eSports
OMEGA LEAGUE announcement
The leading European teams, WePlay! Esports, and Epic Esports Events decided to build something special for the fans.
The leading European teams, WePlay! Esports, and Epic Esports Events decided to build something special for the fans. To bring the Dota 2 community an event that would provide the top level of competition, production, and content. We are very happy to announce OMEGA League.
OMEGA League is an online tournament with a massive prize pool of $600,000 that will run from July 20th, 2020 (the beginning of the Open Qualifiers) until September 6th.It will include multiple competitive regions and divisions.
The English broadcast will be handled by WePlay! Esports, and RuHub will be in charge of its Russian counterpart. The teams will bring the best level of competition possible, alongside massive amounts of unique content to create a truly unforgettable experience.
WePlay! Pushka League Season 2 is postponed.
The suspension of the DPC has thrown our competitive scene into a sort of twilight zone populated by an array of small tournaments making it very taxing on players, and hard for fans to engage emotionally. “We are excited about the opportunity to work on interesting ideas and very curious about the reaction of the community. Our team and colleagues from Epic Esports Events are giving this event everything that we have. I really hope the audience will enjoy the results. The event takes place on the dates when we are used to seeing The International, and that impacts the level of responsibility we feel about OMEGA LEAGUE.” – Vitaliy “Nexius” Bozhko, Lead Esports Manager at WePlay! Esports.
“OMEGA League is a unique product. We are extremely thankful to the teams and our partners at WePlay! for working together on the vision of what an online event can and should be. We hope that this event will set the benchmark on the level of production and provide the fans many hours of premium content.” – Mark Averbukh, representative of Epic Esports Events.
League structure
The league is divided into two regions:
Europe format and prize pool
Immortal Division ($500,000) Twelve teams will participate in the group stage of Immortal Division. They will be divided into two groups of six. Each group will see teams play each other in a BO3 series.
The two best teams from each group advance to Immortal Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1. The teams that take third place in their groups advance to Immortal Playoffs Lower-Bracket Round 1. The fourth and fifth place teams will enter the Play-in Stage to fight for two more Immortal Playoffs Lower-Bracket Round 1 seeds.
Immortal Playoffs is a double-elimination bracket. All matches are BO3, and Grand Finals are BO5.
Teams that lose in the Play-in Stage advance to Divine Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 2.
The teams that take sixth place in their group advance to Divine Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1. Divine Division ($50,000)
Divine Division starts with two groups of six squads. Each group will see teams play each other in a BO3 series.
The teams that take first place in their group advance to Divine Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1. The teams that take second and third place in their group advance to Divine Playoffs Lower-Bracket Round 1.
Divine Playoffs is a double-elimination bracket. All matches are BO3, and Grand Finals are BO5.
The rest of the teams are eliminated from the tournament. The group stage for the European region will take place on August 10 – 26. The Playoffs will be held on September 31 – August 5.
Americas format and prize pool
Divine Division ($31,500)
Ten teams will participate in the group stage of Divine Division. They will be divided into two groups of five. Each group will see teams play each other in a BO3 series.
The two best teams from each group advance to Divine Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1. The teams that take third and fourth place will enter the Play-in Stage to fight for two Divine Playoffs Lower-Bracket Round 1 seeds. Divine Playoffs is a double-elimination bracket. All matches are BO3, and Grand Finals are BO5.
Teams that lose in the Play-in Stage advance to Ancient Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1.
The teams that take fifth place in their group advance to Ancient Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1.
The group stage for the Americas region will take place on August 17 – 26. The Playoffs will be held on August 28 – September 5.
Ancient Division (8,500) Eight teams will participate in the group stage of Ancient Division. They will be divided into two groups of four. Each group will see teams play each other in a BO3 series. The two best teams from each group advance to Divine Playoffs Upper-Bracket Round 1.
Ancient Playoffs is a double-elimination bracket. All matches are BO3, and Grand Finals are BO5.
The rest of the teams are eliminated from the tournament.
OMEGA League Participants (Europe, Immortal Division)
Closed Qualifier participants (Europe)
Details regarding the qualifiers will be announced soon.
Prize Pool Distribution Europe Immortal Division:
Europe Divine Division:
Americas Divine Division:
Americas Ancient Division:
An additional $10,000 will be allocated in the form of gaming gear to Open Qualifier participants.
We decided to work together as a coalition of organizations, driven by our commitment to the fans, our love for this game, and the will to create a more sustainable competitive ecosystem around Dota 2. OMEGA LEAGUE is the first tournament coming from this partnership and everyone involved has poured their hearts into making it worthy of those mythical weeks in August.
We’ve found fantastic partners in Epic Esports Events and WePlay! Esports, both willing to commit to the higher level of integration that’s required to reach the quality fans have come to expect from Major-level tournaments. OMEGA League is our first large-scale initiative towards a more sustainable Dota 2 scene. Together we hope to breathe new life into the highest tiers of Dota 2 competition, and we can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been building.
We are excited about the future of the DPC, and we’re committed to supporting Valve and the rest of the ecosystem in their efforts to make competitive DotA better for fans, players, and partners alike.” – Alliance, Liquid, NAVI, Nigma, NIP, OG, Secret, and VP
The International Esports Federation (IESF) held its 16th Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) on November 18, bringing together over 150 delegates from the member federations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Before the official start of the assembly, IESF welcomed representatives from the Saudi Olympic & Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Esports World Cup Foundation (EWCF). Abdulaziz Baeshin, CEO of SOPC presented Saudi Arabia’s progress in Esports and sports development and their vision moving forward. Frank Weber, Director of Corporate Marketing at EWCF discussed the success of the EWCF and highlight upcoming plans for the future.
In his opening speech, IESF President HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud expressed gratitude for the number of delegates who attended the assembly. He reflected on the federation’s success and achievements over the past year, the key areas for improvement, and the necessity of continued close collaboration among members.
The first session of the assembly continued with reviewing motions submitted by the members and voting on their acceptance or rejection. The members also voted to grant Full Membership status to Canada, Germany, Latvia, and Malta.
The second session of the OGM was dedicated to electing key positions within the IESF Board and committees. The results are:
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Board Member: Mr. Samart Benjamin Assarasakorn
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Treasurer: Mr. Daniel Wen Jun Loy
Membership Committee Members:
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Mr. Soufiane El Filali
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Mr. Jaroslav Melishek
Audit, Risk, and Governance Committee:
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Chair: Mr. Tomas Gabris
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Members: Mr. Jacopo Ierussi and Mr. Stevan Nenad Rosic
Regulatory Committee Chair:
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Mr. Ido Orel Brosh
In his concluding statement, IESF General Secretary Boban Totovski congratulated the assembly on a productive and democratic meeting. He expressed his appreciation for the valuable insights shared by members and their dedication to the growth of the IESF.
“This year’s assembly demonstrated the strength of our community and the shared vision that drives IESF forward. I thank everyone for their contributions to a democratic and smooth process, and I look forward to welcoming more member federations to our family next year and even greater success” said Totovski.
The OGM 2024 in Riyadh was another step forward in IESF’s mission to unite the Esports world under a shared vision. With the growing number of national federations, the IESF continues to cement its role as the largest Esports family.
The post IESF Concludes 16th Ordinary General Meeting in Riyadh appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Chad Kinlay Chief Marketing Officer TrafficGuard
Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem
The sports betting industry is undergoing significant growth worldwide with restrictions loosening and new markets emerging. New opportunities create fierce competition among sportsbooks, and this has led to them devising increasingly expensive and aggressive advertising campaigns.
Public figures and influencers have become a popular go-to for sportsbooks promotions, such as Michael Jordan partnering with DraftKings or Jamie Foxx with BetMGM. Big names are costly, and sportsbooks haven’t realised the ad spend used on these campaigns is going to waste. Without the right precautions in place, up to 22% of ad spend is lost to fraud according to Juniper Research.
The big budgets behind high-profile brand campaigns need to translate into real user engagement. To achieve this, sportsbooks must ensure their digital channels are optimised to capture the surge in interest these campaigns generate. Without proper management, this potential can be lost to inefficiencies like invalid traffic, diluting the impact of their investments.
Ad Budgets Going to Waste
In today’s competitive landscape, sportsbooks need to make every click count. In 2023 alone, The American Gaming Association estimated that over $1.9 billion was spent on advertising campaigns in the US. With such a large amount of spend in play, it’s crucial that sportsbooks see as big a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) as possible.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are vital for sportsbook growth but can be disrupted by invalid traffic (IVT). IVT includes both malicious activity, like fraudulent bots, and unintentional actions, such as users repeatedly clicking on ads without intent to convert. These interactions inflate impressions and skew campaign performance data, leading to higher customer acquisition costs (CACs) and inefficient allocation of ad spend. Effectively managing IVT ensures that ad budgets drive genuine engagement and measurable growth.
Investing into influencers and celebrities also forces sportsbooks to bid on brand keywords to prevent their competitors stealing potential users searching for them. Up to 29% of PPC budgets are spent on this bidding according to Wordstream. As competition for brand keywords increases, PPC budgets are depleted without generating any new net revenue.
As campaigns become more expensive than ever, sportsbooks can’t afford to let profits fall to ad fraud. Instead of cutting budgets, sportsbooks should focus on analysing their campaign strategy.
Problematic Navigational Traffic
Navigational traffic is also presenting a significant challenge to sportsbooks alongside ad fraud. Navigational traffic refers to existing customers clicking on branded keywords to log into their accounts. While this seems convenient and harmless enough, this behaviour drastically inflates CACs. Like ad fraud, this can skew the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. By utilising paid search results instead of organic links to navigate to the site, costs are driven up without contributing to new user acquisition.
In addition to the challenges posed by navigational traffic and ad fraud, the competitive landscape for first-time depositors intensifies the need for strategic bidding on Google search. Brands investing heavily in influencers or sponsorships of major sporting events to generate awareness and drive potential users to search for them. However, without securing top placements in paid search results, these prospective customers may be intercepted by competitors before reaching the organic search listings. This creates a critical juncture where the effectiveness of a brand campaign hinges on converting that intent-driven traffic into first-time depositors, ensuring marketing spend achieves its goal of meaningful user acquisition.
First-time depositors are a critical metric for sportsbooks, and this issue directly impacts the cost efficiency of acquiring them. High CACs make marketing budgets less effective, reducing overall ROI.
Shoring Up Your Defences
Before launching costly ad campaigns, sportsbooks should adopt a multi-faceted approach to address ad fraud. IVT typically goes unnoticed, so to prevent this sportsbooks should monitor and analyse their campaign traffic for any suspicious activity. It is possible to identify IVT by looking out for signs such as irregular spikes in traffic from unknown locations or high pageviews. Fraudulent traffic can then by highlighted and removed.
The advancement of technology has made ad fraud more difficult to identify, and legacy fraud tools fail to detect IVT. They don’t analyse traffic at the impression level or consider the context of the business advertising. Sportsbooks can leverage ad-verification platforms to compensate for this. This allows sportsbooks to analyse and report suspicious traffic in real-time. Fraud can then be blocked before it has a chance to harm budgets.
Sportsbooks can also deploy tactics to reduce the impact of navigational traffic on CACs. Methods include encouraging existing customers to use mobile apps or direct bookmarks to log into their accounts instead of paid search campaigns. This decreases their reliance on PPC campaigns for navigation and protects budgets.
Keeping Profits in Sportsbooks’ Hands
Influencer and celebrity campaigns have proven to be a popular and useful tool in reeling new users and profits. However, if sportsbooks don’t have the essential precautions in place, they risk losing these profits to advertising fraud.
To make the most of their advertising efforts, sportsbooks need to prioritise their traffic. Implementing sophisticated tools to analyse traffic and filter out fraud will allow sportsbooks to protect their interests and focus on driving future growth. This way, they can secure their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Written by: Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, TrafficGuard
A driven, open-minded, creative senior marketer with a strong sense of dedication and commitment. With over 15 years of progressive international experience in marketing and communications management, Kinlay has a credible history of commercial success.
8Bit Creatives, India’s leading esports consulting and talent management agency, has announced its partnership with NODWIN Gaming, a leader in new-age youth entertainment, gaming, and esports, as the exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024.
With this partnership, 8Bit Creatives will leverage its significant reach in the Indian gaming, esports and youth communities through its prominent and talented roster of creators. These creators will create content leading up to the festival and also host meet-and-greet sessions.
India’s biggest gaming festival, DreamHack India, is set to take place from 15th to 17th November at the Hitex Exhibition Centre in Hyderabad, marking its fifth edition. For half a decade, the India edition of the global festival has become one of the most anticipated events of the Indian gaming ecosystem. Bringing together a plethora of events, including esports tournaments, BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) events, cosplay competitions, music concerts, and stand-up comedy, DreamHack India is the celebration of gaming, esports, pop-culture, and entertainment.
8Bit Creatives, CEO and founder Animesh Agarwal said “DreamHack India is one of the most prominent events in the Indian gaming and esports calendar and we’re proud to be the exclusive talent partners for it. This is further recognition of 8Bit Creatives’ ability to meaningfully engage the gaming and youth audiences across the country. Our belief in working with the right creators who create experiences that resonate with the youth audiences distinguishes our offerings and we can’t wait to share what we have in store for DreamHack India 2024 with our audiences!”
This is not the first time that 8Bit Creatives will partner with DreamHack India. The organisation was also the talent partner for the event in 2022.
Commenting on the partnership, NODWIN Gaming, Co-founder and MD Akshat Rathee said “Our vision at NODWIN Gaming is to create unforgettable experiences for the youth, and DreamHack has proven to be the ultimate platform to realise that vision, bringing together gaming, entertainment, and community in an immersive celebration. We’re thrilled to have 8Bit Creatives as our exclusive Talent Partner for DreamHack India 2024. It’s especially exciting to welcome iconic creators like Mortal, who joined us in our very first edition, back for this landmark fifth year, alongside fan favourites like Snax, Kaashvi, Thug, and Payal. These creators bring a unique energy that connects deeply with our fans and elevates every moment. Their presence underscores our commitment to crafting electrifying experiences year after year, building on the momentum of events like BGMS and past DreamHack editions. Together with 8Bit and this powerhouse lineup, we’re setting the stage for an unforgettable event that will bring fans and creators closer than ever before!”
8Bit Creatives’s content and esports division S8UL became the only organisation in the year to win ‘Content Group of the Year’ award for the third consecutive year at the Esports Awards 2024. Additionally, they are the only organisation from India to ever win an Esports Award in any category. Earlier this year, gaming content creators from 8Bit Creatives including Naman Mathur, Payal Dhare and Animesh “Thug” Agarwal were invited for a meet and greet session with the honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
The organisation has been at the forefront of India’s gaming and content ecosystem with its extensive range of services, including talent management, campaign curation and execution, brand activations and more.
The post 8Bit Creatives partners with NODWIN Gaming as the exclusive talent partner for DreamHack India appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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