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Fast Company ranks Fnatic in the most innovative gaming firms

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2021

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Every generation of video-game consoles ushers in faster, more realistic titles. This year’s releases by Sony and Microsoft continue that trend. The PS5 and the Xbox Series X deliver unprecedented levels of realism, with graphics processors that simulate shimmering reflections on puddles, controller vibrations that evoke the feeling of running through sand, and game worlds that are as large and detailed as actual cities. But games didn’t simply become more lifelike in 2020. They also became more intertwined with our everyday lives. In the year where everyone sheltered at home, escapism was accessible to more kinds of people than ever, whether you dreamt of the fashion runways in Paris, a quiet pastoral island life, or literal escape (from Zombies, aliens, enemy soldiers, the list goes on). And gaming companies further worked their way into pop culture, from sports to fashion to movies.

1. MICROSOFT

For subscribing to an anywhere, anytime gaming lifestyle

Microsoft is increasingly becoming the everyman’s gaming system. The company aims to empower Xbox fans to play any game, on any device, anywhere, anytime. In the past year, the software giant didn’t just launch its next-generation console, the Xbox Series X, it upgraded infrastructure, introduced new services, and made a sizable acquisition to bring its vision of gaming ubiquity closer to reality. Games on the Xbox Series X load faster than ever thanks to a screaming-fast solid state drive. Subscribers to Game Pass, Microsoft’s “Netflix for Games,” can now play over 100 Xbox games from any Android-powered mobile phone or tablet by tapping into the company’s xCloud streaming service. A feature called Smart Delivery upgrades games automatically and installs them on the owner’s new console—ready to resume play at the moment a player left off. In September, the company announced they paid $7.5 billion to acquire Zenimax Media, bringing games franchises like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Doom in house. For more on why Microsoft is a 2021 Most Innovative Company, click here.

2. SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT

For leveling up yet again

Long the gaming industry’s paragon of polish and ingenuity, Sony’s gaming division burnished its reputation with new hardware and software in 2020 that built on what games can do—and who can play them. Its next generation console, the PlayStation 5, employs top-notch graphics processors that enhance how the game looks, its new controller employs haptic technology that changes how the game feels—making it possible for players to distinguish between the touch of a sandy surface versus a shiny metallic one. Games like Last of Us Part II, developed by Sony subsidiary Naughty Dog, added accessibility options to make the game playable and fun for players of any ability level, including those who are partially or fully blind (sonar-like pings relay the approach of menacing zombies). Meanwhile, Dreams, a game developed by Media Molecule (another Sony entity) makes it possible for players to crate anything from games to gadgets to puzzles and paintings with the title’s game-making toolbox and social network. For more on why Sony Interactive Entertainment is a 2021 Most Innovative Company, click here.

3. NVIDIA

For enabling auteurs with cinematic graphics

Graphics in video games have always lagged behind Hollywood CGI for a simple reason: time. Movie studios can spend weeks rendering each shadow and reflection in a given frame with intense attention to realism and detail; games have to render graphics on the fly, some 60 times every second, as the player moves through virtual space. NVIDIA’s RTX 30 series graphics chips close the quality gap between games and movies using a supremely clever chip design that combines traditional graphics processing with ray-tracing, a computationally intense process that can simulate how light beams reflect and refract off smoke, shimmering water, or high-sheen chrome. Meanwhile an AI-dedicated processing core finds shortcuts and workarounds to speed the process up to game-appropriate speeds.

4. NINTENDO

For crossing into everyday companionship

If quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic had an official pastime, it would be Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The easy-going, wholesome and social game, in which players plant a garden and decorate a home while making friends with a collection of friendly anthropomorphic animals, was exactly the kind of virtual escape many millennials and kids alike were looking for as they sheltered in place. The game’s social elements—users can visit one another’s island and pass the time with meditative, outdoorsy activities like chopping wood and fishing—provided a way for real-life friends to hang out with one another and feel a little close without violating social distancing rules.

5. DAPPER LABS

For putting collectibles on the blockchain

The blockchain-based game developer behind CryptoKitties launched NBA Top Shot, a blockchain-based collectible game, in 2020. The game offers a blockchain twist on sports cards collectibles, by allowing users to buy, collect, and trade video-clip “packets” of top NBA players and moments—pointing toward a new future for sports memorabilia. This year one such blockchain-encrypted video, also known as a “moment”, of the Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo charging to the basket, sold from one collector to another for $1,999.

6. FNATIC

For upgrading esports teams into elite status

The esports organization is building a lifestyle brand that is synonymous with gaming excellence while selling every aspect of it: Its stable of professional esports players win championships in massively popular games ranging from League of Legends to CS:Go, while using Fnatic’s line of performance gaming equipment (keyboards, mice, chairs) and wearing the company’s co-branded apparel and accessories, which it makes in partnership with fashion houses like Gucci. The company’s CEO, Sam Matthews, sees Formula One as an inspiration; in fact he made Nick Fry, the former CEO of the Mercedes AMG Formula One team, the company’s head of commercial strategy.

7. FAZE CLAN

For elevating video games into pop culture

Rivals may deride the sprawling collective of content-makers and gamers as a Gen Z mashup, but the company’s massive reach is undeniable: FaZe Clan members play video games professionally in tournaments, stream their lives on platforms like Twitch, and make short-form videos for sites like YouTube. The company, led by Lee Trink, a music executive who was once president of Capitol Records, is expanding into novel and traditional forms of content alike, from podcasts on Spotify and clips on TikTok to film and television projects, such as Crimson, which was released in October. The collective is also making its talent for Zoomer whispering available to mass-market brands from Verizon to Nissan to Venmo.

8. HERMAN MILLER

For fashioning the gamers’ throne

9. HOLLOW PONDS

For killing us softly with its quirky creations

10. DREST

For dressing up high fashion into a video game

Angela Bernhard Thomas

CAPCOM’S STREET FIGHTERTM 6 GOING TO COLLEGE THIS FALL

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

capcom’s-street-fightertm-6-going-to-college-this-fall

CSMG will create and operate College Street FighterTM Tour in North America for the 2024-25 academic year
College conference Street Fighter 6 champions will punch their ticket to the national Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) & May Madness in 2025

Collegiate Sports Management Group (CSMG) announced today during the kick-off of its Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) Texas presented by McDonald’s that it has joined forces with Capcom to launch the College Street FighterTM Tour during its 2024-25 academic year with the finalists competing at CECC Texas in 2025 throughout its May Madness event. Street FighterTM 6 will join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Overwatch 2®, Rocket League, and VALORANT as part of the official game titles for CECC.

“We are immensely excited to welcome Capcom into the CECC family and provide a path to glory for student athletes to showcase their skills in Street Fighter 6,” said Michael Schreck, Chief Executive Officer for CSMG. “In our fourth year of building May Madness, we continue to listen to our players, coaches and fans on how to make our event more inclusive, and the partnership with Street Fighter 6 is a resounding success.”

“The Street Fighter franchise is a multi-generational and global game series, so it’s important for us to continue to grow that fandom at the collegiate level,” said Michael Larson, Head of Esports at Capcom USA. “CECC continues to set the standard for competition and community, so it’s a natural format for expansion, and we’re eager for College Street Fighter Tour competitors across North America to show off their skills and join us in Texas next year.”

”The vision for the College Street Fighter Tour is a publisher backed esports series that integrates into the existing infrastructure of The Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup, a bracket style event series that takes place every year and has been coined May Madness. The path to championship includes invitational bids to national and regional level conferences as well as official CECC qualifiers held regionally,” said Angela Bernhard Thomas, Chief Esports Officer for CSMG’s ESPORTSU.

Every college or university from a 2-year or 4-year institution can participate through their conference or through select qualifiers. Wim Stocks will serve as the Commissioner of the College Street Fighter Tour and bring his 20 years of experience in college esports to create a dynamic and engaging format of competitive gaming.

“Since the launch of Street Fighter 6 in June of ’23, it is clear the rich legacy of Street Fighter is stronger than ever and helping lift the fighting game community to still greater heights,” said Stocks. “Having a structure now for a national collegiate competitive series, league, and events, Capcom and ESPORTSU are building a phenomenal ecosystem and mechanism for developing up and coming Street Fighter 6 competitors.”

More details on the College Street Fighter Tour will be shared later this year.

CSMG welcomes 84 teams (up from 64 in 2023) this weekend from a record breaking 19 conference champions to the largest scholastic esports festival globally. They will compete at Esports Stadium Arlington on May 3-5 for the chance to hoist one of the coveted trophies. Fans can watch the CECC Texas on ESPORTSU’s Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/esportsu.

CECC Texas 2023 was also recently awarded LAN Event of the Year during the inaugural Scholars Awards in Las Vegas, which are produced in partnership with the Esports Awards.

Clark County

Clark County residents can bring a friend for free to next week’s Super Bingo $160,000 tournament at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, May 6-8

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

clark-county-residents-can-bring-a-friend-for-free-to-next-week’s-super-bingo-$160,000-tournament-at-the-plaza-hotel-&-casino,-may-6-8

Home to downtown Las Vegas’ only bingo room, the Plaza Hotel & Casino is offering Clark County, Nevada residents who register to play in next week’s Super Bingo tournament the opportunity to bring a friend for free.

Happening Monday, May 6 through Wednesday, May 8 in the Plaza’s expansive ballroom, Super Bingo is expected to draw nearly 1,000 people from the local Las Vegas valley and across the country and Canada for the opportunity to win big playing fun-filled games of bingo over two days, with a $50,000 super coverall both days while socializing with like-minded bingo players.

Bingo-only registration is $160 per person, and Clark County residents who register can bring a friend for free. Registration is available online at https://www.plazahotelcasino.com/bingo/super-bingo-registration/. Hotel-and-bingo packages start at $300 for a four-night stay with no resort fee.

All Super Bingo players receive one 6-on paper pack for both days, two daubers, free drinks via an open bar at all sessions, boxed lunch both days, and $10 in free slot play after the first day’s session.

The Plaza’s Bingo room offers six daily bingo sessions at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. and is located on the 3rd floor. By parking on the third floor of the Plaza’s self-parking garage, guests have convenient and direct access to the Plaza’s bingo room and parking is validated for bingo players.

Gambling in the USA

Kambi Group plc extends Mohegan partnership with on-property sports betting agreement in Pennsylvania

Published

3 days ago

May 2, 2024

GamingAmericas.com

kambi-group-plc-extends-mohegan-partnership-with-on-property-sports-betting-agreement-in-pennsylvania

Kambi Group plc (“Kambi”), the world’s trusted sports betting partner, has agreed a long-term on-property sportsbook partnership with Mohegan to provide its award-winning sportsbook at two retail locations in the state of Pennsylvania.

The partnership will see Mohegan utilise Kambi’s cutting-edge retail sportsbook offering across more than 20 kiosks in sportsbook locations at Mohegan Pennsylvania and Mohegan Pennsylvania at Lehigh Valley Race and Sportsbook.

The deal further strengthens Kambi’s relationship with Mohegan, which already utilises Kambi’s suite of sports betting products at ilani in Washington, as well as online and on-property in the Canadian province of Ontario at Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.

Kristian Nylén, Kambi CEO and Co-founder, said: “With several successful partnerships with Mohegan already in place, we are pleased to agree this new partnership as we continue to build on our strong relationship.

“This latest deal further reinforces Kambi’s position as the sportsbook provider of choice for tribes across North America, and we look forward to our ongoing collaboration with Mohegan.”

Tony Carlucci, President & GM of Mohegan Pennsylvania, said: “Mohegan Pennsylvania is excited to continue utilising the same Kambi technology platform that existed under our Kindred partnership, which will help to create a seamless process as the Sportsbook at Mohegan Pennsylvania fully rebrands later this Spring.”