eSports

JAMES BALDWIN WINS ALPINE ESPORTS SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

Published

4 years ago

June 27, 2022

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Alpine Esports is excited to announce that James Baldwin wins the 2nd edition of the Alpine Esports Series Championship powered by Binance. In collaboration with sim racing partner Race Clutch, the final round saw George Boothby come out victorious on the world-famous Nürburgring GP track.

The third and final round of the Alpine Esports Championship Series took place at the world-famous German Nürburgring GP track. Going into the race all eyes were on series leader James Baldwin to see if he could close out an overall win. The sprint race provided a wealth of excitement with George Boothby coming out on top and securing ten points heading into the main race.

The main race saw a very close drive at the top of the grid with Boothby and Whitehead going head-to-head in second and third. However, it was Marko Pejic with an impressive drive that saw him come across the finishing line first. With points from both races calculated it was George Boothby in first with 28 points, Marko Pejic in second with 25 points and Luke Whitehead in third with 20 points.

Despite only getting 8 points in Round 3, the work that Baldwin had put in earlier in the series saw him comfortably crowned the winner of the Alpine Esports Series Championship with 72 points overall. As the winner Baldwin wins a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a premium Alpine A110 GT4 track day experience, $40,000 worth of ALPINE Fan tokens, high-quality Philips Hue light bundle, FreeM Sim-Racing Alpine Esports shoes and gloves.

The Alpine Esports Series Championship was powered by the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, Binance who gave away a shared prize pool of $100,000 in ALPINE Fan Tokens throughout the competition. George Boothby took home the Fastest in-game Qualifier Lap with a $1,500 ALPINE Fan Token prize, with a lap time of 1:41:230 and Marko Pejic was awarded the Binance Fastest Lap Award after driving the most fastest laps during the main races. Other Binance prizes involved a shared prize pool of $6000 in ALPINE Tokens for Binance users who scanned the QR code during the Alpine Esports Series live streams and a pool of $4,000 ALPINE Tokens for fans who collected all 5 Binance Alpine GT4 POAP NFTs.

Top racers also claimed various other goodies, including a Trak Racer TRX frame for the runner-up as well as a high-quality BenQ Monitor (EX3410R) for the third-place winner with Freem Alpine, shoes and gloves and a Philips Hue light bundle for the top three drivers.

The second season of Alpine Esports Series saw non-stop action with 250,000 fans tuning in to see the best sim racers go head-to-head across three rounds. The first race which took place at Circuit de Catalunya track saw British sim racing driver James Baldwin take the lead with 29 points with Luke Whitehead following with 26 points and George Boothby with 25 points. The drivers then headed to the Paul Ricard track where once again James Baldwin was crowned the winner extending his lead and going into the final race with an impressive lead.

CLASSIFICATIONS

Final Classification

James Baldwin – 72 Total Points
George Boothby – 67 Total Points
Marko Pejic – 62 Total Points
Luke Whitehead – 60 Total Points
Michele Nerbi – 43 Total Points
Andrea Miatto – 31 Total Points
Michael Romagnoli – 24 Total Points
Mathias Kuhn – 19 Total Points
Mariusz Tworzydło – 10 Total Points
Victor Nicolae – 9 Total Points
Florian Bauer – 6 Total Points
Davide Arduini – 6 Total Points
Lorenz Hörzing – 4 Total Points
Michał Nowakowski – 3 Total Points
Artur Czarnecki – 2 Total Points
Gaël Valero – 2 Total Points

Round 1

James Baldwin – 29 points
Luke Whitehead – 26 points
George Boothby – 25 points
Marko Pejic – 15 points
Andrea Miatto – 14 points

Round 2

James Baldwin – 35 points
Marko Pejic – 22 points
Andera Miatto – 17 points
Michele Nerbi – 15 points
Luke Whitehead – 14 points

Round 3

George Boothby – 28 points
Marko Pejic – 25 points
Luke Whitehead – 20 points
Michele Nerbi – 16 points
Michael Romagnoli – 12 points

creator-economy

Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2026

Wladimir P.

red-bull-runs-one-day-balatro-speedrun-event,-boss-rush,-on-april-17

Eight creators compete across five timed stages with eliminations, broadcast on Red Bull’s Twitch and YouTube channels.

Red Bull will stage a one-day Balatro speedrun competition, Red Bull Boss Rush, on April 17, 2026. The event brings together eight creators for timed runs in the roguelike deckbuilder, with viewers able to follow via individual creator POV streams and a central hub broadcast.

The competitor lineup includes Red Bull Player Ludwig, plus The Spiffing Brit, FrostPrime, Feinberg, Adef, Yahiamice, mbtyugioh and dreads. Red Bull said live commentary will be provided by esports host Yinsu ‘Yinsu’ Collins, card-game specialist Blake ‘Rarran’ Eram, and DrSpectered.

Boss Rush is structured as five 30-minute stages, with players ranked by completion time. Red Bull said the opening three stages use a shared random seed with unlimited resets, and points are awarded by placement each stage; the bottom four are eliminated after stage 3. Stage 4 determines the finalists, followed by a final winner-takes-all matchup.

The event also includes a downloadable Red Bull Boss Rush mod featuring a custom-branded deck and new Red Bull-themed Jokers, Bosses and Skip Tags. Red Bull highlighted additions including ‘Witch’, ‘Princess and Frog’, ‘Zebra’, Old Dog, ‘Pirate’, ‘Genie’, ‘Prince Charming’, and ‘Jester’, each designed to alter scoring or run economics.

Red Bull Boss Rush will stream on twitch.tv/redbull and Red Bull’s YouTube Gaming channel. Scan is supplying gaming PCs for the competition, according to the company.

Relevant data as follows:

Red Bull Gaming on Twitch; https://www.twitch.tv/redbull Primary broadcast destination for the event.
Red Bull Gaming on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/redbullgaming Secondary broadcast destination cited in the release.
Red Bull Gaming: https://www.redbull.com/ Official Red Bull site for event context and confirmation.
Balatro on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/ Authoritative reference for the game featured in the competition.
Scan Computers: https://www.scan.co.uk/ PC supplier mentioned as providing systems for the event.

The post Red Bull runs one-day Balatro speedrun event, Boss Rush, on April 17 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Asia

S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026

Published

2 days ago

April 16, 2026

Wladimir P.

s8ul-signs-team-question-mark-roster-for-pubg:-battlegrounds-ahead-of-ewc-2026

The CIS-based EMEA lineup brings past EWC experience and titles including PUBG Global Series 8 as S8UL targets Riyadh qualification.

S8UL has signed the Team Question Mark (QM) roster to represent the organisation in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS on PC ahead of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026. The deal was announced April 16 from Mumbai as S8UL prepares for the tournament in Riyadh, scheduled for July 21 to 26.

The CIS-based EMEA lineup includes:

captain Roman Zinovev (ADOUZ1E),
Andrey Ionov (Bestoloch),
Mansur Tsimpaev (f1lfirst),
Nikita Odobesku (Molodoct),
and coach Yermek Torebekov (Ermaak).

S8UL said the roster will compete through the qualification pathway for a place in the 24-team event, which has a $2 million prize pool.

S8UL is adding a roster with a proven record in top-tier PUBG competition, including wins at PUBG Continental Series 7 Europe 2022 and PUBG Global Series 8 in 2025. The team has also posted a Top 3 finish at PUBG Global Series 2 in 2023 and a Top 7 finish at PUBG Global Championship 2022. The organisation said the roster has competed at both previous editions of the EWC in 2024 and 2025 and has amassed approximately $713,000 in total prize winnings.

Commenting on the move, Naman Mathur, Co-founder, S8UL said, “Signing the QM roster is a significant step for us as we continue to strengthen our presence in global esports. PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS is one of the most competitive titles in the world, and this team has consistently proven itself against the very best. At a broader level, this move reflects the direction S8UL is heading in. Over the past year, we have focused on building depth across our rosters and competing consistently at the highest level. As we prepare for the Esports World Cup 2026, we are committed to providing the team with the right support and resources as they aim to make a strong impact in the qualifiers as well as on the global stage.”

Roman Zinovev aka ADOUZ1E added, “Becoming part of S8UL is a big opportunity for us as a team. As a team, we’ve always believed in our ability to compete with the best in the world, and having the backing of a global organisation allows us to push even further. With the Esports World Cup coming up, we’re focused on working through the qualifiers and making sure we deliver performances that match our potential.,”

S8UL said the announcement follows its selection as a Club Partner by the Esports Foundation (EF), placing it among 40 global organisations. The organisation has also listed 13 titles it plans to enter for EWC 2026, including PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Apex Legends, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), Call of Duty: Warzone, Chess, EA Sports FC, FATAL Fury, Fortnite, Honor of Kings, MOBA Legends 5V5, Street Fighter 6, TEKKEN 8, and Trackmania.

Relevant data as follows:

S8UL Esports: https://s8ul.gg/ Official organisation site for roster and announcement verification.
PUBG Esports (PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS competitive updates): https://pubgesports.com/ Authoritative source for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS esports circuits, event results, and qualifiers.
Esports World Cup (official site): https://esportsworldcup.com/ Event organiser site for EWC 2026 schedule, formats, and prize pool confirmation.

The post S8UL signs Team Question Mark roster for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS ahead of EWC 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

eSports

MEGA hires Leapfox founder Patrick Collins as VP of Growth

Published

3 days ago

April 15, 2026

Wladimir P.

mega-hires-leapfox-founder-patrick-collins-as-vp-of-growth

The ex-Wasserman and former Excel Esports partnerships lead joins the London-based group behind the Esports Awards and MOBIES.

The Mobile, Esports and Gaming Alliance (MEGA) has appointed Patrick Collins as Vice President of Growth, the company said on April 15, 2026. Collins will lead growth strategy, including commercial partnerships and new business development, from London.

Collins joins from boutique agency Leapfox, which he founded in early 2022. Prior to that, he led commercial partnerships at UK esports organisation Excel Esports, securing deals with brands including BT, Sony, JD Sports, Neosurf and Chupa Chups, alongside partners such as HyperX, Anda Seat, Belong Gaming Arenas and Chillblast PCs.

Earlier in his career, Collins worked at sports marketing agency Wasserman, where MEGA said he helped secure EE’s six-year partnership with Wembley Stadium and advised brands including American Express, Vodafone and PepsiCo. The company also cited experience working with Premier League football clubs and brands including Barclays, Santander, Under Armour and Puma.

“I’m pleased to officially join MEGA at such an important time for esports and gaming,” said Patrick Collins, VP of Growth at MEGA. “Having worked across traditional sport, esports, and commercial partnerships, and founding Leapfox to bridge these worlds and guide my clients, I’m looking forward to applying my experience to support MEGA and our properties as we continue to grow.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Patrick to MEGA as our new Vice President of Growth,” said Michael Ashford, Co-Founder of MEGA. “His extensive experience, including founding Leapfox, uniquely positions him to shape the future of our company. With Patrick on board, MEGA is determined to accelerate our growth, embark on transformative partnerships, and deliver world-class experiences that will define the next era of esports entertainment.”

Relevant data as follows:

MEGA (Mobile, Esports and Gaming Alliance): https://themega.global/ Official company site to support the appointment and provide background on MEGA.
Esports Awards: https://esportsawards.com/ Official site for one of the properties referenced in connection with MEGA.
MOBIES: https://mobies.com/ Official site for the Mobile Gaming Awards referenced alongside MEGA.

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