eSports

4CAST Gaming Partners up with Leading Creative Marketing Agency Hotdrop to enter the World of Gaming and Esports

Published

1 year ago

November 18, 2022

Reading Time: 2 minutes

4CAST, the UK’s first Athlete Collective, is partnering up with leading creative marketing agency Hotdrop to forge connections between gaming and sports, two of the most engaged audiences in global entertainment. The partnership will see 4CAST’s athlete shareholders, from both esports and traditional sports backgrounds, have the opportunity to explore an expanded range of activities across gaming.

4CAST shareholders are some of the most influential sporting and gaming talent in the UK, including internationally acclaimed sporting personalities such as Ben Stokes, Chris Hughes, Tyrone Mings, and Josh Denzel, as well as some of the most recognisable gaming influencers such as Benny Central, TommyT999, and Ryan Stoker. With a combined reach of 28.7 million across all social media platforms and an average follower age of 18-34, 4CAST is at the centre of Gen Z and Millennial interests.

Having worked with global companies such as Adidas, Acer, and Red Bull to create fan-led activations, 4CAST is uniquely positioned to integrate brands interested in both gaming and traditional sports audiences. 4CAST recently partnered up with Activision-Blizzard to celebrate the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, with live streaming activations featuring Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Matthew Potts, and Liam Livingstone, with more streams to come between the 15th-17th of November with the launch of Warzone 2.

Heather Dower, Found and CEO of Hotdrop, said, “We are thrilled to be working with 4CAST and their roster of world-class gaming personalities and athletes. It is refreshing to see a company like 4CAST incorporate sporting shareholders and gaming talent in such a dynamic way, finding unique crossover opportunities between the gaming and sports worlds. It’s great to forge a partnership with such a widely respected organisation and be able to connect global audiences, brands, and talent in creative and bold ways.”

“Growing our gaming strategy has been of key importance to 4CAST as a group, and we are delighted to partner with Hotdrop as one of the leading commercial advisors in the gaming industry. As we seek to increase our brand partnerships, we are excited to get started with Heather and her stellar team” – Fergus Bell, Director at 4CAST

eSports

UNITED KINGDOM TO HOST 2024 PUBG MOBILE GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Published

3 days ago

December 8, 2023

George Miller

united-kingdom-to-host-2024-pubg-mobile-global-championship

Reading Time: < 1 minute

PUBG MOBILE Esports is thrilled to announce that the 2024 PUBG MOBILE Global Championship (PMGC) will be held in the UK, taking place live next December with a $3 million prize pool. The first time a major PUBG MOBILE event has been hosted in the UK, this tournament will bring local fans a unique opportunity to see the very best skill that the world has to offer. This news comes ahead of this year’s 2023 PUBG MOBILE Grand Finals in Istanbul.

James Yang, Senior Director of PUBG MOBILE Global Esports, announced the news during the opening ceremony of the 2023 PMGC Grand Finals, with the exact UK location to be revealed at a later date. This is the first time a major PUBG MOBILE event has been held in the country and the first in Western Europe since 2018.

The highlight of the PUBG MOBILE Esports calendar, the PMGC brings together dozens of teams from around the world to compete in the ultimate showcase of talent. This year’s Grand Finals are taking place this weekend in Istanbul, Türkiye, where the final sixteen teams remaining in the competition will battle it out to become PUBG MOBILE World Champion.

Joining next year’s PMGC in the top tier of PUBG MOBILE Esports events, as well as next year’s midseason tournament in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is the PUBG MOBILE Global Open (PMGO), which will take place in Brazil throughout March and April 2024 and feature a $500,000 prize pool.

eSports

Global Esports Federation joins UNESCO Chair on Governance & Social Responsibility

Published

4 days ago

December 7, 2023

George Miller

global-esports-federation-joins-unesco-chair-on-governance-&-social-responsibility

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The Global Esports Federation is honored by the appointment of Thanos Karagrounas, GEF’s Executive Director, Strategy & Impact, as a member of the Advisory Committee of the UNESCO Chair on Governance and Social Responsibility in Sport.

The UNESCO Chair was established in June 2023 with the long-term aim of fostering an integrated system of research, education, and training to enhance the quality of governance practices within the sport industry and advocate socially responsible program designs that prioritize sport as a core component.

As a global leader in the realm of sustainable development and social impact, Thanos Karagrounas has been appointed to play a pivotal role in the Advisory Committee, co-coordinating one of the six strategic pillars on esports.

“It is a distinct honor to be a member of this esteemed group of internationally renowned experts. The opportunity to combine our diverse experiences and perspectives will contribute to the Chair’s objectives. The inclusion of esports as one of the UNESCO Chair’s six strategic pillars, underscores the important role GEF is playing in the governance and social responsibility realm and our commitment towards making an impact on a global scale.” ~ Thanos Karagrounas, GEF Executive Director, Strategy & Impact

The GEF convenes its #worldconnected esports community, harnessing the energy to drive meaningful progress. As a member of the Advisory Committee, the GEF looks forward to contributing its expertise to accelerate its overall contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

DUST Identity Inc.

DUST Identity Announces $40M Series B and Partnership with Oxygen Esports

Published

4 days ago

December 7, 2023

GamingAmericas.com

dust-identity-announces-$40m-series-b-and-partnership-with-oxygen-esports

DUST Identity Inc., whose technology enables product authentication by linking physical items to their digital records, announced the launch of its mobile solution, which is fueling its growth into new industries. Initially designed for high-security applications, the company is now expanding its offerings to include the authentication of luxury goods, artwork, game-used apparel and memorabilia, and other one-of-a-kind items. This expansion comes as DUST signs a partnership with Oxygen Esports and raises $40M in Series B funding.

DUST Identity’s new product line for mobile is an on-demand solution that reinforces authenticity for any physical object of value by enhancing the traceability and visibility of the object’s origin. Oxygen Esports, one of North America’s largest multi-title esports organizations, will leverage this new solution through a recently signed partnership agreement with DUST. This partnership comes as DUST sees keen interest from the sports and entertainment space. It also signals DUST’s growing commitment to enabling organizations to build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with fans through the activation of authentic, game-used merchandise.

“The merchandise we sell reinforces our brand reputation and DUST’s solution is helping us protect our brand, athletes, and fans from counterfeit memorabilia. We’re looking forward to working with DUST to unlock rich omnichannel experiences for fans, as we leverage their technology,” Dani Marks, CMO at OXG, said.

The partnership with Oxygen Esports and launch of the company’s mobile solution follows a $40 million Series B round led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Amex Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Airbus Ventures, 8VC, and others.

For new investor Amex Ventures, this round signifies an opportunity to invest in an innovative solution that can help brands enhance trust with their customers and unlock new growth opportunities.

“We all interact with many physical items daily, but largely have no proof of these items’ origin. By linking a physical item to its digital record, DUST’s technology provides new capabilities to track and trace an item across its lifecycle. In doing so, DUST helps unlock new customer engagement opportunities and loyalty concepts for brands across a wide range of industries,” Margaret Lim, Managing Director of Amex Ventures, said.

Ophir Gaathon, CEO and Co-Founder of DUST Identity, said: “People want to trust that the products they are spending their time and money on are genuine, and the foundation of that trust comes from being able to validate an item’s authenticity. Our technology provides that validation. DUST Identity has broadened its mission of protecting and connecting everything that matters by introducing our new mobile solution. We’re excited to utilize our funding to deliver on this mission as we bring our technology to many new industries.”