eSports

Jarno Opmeer and Red Bull lead F1 Esports Pro Series at halfway mark after Zandvoort, Montreal & Spielberg rounds

Published

4 years ago

November 6, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco continued with three dramatic rounds of racing in Event 2 at Zandvoort, Montreal and Spielberg, as some drivers begin to pull away in the fight for this year’s huge $750,000 prize pot.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic drivers are racing remotely for the first time this year, but the popular live shows continue to be broadcast from the Gfinity Esports Arena in London, as we ensure fans don’t miss a moment of the action.

On Wednesday evening, drivers took to the Circuit Zandvoort, which was due to make a long-awaited return to Formula 1 this season before the pandemic hit, but the action on the virtual version of the F1 2020 official video game developed by Codemasters, did not disappoint. Red Bull’s Frederik Rasmussen took victory in the Event 2 opener for his first win of the season, ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Jarno Opmeer and his teammate Marcel Kiefer who made up the top three.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Wednesday’s double-header continued with a visit to a fan and driver favourite, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The heavy-braking chicanes made for a tense spectacle, which saw Opmeer take his third victory of the season despite a late collision with Ferrari’s David Tonizza (technical issues meant he was unable to see Tonizza’s car), with Rasmussen and Kiefer also joining him on the podium for the second time that day.

Event 2 ended on Thursday evening where the rescheduled 2020 F1 season began, at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. Despite it being one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, what it lacks in length, it makes up for in speed as we witnessed a high-paced battle to the end, that saw Kiefer take victory for his first win of the season after some fantastic teamwork alongside Rasmussen, who finished in P2 . Opmeer was on the podium again in P3 to finish the first half of the season with a solid result.

This week’s results mean Alfa Romeo’s Opmeer leads the way in the driver standings, whilst Red Bull top the team’s championship at the halfway stage.

Attention now turns to the penultimate event, on 18-19 November, as we get set for another three mouthwatering races at a trio of iconic circuits. Event 3 will see drivers go wheel-to-wheel at Silverstone, before we head to Spa and Monza, in what could be the fastest round of the season.

The live show was streamed online via F1’s official channels on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Huya, as well as broadcast by international television partners such as ESPN (US), Sky (UK) and Ziggo (Netherlands).

Following a huge year for F1 Esports, which saw over 30 million people tune in to the Virtual Grand Prix Series, more people than ever want to get involved. The second and final dedicated qualifying event for the 2021 F1 Esports Series is now open until the end of November on F1 2020, the newly-released official videogame developed by Codemasters. For more information visit www.f1esports.com.

Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives & Esports at Formula 1 said:

“The F1 Esports Pro Series presented by Aramco continues to deliver as we were treated to three more thrilling races in Event 2 at some fantastic circuits, including a superb first outing at Zandvoort. Jarno Opmeer and Red Bull lead the standings at the halfway mark after some brilliant performances in the first two events, but there is plenty of racing to come this season and I’m looking forward to seeing them fight to keep hold of their leads.”

Frank Sagnier, CEO at Codemasters said:

“Despite lockdown, the F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco continues to lead the way in competitive gaming entertainment. The field is starting to take shape, and it looks like Jarno Opmeer, Marcel Kiefer andFrede Rasmussen are the ones to watch. From an F1 2020 video game perspective, it was terrific to see Circuit Zandvoort make its maiden appearance on the F1 calendar.”

John Clarke, CEO at Gfinity said:

“20 world class drivers, virtually connected from different parts of the world, pushing themselves and their cars to the limits. Event 2 delivered yet again, raising the bar for tension and excitement. Together Gfinity and Formula 1 are demonstrating the future of live sporting broadcasts when participants cannot be in the same location. This is truly a product for the times.”

For more information on the F1 Esports Series presented by Aramco visit www.f1esports.com.

age verification

Esports player age verification should be simple

Published

5 hours ago

October 9, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

esports-player-age-verification-should-be-simple

Despite the continuing professionalisation of esports, misconceptions about player age persist – particularly of underage pros playing in professional esports.

Back in 2021, the PandaScore whitepaper dug into the data around player age in professional esports and found that the average age of a pro player was just under 24 years old. By comparison, the same report noted that the average age for a men’s professional footballer was about 26 years old.

While there is no great gulf in player ages between esports and traditional sports, there’s more apprehension around this topic once there’s a keyboard or controller involved. There are good reasons behind this focus, but the truth is that a simple and straightforward product makes player age verification easy.

The reason behind the focus on player age

Compliance with player age requirements has been a particular concern as legalised sports and esports betting rolls out across the US. These are completely reasonable concerns, partly because of the state-by-state nature of American regulation, but also due to past compliance issues in the likes of ITF tennis.

Age compliance isn’t a challenge unique to esports. It does have younger players in the same way tennis does, so it’s a space that operators consider a potential risk area based on precedent. While it’s understandable to be vigilant about ensuring age compliance across your whole book, the reality in esports is it’s just like any other sport.

However, with this greater attention, it’s crucial for esports suppliers to have a simple, high-quality solution that is flexible for any jurisdiction – and not just treat it as a spreadsheet-based, tack-on service.

Importance in the US

It’s abundantly clear that if you want to ensure compliance in the US space, player age verification isn’t a nice to have, it’s an integral part of your product. Across each jurisdiction player age verification can vary – something we’ve seen in Europe as well such as Sweden’s rule that a match must have 60% of players over the age of 18 for an operator to offer match bets.

In sports, it’s fairly straightforward to implement but has been an oversight from sports data providers in the past. It’s quite easy to provide, it just requires collecting data from multiple, reputable sources outside of the match itself.

PandaScore has been collecting player age verification data since it was founded in 2017 to ensure compliance no matter the regulation, no matter the jurisdiction.

Embedding player age verification in your product

Ensuring age compliance was a founding principle for our product suite – we included it as a key datapoint in our API, which is the bedrock of our broader offering. Suppliers should have this embedded in their products, rather than an additional service.

PandaScore believes that offering player age verification as part of an API and integrated into your service means you can be more confident in your compliance not just for individual esports titles, but from match to match.

For us it’s simple: one of PandaScore’s founding principles is to not rely on only one single data source, but leverage multiple quality data sources that we can trust. We have a longstanding and highly developed process that guarantees a level of accuracy for player age verification that’s in line with regulation and gives operators the confidence that they’re compliant. Our practice of using multiple data sources means that double and triple-checking information to ensure player age compliance is in our nature.

With player age verification built into an API, operators can leverage the data to match the compliance needs of any given jurisdiction. This can be done by integrating player age data via the API, it can be included in their feed via our odds product with the flexibility to add exclusions where necessary, or if an operators wants it in a simper form, it can be done via request.

Player age verification might seem like a simple item, but is a compliance matter that’s essential to operating in a proper fashion. Noting the concerns and greater focus on player ages in esports, it’s something that’s important to get right: player age verification should be entrenched in esports products themselves to give operators the flexibility and simplicity that they need.

Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.

eSports

BETBY AGREES LONGTERM MULTI-MARKET CSGO EMPIRE PARTNERSHIP

Published

6 hours ago

October 9, 2024

George Miller

betby-agrees-longterm-multi-market-csgo-empire-partnership

Reading Time: < 1 minute

BETBY, a top-tier sports betting provider, has announced a long-term partnership with Moonrail Limited B.V., a prominent online sports betting company, to support their flagship CSGOEmpire brand.

As part of this collaboration, Moonrail Limited will leverage BETBY’s award-winning sportsbook platform, along with Betby Games’ esports feed, and comprehensive trading and risk management services.

Under the terms of the agreement, BETBY’s technology and services will drive CSGOEmpire’s global multi-channel sportsbook operations.

Stefanos Karakidis, Head of Business Development at BETBY, stated: “We are thrilled to partner with Moonrail, a company recognized as a leading operator in both the sportsbook and esports sectors. We are eager to work closely with Moonrail to continue providing exceptional sports betting experiences to their players.”

Luke M., Head of Sportsbook at CSGOEmpire, commented: “At CSGOEmpire, our primary focus has always been to deliver the fairest experience possible for our users, coupled with the best odds in the market. We are excited about our partnership with BETBY, which will enhance the quality of our offerings and significantly improve the user experience. This collaboration will provide our community with an expanded selection of betting options and a seamless interface, further solidifying CSGOEmpire as a leader in the online betting space. We remain committed to prioritizing our users’ needs and look forward to the innovations this partnership will bring.

The post BETBY AGREES LONGTERM MULTI-MARKET CSGO EMPIRE PARTNERSHIP appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

CS2 Intel Extreme

CS2 Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 SuperComputer: NaVi to bounce back after Blast Fall Final loss

Published

2 days ago

October 7, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

cs2-intel-extreme-masters-rio-2024-supercomputer:-navi-to-bounce-back-after-blast-fall-final-loss

Final: Natus Vincere (36.5%) to beat Team Vitality (28.1%)

Semifinal 1: Natus Vincere (52.6%) to beat MOUZ (16.3%)

Semifinal 2: Team Vitality (47.7%) to beat G2 Esports (18.7%)

Quarterfinal 1: G2 Esports (39.8%) to beat FaZe Clan (32.8%)

Quarterfinal 2: MOUZ (35.9%) to beat Eternal Fire (24.7%)

Group stage:

Natus Vincere – 48.7% to finish 1st; 17.0% to finish 2nd; 84.1% to make playoffs
Team Vitality – 40.8% to finish 1st; 17.4% to finish 2nd; 77.7% to make playoffs
G2 Esports – 19.3% to finish 1st; 20.4% to finish 2nd; 56.7% to make playoffs
MOUZ – 14.5% to finish 1st; 21.8% to finish 2nd; 53.0% to make playoffs
FaZe Clan – 13.9% to finish 1st; 21.0% to finish 2nd; 50.2% to make playoffs
Eternal Flame – 40.7% to finish 1st; 16.2% to finish 2nd; 40.7% to make playoffs
Liquid – 16.3% to finish 7-8th; 35.7% to make playoffs
Virtus.pro – 15.4% to finish 7-8th; 29.9% to make playoffs
Astralis – 28.9% to finish 9-12th; 31.5% to make playoffs
The MongolZ – 32.7% to finish 9-12th; 25.4% to make playoffs
Complexity – 34.3% to finish 9-12th; 21.2% to make playoffs
Heroic – 26.8% to finish 9-12th; 23.5% to make playoffs
paiN – 36.5% to finish 13-16th; 21.0% to make playoffs
FURIA – 36.4% to finish 13-16th; 20.9% to make playoffs
9z – 44.7% to finish 13-16th; 14.6% to make playoffs
Imperial – 49.1% to finish 13-16th; 13.9% to make playoffs

It has been quite the run for NaVi despite their loss with back to back grand finals in recent weeks but CSDB.gg’s predictive model suggests there will be no let up for the Ukrainian esports organisation.

G2 will also be looking to build more momentum in preparation for Majors season with NiKo on a quest to finally get over the line this year to win his first major title. Hopefully Rio won’t have to see a repeat of his reaction in the semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 where he punched a hole in a table after losing out to Team Vitality in a key moment.

However, the hosts of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 may want to lockdown any nearby furniture and reinforce their desks if G2 are set for disappointment at the semifinals stage as predicted by the CSDB.gg SuperComputer.

A victory in Rio could be even more consequential for how the end of the year shapes up for the leading teams on the circuit. The Valve Global rankings have both teams close at the very top (NaVi at 1988 and G2 at 1953) meaning a win for either team could hand them a key advantage when it comes to who enters the Majors as top seed.

Back-to-back wins in T1 events for G2, should they prosper in Rio, would set the Berlin-based team on an incredible trajectory going into the winter months.

Meanwhile, Brazilian hopes for glory look slight according to the CSDB.gg SuperComputer with FURIA, the team co-owned by Neymar, having only been given a 20.9% chance of even making the playoffs.

They are the leading contenders to make an impact for the home crowd but there are other teams flying the flag for Brazil with paiN and Imperial also set to give it their best to give local fans something to cheer on.

In terms of forecasted matchups of note, G2 and FaZe Clan could offer up a fascinating encounter in the quarterfinals should both teams qualify, with each organisation rated as having a strong chance of making the semis with little to separate them should they meet.

How was the CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer created?

The CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer is a predictive model created using world ranking points, team quality ratings and performance trends. An element of randomness is also included in the model to avoid the best teams and players always winning, to reflect the fact that upsets can happen.

Every tournament is simulated 1,000 times with the results aggregated into a percentage rating of the chances teams or players have to achieve the predicted result.