is how the e-sports market is currently expanding throughout the world.
In 2022 at the Asia Games in Hangzhou, China e-sports will be officially recognized as a medal event. It is also expected to be recognized as an Olympic event in the coming years. Many countries broadcast video game tournaments on television to great reception. E-sports is something to we can’t take our eyes off of.
However in Japan, the e-sports market is still in its infancy. Outside of gaming circles, the general level of visibility of e-sports in Japan is marginal at best. The prize money available at Japanese tournaments is much lower than other countries, making it difficult for players to make a living as professionals. Despite the abundance of talented athletes, the organizations surrounding e-sports in Japan are falling behind when compared to those in other countries.
In the midst of all of that, BitCash Inc. is one of the companies that will be paving the way for the future of Japanese e-sports.
With e-sports expanding in countries throughout the world, Japan remains one country with a hidden potential for growth.
We are thankful to be able to partner with a company who is taking on challenges in this new and expanding market.
We touched on this in the NANJCOIN white paper, but we believe that being able to donate directly to players, in real time, will be a fun, new way that you can enjoy sports. No matter how far away you may be you can show your support or say “thanks” to your favorite players directly. The relationship between fans and their favorite sports is heading in a new direction.
Finally
There was some gloomy news for the Japanese blockchain industry in the first half of 2018, so we cannot say that the public sentiment regarding the future of cryptocurrency is completely optimistic at this point in time.
At the NANJ Corporation our goal is to become a force that can show the good side of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology by creating solutions to existing problems and bringing new value to the industry through our promotion of sports activities.
This project looks to become the first step in achieving that very goal.Who knows what kind of ripple effect collaborating in such a globally popular field could bring about.As donations can be made with Ethereum as well, we would be grateful if not only NANJCOIN holders, but everyone who believes in the future of cryptocurrency would participate in this event.
