eSports
Casa Noturna crowned the UK’s best VALORANT student team at Red Bull Campus Clutch to qualify for Brazil World Finals
Casa Noturna has been crowned the UK’s best student VALORANT team at the Red Bull Campus Clutch UK Grand Final, at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere.
The UK Champions defeated Last Dance in a tense 2:0 Grand Final, and in turn, qualified for the Red Bull Campus Clutch World Finals in Brazil this December. Casa Noturna will now battle for €20,000 in prize money as well as an exclusive VIP experience at a 2023 VALORANT Champions Tour event.
In the South Final, Last Dance took a commanding 2-0 win against Just Essentials to book their place in the Finals, with dominating victories across Haven and Bind to seal it in just two maps. The North Final between Casa Noturna and Birmingham Bulls was incredibly tense as the two evenly matched teams fought for momentum. Casa Noturna eventually booked their place in the Grand Final with a 2-1 victory, with the team pulling off a stunning comeback on the third map from 8-1 down to win 10-13.
The Grand Final kicked off on Ascent, where Casa Noturna won the early advantage with a 13-5 win, setting up a tense second map on Pearl. Last Dance fought back to take an early lead at 6-1 and looking to take the match all the way, but Casa Noturna dug in with an epic comeback to win the match 13-8.
Reflecting on their road to victory, Casa Noturna’s Ben ‘Benzki’ Price said: “We had a really tough run today, Birmingham Bulls were hard opponents and Last Dance were difficult too, but we kept composed and used our experience. I think we’ve got a really good team here, all the guys played their part really well, even if they were in roles they wouldn’t normally play on. They kept their cool under pressure and I think that was the main reason we were able to win this afternoon.”
The Finals were streamed live on The Goose House, hosted by Matt ‘Twiggy’ Twigg and Vicki ‘Gottmoxi’ Johnson, and following the event, Gottmoxi said: “I think they have a really good chance of winning the whole tournament in December – they showed today that they can adapt really well on each map, they have a brilliant agent pool and they were able to pull out all the stops and turn things in their favour whenever they needed to which is a brilliant attribute to have as a team which will be incredibly valuable in the World Finals.”
Red Bull Campus Clutch kicked off this August, with National Qualifiers taking place across the globe and National Finals determining the best student team from each participating country. So far, this year’s tournament has had over 4,500 teams taking part, with 25,000 participants and over 300 national events.
Soon only 50 teams will remain, all travelling directly to Sao Paulo, Brazil for this epic in-person LAN final. In the UK, over 400 players in 81 teams had battled across regional qualifying rounds to reach the UK Final, with four qualifying winners earning a place at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London for the LAN Finals.
The Red Bull Campus Clutch World Final will take place between 13th-16th December 2022, with the final stages being streamed live on Red Bull Twitch. Taking place at Estádio do Pacaembu, famously used for several games of the 1950 World Cup, 50 teams will kick off the tournament, in the initial group stage matches taking place from 13th-14th. From there, the teams remaining will battle it out in an elimination format, with the Grand Final taking place on the 16th of December.
National Express is the official UK public transport partner for Red Bull Campus Clutch. As the UK’s number one coach company National Express is helping qualifying competitors travel to the UK final by offering free travel on its UK network.
Several global partners are supporting Red Bull Campus Clutch this year, helping bring the latest and greatest hardware to competitors. Intel NUC, SteelSeries and AGON by AOC all return to the tournament. As PC Partner, Intel NUC, renowned for packing high-powered gaming rigs in small form factors, will support with their top-notch Gaming PCs. SteelSeries, the worldwide leader in gaming and esports peripherals, is the official Peripheral brand of Red Bull Campus Clutch and will equip students with award-winning gaming headsets, keyboards, and mice. And the official Monitor Partner, AGON by AOC will once again provide high-performance gaming monitors for the event.
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eSports
GIANTX unveils its team for the Spanish Superliga of League of Legends
The global esports organization GIANTX has officially presented the roster for its League of Legends Superliga team, the most prestigious esports competition in Spain, organized by the LVP. The roster includes Feisty (midlaner) and Aetinoth (ADC), who continue for another year after establishing themselves as key players for the organization, and newcomers Badlulu (toplaner), Ferret (jungler), and Lospa (support).
The team, known as GIANTX Pride, will be led by Fearless, a veteran coach who has already won three Superliga titles with GIANTX. After previous stints with teams like Guasones and Rebels, Fearless returns to lead this young and promising roster as they pursue the organization’s long-awaited eighth Superliga trophy, with the season set to begin in January 2025.
The roster was revealed during an event at the Home of GIANTX in Málaga, attended by over 150 fans and supported by Opel, the team’s main partner in the Superliga. The event featured activities, giveaways, and a showmatch against Barça Esports, where fans got a first glimpse of the team in action.
Feisty (South Korea, 2003) and Aetinoth (Turkey, 2005) return for another year, having gained recognition as rising talents with potential for the LEC, Europe’s premier competition in which GIANTX also competes. Badlulu (France, 2002), with prior experience in the Superliga at CASE Esports, joins as the toplaner. Ferret (Turkey, 2001), a promising jungler from the Turkish scene, comes from FUT, while Lospa (South Korea, 2002), a former Iberian Cup champion, joins as support after training in Gen.G Academy.
GIANTX Pride is the most decorated organization in Superliga LVP history, with seven titles to its name. The last victory came in the summer of 2021, and the team is determined to add the elusive eighth trophy to its collection. The Superliga for 2025 will feature ten teams, including Barça Esports, Guasones, Los Heretics, LUA Gaming, Movistar KOI, Ramboot Club, UCAM Esports, VENI VIDI VICI, and ZETA, competing across three splits—winter, spring, and summer.
The LVP, part of Grupo Mediapro, has introduced changes to the Superliga’s format for 2025. The updated calendar will be released soon, setting the stage for another thrilling season.
The post GIANTX unveils its team for the Spanish Superliga of League of Legends appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
eSports
GRID Joins IBIA as an Associate Member, Strengthening Esports Integrity
GRID, an esports data platform, has officially joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) as a first esports-focused Associate Member. This collaboration signifies a pivotal moment for esports integrity, aligning GRID with IBIA and its globally recognized integrity-focused members, who monitor over $300bn in sports bets per annum and have a growing focus on esports betting.
With this partnership, GRID and IBIA are committed to collaboratively addressing any integrity issues in esports, fostering trust across stakeholders, and setting a benchmark for excellence in the ecosystem. GRID has been a certified member of IBIA’s Data Standards program since 2022, actively contributing to the development of tailored esports integrity protocols. This membership further underscores GRID’s dedication to transparency and collaboration in combating betting-related corruption within esports.
Since 2018, GRID has operated an internal integrity department pioneering official data-driven solutions for esports. This makes GRID one of the first companies to monitor tournament and data integrity in the competitive sports sector and actively flag and report suspicious behavior, enabling it to collect a large database of integrity reports and insights.
IBIA is a not-for-profit body that protects regulated sports betting markets from match-fixing. It represents over 50 of the world’s leading betting companies which operate over 125 sports betting brands. IBIA’s global monitoring network is a highly effective anti-corruption tool, detecting and reporting suspicious activity in regulated betting markets using transactional activity linked to individual customer accounts.
Under the partnership, GRID and IBIA will share information relating to suspicious esports betting and potential match manipulation from their respective monitoring and intelligence platforms. IBIA members will also benefit from free access to wider integrity-focused resources supplied by GRID.
Moritz Maurer, CEO of GRID, commented: “Integrity is at the heart of GRID’s mission. By joining IBIA as an Associate Member, we are taking a definitive step toward establishing esports as a trusted and credible industry. This partnership enables us to further our efforts in promoting transparency, reducing risks associated with esports betting, and strengthening operational practices across the ecosystem.’’
Khalid Ali, CEO of IBIA, said: “We are delighted to welcome GRID as an Associate Member of IBIA. This partnership is a landmark for the esports sector and reflects our commitment to expanding our integrity initiatives into new markets. GRID’s expertise in esports data monitoring and integrity standards is an invaluable asset in our shared mission to combat betting corruption globally.”
The post GRID Joins IBIA as an Associate Member, Strengthening Esports Integrity appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
eSports
ComeOn Group and Astralis unite to drive esports engagement in the Nordics
ComeOn Group announced a sponsorship partnership between its flagship brand ComeOn! and Denmark based Astralis, one of the most esteemed esports organisations globally. As a global leader in esports, Astralis is providing a vibrant and engaging esports experience that is aligned with ComeOn!’s brand experience and is further enhanced by its focus in providing a leading esports betting destination.
As the official sponsor of Astralis, ComeOn! will be prominently featured across all of their platforms, including social media, team events, and competitive gaming content, boosting their brand exposure in key global markets with a focus on the Nordics. ComeOn! is already known as a vibrant brand in the Nordics and with the increased brand visibility it will be put at the heart of the fast-growing esports scene.
ComeOn Group continues to invest in its Sportsbook product experience that is powered by its proprietary sportsbook platform, where esports holds an important strategic market opportunity with its ever growing demand.
Juergen Reutter, Chief Executive Officer at ComeOn Group, said: “We are very excited to team up with Astralis as this collaboration not only allows us to showcase our innovative Sportsbook platform but also strengthens our ties to the esports community. This partnership is very much in the heart of one of the fastest growing betting markets globally. Esports has seen great demand by our audiences, and we want to provide the best betting experience for our customers. This partnership is also a testament to our localisation and personalisation focus and by working together with Astralis, we can deliver unique experiences that resonate with our players and elevate the entertainment experience around competitive gaming.”
Mads Rasmussen, Commercial Director at Astralis, said: ”We are proud to present ComeOn Group as our new global partner. This partnership holds great significance for Astralis both as an organization and as a business, and we look forward to bringing the agreement to life, benefiting the vast majority of our fanbase – who are adults. We have undergone a long and very positive process with ComeOn, and the fact that they are European-based with licenses in all our key markets, including Denmark, has been a decisive factor in our decision. Astralis fans, both in Denmark and internationally, can look forward to an innovative new digital activation, which promises to deliver an exciting and engaging experience.”
The post ComeOn Group and Astralis unite to drive esports engagement in the Nordics appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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ComeOn Group and Astralis unite to drive esports engagement in the Nordics