The esports event of the year I’m looking forward to? The Tetris Effect World Championship Connected 2022 in October. Classic Tetris has had a World Championship since 2010, and its debut as an “esport” was in 1990 at the Nintendo World Championships (yes, I remember reading about this in Nintendo Power magazine). Esports are not as young as everyone thinks.
— Jason Wilson
Two years after its release, Riot Games’ free-to-play first-person hero-shooter Valorant continues to hit record numbers, with monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter and quarterly in-game sales revenue hitting record highs.
The positive development comes from the Q2 earnings call from Tencent, the Chinese company that wholly owns Riot Games and has several stakes in other esports and gaming companies, including:
- Tournament and event organizers TJ Sports and VSPN
- Publishers/developers Epic Games, Krafton and Ubisoft
- Streaming platforms Huya and DouYu
Tencent reported that for the three-month period ended June 30, revenue declined slightly by 3% year-on-year to $19.74 billion as a result of significant changes and challenges facing the Chinese internet industry since early 2021. In the country’s climate, Tencent shut down non-core or redundant businesses, including esports-focused live streaming platform Penguin Esports, which closed it on June 7. Towards the end of the second quarter , Tencent also reduced its workforce by 5,000 as a cost – saving measure .
With revenue from titles such as Honor of Kings, League of Legends and Moonlight Blade Mobile, Tencent’s domestic games segment still generated $4.68 billion in revenue during the second quarter, driven by recently launched titles such as Return to Empire, Wild Rift and Fight of the Golden Spatula. In comparison, two of the largest video game developers in the US, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, have sold $3.41 billion worldwide in the same period.
Tencent’s international games segment benefited from Valorant’s continued growth, contributing $1.58 billion to the company’s total revenue in the second quarter. However, year-over-year, segment revenue declined 1% as a result of an industry-wide normalization of mobile game user spending after COVID. — Tobias Secka
Hawks Talon Gaming, the Atlanta Hawks affiliate in the NBA 2K League, made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Coach Ismael Diaz-Tolentino is delighted that Hawks Talon’s debut will come alongside the league’s 3v3 championship trophy debut.
“It means a lot,” Diaz-Tolentino said. “The organization has been a firm believer in the NBA 2K League since its inception and has always provided us with the resources needed to be competitive in this league. For us, reaching the playoffs this year is the manifestation of our hard work. work and it’s the first step toward the sustainable winning culture we’re trying to build in Atlanta.”
Meanwhile, the NBA 2K League showed off the new trophy for the 3v3 championships, currently being held at The Pavilion at Pan Am in downtown Indianapolis. This is the first time in the league’s five-year history that it has awarded such a trophy for its 3v3 competition (it has been so for the past four years for its 5v5 championship).
Atlanta-based Volpin, which produces props, replicas and awards for clients such as Arby’s, Blizzard Entertainment, Riot Games and Valve, won the trophy. Volpin also took the four previous 5×5 trophies. — Jason Wilson
The NBA 2K League 3v3 trophy is inspired by playground basketball courts
Esports teams are still grappling with the ripple effects of social media layoffs and creative aspects of their business.
100 Thieves fired more than 20 employees in its esports, talent, partnerships and marketing departments last month. In a meeting with management, the apparel division “outperformed” 100 Thieves’ content efforts, notes Business Insider.
TSM FTX and Dignitas were also hit by layoffs, according to The Fudge Retort. The Australia-based Order also entered voluntary governance – a form of extreme financial instability.
As companies struggle in the face of a looming recession, some believe that at least some of the massive layoffs are due to poor planning. “Esports teams are scaling too quickly in non-revenue-generating areas, mostly in content and creative,” a senior management source for a top North American esports team tells SBJ.
The source also advises that in the future you will see more teams taking on sales positions and building out other aspects of their business. “Even wildly popular teams have to phase out,” said the source. — Hunter Cooke
- OpTic Gaming has bolstered its sales force with a few employees, bringing in Rachel Alexander as Director of Sales and Partnerships and Tony Constantacos as Director of Business Development.
- Ninjas in pajamas called Troels Robl director of performance. Robl spent nearly two years as chief culture officer and mental coach for Heroic Esports.
- Hung Tran is the new head of marketing for North America for Galaxy Racer. Tran was the marketing director for Playfly Esports for almost two years.
- Beth Bryson was named brand manager for Overwatch at Blizzard Entertainment. Before joining Blizzard, Bryson worked at media companies such as CBS and Marvel.
- John DeHart is the new marketing director for Belong Gaming. DeHart has previous stints and esports organization eUnited and Engine Gaming & Media.
- The ESL One Malaysia 2022 Dota 2 major is sold out, and event organizer ESL expects 5,000 people per day for three days. It will run from August 26-28 at the Arena of Stars in the Genting Highlands.
- Tencent signed a sponsorship deal with French luxury brand Balenciaga for the Peace Elite League, the best Peacekeeper Elite series. Balenciaga will produce exclusive “PEL X Balenciaga” co-branded apparel for the championship team of the 2022 PEL Summer Split, which is underway.
- Rival has built another gaming community and fan engagement platform for a football franchise, this time in partnership with Burnley FC of the EFL Championship (the second tier of British football just below the Premier League).
- Esports team and gaming content network Beastcoast is the newest tenant of Butler University’s Esports Park.
- Regression Games has raised $4.2 million for AI in gaming and esports events, GamesBeat reports.
- Esports bet Odin.gg has raised $4.5 million in a Series A led by Velo Partners, Genting Ventures and Odin.gg investors.
- Team Vitality partnered with GG.Bet to be the official betting partner for its Counter-Strike: Global Assault “super team”.
- Austin FC launched the ATXFC Gaming Club, aimed at connecting Austin FC fans with each other through FIFA competitions.
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