eSports

Fnatic Raises $10 Million and Launches Crowdfunding to Accelerate High-Performance Esports

Published

4 years ago

November 11, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Fnatic, a leading global esports brand, today announces that it has raised $10 million in an internal round led by Beringea with participation from existing investors Unbound, LVL1 Group, JHD as well as key management. The funding will be used to support the global growth of its pioneering esports brand and drive the success of its leading high-performance teams. Fnatic has now raised nearly $35 million across its various funding rounds.

Building on the momentum of this investment round, Fnatic has also announced that it has launched a crowd equity campaign with Crowdcube, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform. Through this campaign, Fnatic will provide a unique opportunity for its growing fanbase to invest in the business and play a part in its mission to seek out and level up the next generation of gamers. This campaign offers a chance for its fanbase to help shape the future of Fnatic.

“We’ve been looking to conduct a crowdfund campaign for a while,” said Sam Mathews, founder and CEO of Fnatic. “This investment provides the perfect opportunity for our community, friends and enthusiasts to join our established investors and own a piece of Fnatic. Crowdfunding is a dynamic and increasingly popular way to fundraise as it provides an opportunity to transform our active and engaged community into investors by giving them the chance to get closer to our journey than ever before. We’re very excited to be working directly with our audience, partnering with them to shape the future of Fnatic, and of entertainment, sports and gaming performance.”

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

This crowdfunding campaign reflects Fnatic’s ambition to innovate and continuously enhance gaming performance while making it accessible to all. The proceeds of this campaign will be directly allocated to initiatives that will foster the advancement of Fnatic’s mission to seek out and level up the next generation of gamers. Esports viewership and gaming has boomed in the past year, and this campaign offers investors the opportunity to both support a leading global esports brand and to play an active role in furthering the growing esports movement.

This past year saw viewership of esports skyrocket. Over the past three years, Fnatic has been ranked consistently as one of the most viewed teams among western esports fans and is the second most watched team of 2020 with over 110 million hours watched, to date. As one of the most globally recognised and successful esports brands with total cash winnings nearing $16 million across 903 tournaments, Fnatic continuously sets the bar through community activations and innovative brand partnerships with world renowned brands such as BMW, Gucci, OnePlus, AMD, Monster, Hisense and more.

“Esports is an industry experiencing explosive growth, and yet in many ways is still in adolescence,” said Karen McCormick, Chief Investment Officer of Beringea. “Having evaluated the industry from many angles, Fnatic was a relatively simple investment decision given the premier status of the brand, consistency as a true performance company, and growth and engagement of the fan base. The business has also become a global leader in a very capital efficient way, building a standout team while maintaining a clear focus on economics and profitability.”

Since Crowdcube was founded in 2011, it has helped more than 1,120 raises successfully fundraise. With more than 900,000 members, a total of £1bn has invested on the platform to date. In good company, notable businesses that have successfully raised through Crowdcube include Revolut, BrewDog, Monzo, Carwow, Freetrade and Mindful Chef. Fnatic plans to raise £1 million ($1.3m) through this campaign, which will be open to the public on November 19th. For more information, please visit https://invest.fnatic.com

age verification

Esports player age verification should be simple

Published

12 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

13 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.