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.
Angela Bernhard Thomas
CAPCOM’S STREET FIGHTERTM 6 GOING TO COLLEGE THIS FALL
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eSports
R&D rethink needed for sportsbooks to harness esports’ power
Esports betting is still grappling with a perception problem amongst operators. Despite the leaps and bounds in product development made by suppliers – particularly in the last two years – esports hasn’t shaken off the image built in the late 2010s.
Our good friend, Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore, has been kind to share the below article with us.
There’s scepticism around esports betting’s value, how well it can actually perform and what’s needed to make it appeal to bettors. A big part of that comes down to perception, which shapes the research and development (R&D) choices made by each operator.
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
Operators who have put the research and development (R&D) resources into esports are seeing excellent growth, while others are still treating it like part of a long tail. The lack of a uniform approach to esports often translates into hesitancy to be bullish and invest in esports.
Whereas in the United States, post-PASPA sports betting has exploded and operators are seeking to capture as much territory and market share as possible because in most cases, you switch the lights on and the money comes in. It’s, of course, good business sense to take opportunities like this – you can apply the same templates used elsewhere on an incredibly lucrative market.
This kind of approach has been attempted for esports and hasn’t found the same success. Granted, the legislation for betting on esports has been somewhat slower than that of sports betting and iGaming.
However, bullish operators have acknowledged the fact that esports hasn’t found the same success in regulated states and asked what can be done differently, while for others, esports has been thrown into the too-hard basket or relegated to the bargain bucket.
For the latter, the fate of the esports vertical becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy – especially if an operator already using a budget esports product that throttles its very growth.
It takes two to tango
When esports is discussed in broader betting circles, you’ll often hear different versions of the same talking point: the problem with esports is no one is doing it well, it doesn’t innovate.
This argument is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Esports is a driver of innovation, and it is sportsbook R&D that is holding it back.
Multiple suppliers on the market are investing significant resources into R&D, and bullish operators are leveraging these product innovations to acquire new customers and create engagements made for the internet age.
There are understandable reasons why sports betting doesn’t innovate. It’s largely because operators focus on acquisition, entering new territories and spending money on data rights. But the actual R&D on sportsbook products is left lacking, with ever-increasing cost-per-acquisition (CPA) numbers a clear symptom of this.
It means that if an operator does decide to use or acquire an esports specialist supplier but does little to cater its product and attempts to just lay the sports betting template over the top, of course performance will be throttled.
It’s like putting a Ferrari engine in a Prius – no offence to Toyota or Prius owners.
The same problem exists on the platform supplier front. Platforms are understandably focused on compliance and getting customers live, not necessarily improving models or their products.
Even the idea that if you just acquire an innovative company the problem is solved or you have found the solution, doesn’t hold water. In many cases, the company is acquired and plenty of noise is made about it, but there’s little organisational investment in R&D afterwards.
It’s not just in esports
These problems extend to customer acquisition and marketing for most emerging markets, not just esports. There’s a rush to use the same old playbook in newer sectors because it’s easy.
The fantasy vs. house sector in the US is already experiencing an acquisition arms race. As analyst Dustin Gouker points out, deposit match bonuses for new users on fantasy vs house products have jumped from $100 to as high as $500 in some places.
This is the same race that played out in sports betting and despite the costs, there’s little effort from most operators to try something different. There’s less work when you just put the same acquisition template on an emerging sector and call it a day. This seems to be an accepted practice in the industry, for better or for worse.
Esports betting success requires ongoing dialogue
Rather than attempting to wedge esports into hegemonic sportsbook approaches, sportsbooks need to take a completely unique approach.
The fact is the betting sector has barely scratched the surface – communities of esports fans are still dormant. Canadian operator Rivalry has built a successful, esports-first business by embracing the ever-changing internet culture that esports inhabits. French esports organisation Karmine Corp recently sold out a 30,000-person stadium for an event with no prize money up for grabs.
Innovative products developed on the supplier side like microbetting and betbuilders are only half of the equation.
Maximising esports revenues requires institutional investment, ongoing R&D and collaboration between suppliers and operators to create products and experiences. This includes having staff on the operator side that can drive and push the product further, and crucially, rethinking current sportsbook strategies and practices.
Building experiences for betting’s greatest emerging market – one that caters to your future core audience – takes investment, innovation and a willingness to experiment. If the industry wants to make the most of the Millennial and Gen Z audience that will become its primary customers, investment into R&D and close collaboration between suppliers and operators is needed. Many hands makes light work.
Asia
Esports media platform TalkEsport raises $1 million in pre-series A funding round
TalkEsport, India’s leading esports media platform, announced today the successful closure of its pre-series A funding round, securing a significant investment of $1 million from Saswat Ventures. The substantial investment underscores TalkEsport’s robust growth trajectory and reaffirms its position as a pioneering force in the esports industry.
Founded in 2011, TalkEsport was set up with a vision to bring timely news and updates to gaming communities worldwide. As India’s oldest esports media platform, the company now caters to millions of gamers worldwide through its website and social media channels. TalkEsport plans to utilize the investment to scale up its core website while launching a highly interactive application for its audience and setting up a state-of-the-art production studio in Mumbai. Through it, the company will be launching exclusive content IPs focused on gaming and esports.
“We are delighted to welcome Saswat Ventures as our strategic partner,” exclaimed Deepak Ojha, Founder and CEO of TalkEsport. “Their belief in our vision and commitment to the esports ecosystem align seamlessly with our mission to redefine gaming experiences globally. With this investment, we will be scaling up our newsroom to cater to gaming communities worldwide while launching new content IPs targeted towards Indian and international audiences.”
Saswat Ventures, a family fund set up by Mr. BL Sharma, Principal, shares a vision of catapulting TalkEsport into a global phenomenon. Mr. Sharma has businesses across the country and expressed his confidence in TalkEsport’s potential to revolutionize esports media and connect with a vast audience of passionate gamers worldwide, “We believe in TalkEsport’s potential to become a global platform for esports enthusiasts worldwide.”
Trilochan Sharma, a seasoned expert in compliance matters, joins TalkEsport’s board as the Director of Compliance. His wealth of experience will ensure adherence to regulatory standards and bolster the company’s governance framework.
In addition to this pivotal investment, TalkEsport is proud to announce key developments that highlight its commitment to innovation and growth:
Production Studio in Mumbai
TalkEsport is excited to unveil its state-of-the-art production studio in Mumbai. This cutting-edge facility will serve as the epicenter for creating high-quality esports content, launching content IPs, live broadcasts, interviews, and immersive gaming experiences.
Pranav Nalawade, the Editor-in-chief of TalkEsport, said, “Our new era of esports coverage will begin not only with TalkEsport’s revolutionary approach in publishing news and covering esports events but also high-quality esports content courtesy of our new production studio. As one of the oldest esports media platforms, we have built an audience that relies on us for our history of trustworthy and reliable news. Now, we want to double up on this audience, reforming the way content around esports is consumed in India and abroad through podcasts, media, short-form content, and analytical stories – both in the form of video and text.”
Upcoming Mobile App Launch
Furthermore, TalkEsport is gearing up for the launch of its mobile application soon. This innovative app promises to redefine how gamers access news, engage with esports communities, and participate in live tournaments, all from the convenience of their mobile devices.
“Proceeds of the $1 million will be utilized in creating a robust team of gaming enthusiasts and expanding our global reach,” added Deepak. “This investment not only propels TalkEsport’s growth initiatives but also fuels our mission to provide unparalleled experiences for esports enthusiasts worldwide.”
Through its application, esports viewers will be able to get live coverage of esports tournaments, scores, and interviews. Additionally, they will be able to participate in community tournaments, thus providing an end-to-end immersive experience from the convenience of their mobile devices.
The media company continues to lead the charge in transforming the esports landscape, fostering community engagement, and pushing the boundaries of gaming innovation. The company’s dedication to excellence, coupled with strategic partnerships and visionary leadership, sets the stage for an exciting chapter in esports media.
The post Esports media platform TalkEsport raises $1 million in pre-series A funding round appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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