News
Mercedes takes the double in F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series
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In a dramatic climax to the F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series, Brendon Leigh has secured yesterday night at the Gfinity Arena in London his second Drivers’ Championship title in a row after the 2017 success in Abu Dhabi. His clear dominance of the Series, combined with teammate Daniel Bereznay’s second place, also propelled Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports to victory in the Teams’ Championship.
Having dominated Formula 1 in both the real and virtual worlds, Mercedes had yet few more trophies to take home this season. Emulating Lewis Hamilton’s recent victory, Brendon Leigh also demonstrated he is a force to be reckoned with in the virtual world, having controlled much of the racing across the Series to secure his second title with one race to go.
On the Hockenheim circuit Salih Saltunc gave Sauber F1 Esports Team their first success in the Pro Series, with Leigh and Joni Tormala (Red Bull Racing Esports Team) respectively on the 2nd and 3rd steps of the podium. Singapore’s Marina Bay track saw another success for Leigh, who dominated the race, finishing with a 3.8s margin over Williams Esports’ Alvaro Carreton. Marcel Kiefer (Hype Energy eForce India) completed the podium. By the end of rounds seven and eight, Leigh was leading the driver standings with 171 points, followed by teammate Bereznay and Toro Rosso’s Frederik Rasmussen in third.
The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, USA was the stage for a penalty filled penultimate race. However, Leigh remained dominant from pole to finish, crossing the line comfortably in the lead to secure his second title. He was followed by teammate Bereznay to seal a one two for Mercedes, inching the team closer to the Teams’ title. Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team’s Patrick Holzmann rounded out the podium in third.
The final, adrenaline fuelled race of the Series took place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. With double points on offer and a cut of the $200,000 prize fund at stake, there was all to fight for in the Teams’ Championship. A dramatic penultimate lap saw a three-car battle between Leigh, Bereznay and Rasmussen emerge, which eventually resulted in Leigh being given a penalty for exceeding the track limits. McLaren Shadow’s Bono Huis used the battle to his advantage, catching up with the leading pack on the final lap. In a nail-biting finish to a hard-fought race Bereznay secured first place in the final race of the Series, followed by Huis and Rasmussen in third.
Asked about how he felt after securing the drivers’ title with a 50 point margin over the runner-up, Leigh said, “I can’t say where my head is at, I’m feeling very emotional. I just want to say thank you to Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports, we’ve put in hours of practice. I spent the last few laps enjoying it, you can never relax, but I was enjoying the moment.”
Christian Dixon of Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports added, “To win the first F1 Esports Teams’ Championship in our inaugural season is a great result for Mercedes – and it really shows how much work everyone put into this. Winning the team title by finishing one-two in the Drivers’ Championship is testimony to the outstanding skills of both Brendon, Dani and the whole team behind them. They’ve been super committed in the preparation, pushing each other to continuously raise the bar. It’s been really rewarding to watch the hard work from the entire team be converted into great results on track.”
The final Pro Series event was streamed live via Facebook and broadcast globally on selected TV networks. Viewing figures for the whole Series are expected to be strong, with the first live event accumulating 23m impressions and 3.2m views on social media, bringing the excitement and exhilaration of Formula 1 to a new generation of fans across the globe.
The F1 New Balance Esports Pro Series has brought together the most talented motorsport gamers in the world for the second year in a row. This year, the drivers had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to race with the backing of some of the most prestigious names in motor racing following an intensive selection process.
The Pro Series comprised of three live events held at London’s Gfinity Esports Arena, with drivers competing for the coveted prize fund of $200,000 – allocated to the teams based on their positions in the team standings.
The Pro Series is the exciting finale of the award-winning F1 New Balance Esports Series, which saw 66,000 players compete over four online qualifying rounds earlier in the year to secure a coveted place in the inaugural F1 Esports Pro Draft in July. At which they completed 1.1 million laps in F1 2017, the official game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X and PC. The Pro Series is the first time that the competing drivers have raced on F1 2018, which was released on 24th August 2018.
DRIVER STANDINGS
- BRENDON LEIGH Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports 216
- DANIEL BEREZNAY Mercedes AMG Petronas Esports 166
- FREDERIK RASMUSSEN Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team 127
- SALIH SALTUNC Sauber F1 Esports Team 83
- MARCEL KIEFER Hype Energy eForce India 65
TEAM STANDINGS
- Mercedes AMG-Petronas Esports 382
- Scuderia Toro Rosso Esports Team 210
- Sauber F1 Esports Team 119
- McLaren Shadow 101
- Hype Energy eForce India 99
Julian Tan, Head of Growth & F1 Esports at Formula 1 said: “Over 66,000 players competed in this year’s F1 New Balance Esports Series, and tonight’s final saw the best of the very best race as part of their real F1 teams. We’d like to congratulate Brendon Leigh and Mercedes on their championship titles, and all the teams and drivers for making this such an exciting Series. By its very nature esports delivers thrilling racing, thanks to the equalised cars and the willingness of drivers to take risks – but, the skill and talent demonstrated has also been incredible. Hours of dedicated practice by the drivers and the investment in training made by the Formula 1 teams has fuelled some extremely exciting on-track drama. Millions of fans around the world have watched the white-knuckle ride that was this year’s Series unfold, bringing the exhilaration of Formula 1 to a new generation of fans across the globe.”
Paul Jeal, F1 Franchise Director at Codemasters said: “The F1 Esports Series 2018 has been a huge success. A breath-taking spectacle of racing and a fantastic showcase for our F1 2018 game. It was great to see several different winners over the course of the season, from several different teams – helped by the drivers racing with equal car performance. Ultimately though, as in the real world of F1, it’s a huge congratulations to Mercedes for winning the first ever F1 Esports Teams Championship in comprehensive fashion, and to both of their drivers Brendon Leigh and Daniel Bereznay. Special congratulations go out to Brendon, who is now an F1 Esports Double Champion, with some fantastic drives and hugely consistent performances throughout. We cannot wait for the next Series to begin.”
Mark Brittain, Chief Commercial Officer at Gfinity said: “The 2018 F1 New Balance Esports Series saved the best to last and delivered an adrenaline-fueled experience that had everyone at the Gfinity Arena and the millions watching around the world out of their seats. As the real and digital sporting landscapes continue to converge, the final weekend demonstrated perfectly the opportunities that exist to sports rights holders and brands wishing to enter the exciting esports sector. The younger generation has truly embraced the F1 Esports Series and the competition is creating the F1 fan of the future.”
The F1 New Balance Esports Series is operated in partnership with Codemasters, the developer and publisher of the official Formula 1 video game franchise and Gfinity, one of the world’s leading esports companies. New Balance was recently named the title sponsor of the competition, joining the established sponsors DHL and Fanatec.
For more information on the F1 New Balance Esports Series visit www.f1esports.com
Source: European Gaming Media
A partnership between game developer Turbo Games and iGaming solution provider and aggregator Slotegrator began in November 2022 via the APIgrator game integration solution. Since then, the collaboration has been developing successfully — and now it’s time to analyze what made it successful.
Turbo Games has noticed how the new technologies spreading throughout the industry can work for the good of brand transparency and player loyalty: “We can already see how blockchain technology has made it possible to make betting checks more accessible to players. All you need is a blockchain-hash and a decoder service. We think we will continue to move in this direction. Many traditional online casinos do not offer the possibility to check the bet. Sooner or later we all have to come to this. Perhaps the development of artificial intelligence will help here, because we are already seeing its involvement in all spheres of human life.”
Turbo Games specializes in provably fair games. Provable fairness is a concept where players can verify their wins or losses using blockchain technology — the outcome of the game is dictated by a smart contract and is absolutely random, barring the possibility of any human involvement. Using cryptographic hashing algorithms, the gambling site and the player’s device both generate seeds (random strings of numbers). Players receive a key that allows them to check the results; if the results are the same as the game round they witnessed, it proves that there was no foul play.
According to statistics from Turbo Games, the audience for provably fair games is mostly between 18 and 25 years old. However, there are also players aged 35-40 who prefer traditional games but would like to try something new, and have turned their attention to provably fair games.
There are good odds that the technology of provably fair games will become more popular, if not even commonplace, because it gives players a feeling of transparency and proves that the business is trustworthy without the need to search through dozens of reviews. Whereas many innovations in iGaming simply add entertainment, provable fairness addresses security concerns and reassures players that they’re not being exploited, which is invaluable.
Provably fair games are beneficial for both players and online casinos. Vadim Potapenko, Head of Sales at Turbo Games, comments: “It often happens that the users are not satisfied with the result, because gambling is not only about big wins, but also possible losses. By allowing them to check the fairness of a bet, we make life easier for platforms and players. Of course, this allows us to communicate with partners and users that we work honestly and that’s why they should trust our games.”
Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, adds that “this type of game is now becoming more and more popular and has great potential for both players and game providers in the future. On the part of the player, the advantage is that the player can always be sure that his game is fair and he can independently check any of his bets. And for the game provider, this also simplifies the process of implementing casino games, since now it will not be necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates from independent laboratories before launching new games, they can immediately enter the market with these games and where anyone can check the result and make sure that that there is no cheating with players. Many game providers are starting to look towards this type of game. And as far as I see, many operators are starting to think about adding these games.”
What do players in 2023 need? The iGaming industry is all about reputation and trust. Players have a huge number of platforms to choose from, making them pickier and pickier. There’s an abundance of forums where players leave reviews, so if players view a brand as untrustworthy, there are plenty of places they can share their opinion. Provable fairness not only stops that from happening, it provides evidence to the contrary, giving players something else to talk about.
Slotegrator also recommends investing time and effort into localization and creating an effective and detailed marketing strategy — before trying provably fair technology players need to get to the platform, and there is no acquisition without marketing.
ABOUT SLOTEGRATOR
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
ABOUT TURBO GAMES
Turbo Games — a provably fair games provider that belongs to Turbo Stars company — has an ambitious goal to establish widespread recognition throughout the iGaming world. Even though it is young, the company consists of professionals who have been working on the brand for over five years and are even planning to introduce a new brand for a wider audience soon.
Turbo Games also works in Europe, India, and South Africa, where the company sees the most potential and expects the same “hype” as in Brazil.
The portfolio of Turbo Games consists of 21 titles, including well-known games like Mines, Crash X, DoubleRoll, Hi-Lo, and Plinko. The studio releases a game every month. However, not all games are developed from scratch. Wicket Blast and Spin Strike, the last two releases, are based on cricket and the Indian Premier League. Crash X remains the most popular fast game in the Turbo Games portfolio, and the studio reports that crash games enjoy stable levels of popularity. Overall, the main focus of the brand is provably fair games.
More information: https://turbogames.io/
Looking to take your career to the next level in the games industry? Then, Nordic Game Talents is the place to be! Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
From Oct 27-29, the online and interactive event is dedicated to recruitment and career building in the creative & games industry within the Nordic region. The event empowers participants to be part of a bigger community and motivates them to explore new paths in achieving their career goals.
Hiring creative & games studios – Supercell, Funcom, Panzerdog, Tactile Games, Gamecan, Fingersoft, Dazzle Rocks, Redhill Games to name a few from the Nordic region will be participating in the event. These studios will share information on their latest projects, work culture and what it takes to be part of their team. The individual games associations from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia will share insights through live sessions on the booming games industry in their respective countries. Career development topics pertinent to job seekers like – How to have a successful first interview, Creative Portfolio reviews will also be discussed.
Experienced game industry professionals and individuals beginning their careers from around the world are welcome to join the event. One-to-one interviews with the hiring studios can be scheduled through the event platform. A great opportunity to get to know the studios and network with game professionals from around the world.
Participating in the event
As a job seeker attending Nordic Game Talents, take a few minutes to fill out a simple registration form. After filling the registration form you will receive a link to the online event platform – PINE, to join the event on 27th October. Participants joining Nordic Game Talents will also receive a free-of-charge pass to the Nordic Game Conference.
To view the complete agenda, please click here and to learn more about the event please visit Games Job Fair
About Games Factory Talents
A Helsinki-based talent attraction agency dedicated to the games & creative industry. Our services include direct recruitment, organizing game job fairs and managing a community of game industry professionals through our GameDev Talent Board.
To learn more about Games Factory Talents visit – Games Factory Talents
810 THE SPREAD
Cumulus Media Launches 810 THE SPREAD, the Bay Area’s First Sports Station Focused on Sports Betting
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has launched the Bay Area’s first Sports radio station focused on sports betting, 810 THE SPREAD. The new station brings sports and sports betting news, information, and insights to the burgeoning and underserved sports betting audience in San Francisco. 810 THE SPREAD will deliver behind-the-book perspectives from experts in a highly entertaining and engaging format. 810 THE SPREAD goes live today on the legendary 810am frequency that has been the 80-year home of historic Talk Radio KGO-AM. Cumulus San Francisco also launched the station’s new website at www.810thespread.com. Kevin Graham, Program Director of Cumulus’ sister sports stations KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT, adds Program Director duties for 810 THE SPREAD.
Larry Blumhagen, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “810 THE SPREAD joins our sports brands KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT for a trifecta of dynamic sports content across four signals and streaming everywhere. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to serving the Bay Area’s passionate sports fans in an incomparable way.”
Blumhagen added: “This is a bittersweet day for us, as it’s hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners’ lives for so many years. We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO’s historic run these many years – and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Kevin Graham, Program Director, 810 THE SPREAD, said: “810 THE SPREAD will be the Bay Area’s best bet for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts, and we are pleased to introduce sports-betting radio to our community. The station will feature a lineup of expert personalities that deliver unique sports talk and sports betting insights that entertain, inform, and engage, along with Cal Football and Basketball as well as select professional and college sports play-by-play events. While 810 THE SPREAD will feature specific gambling information, we believe our entertaining presentation will make it a favorite for all Bay area sports fans and a perfect complement to the legendary KNBR and KTCT. With its addition, it truly shows Cumulus’ commitment to the Bay area as ‘The Sports Leader’!”
The weekday programming lineup for 810 THE SPREAD includes:
6am-9am – Bet QL Daily – The must-consume show for sports fans and betting fans alike. Hosted by Joe Ostrowski, Joe Giglio, and Erin Hawksworth.
9am-12pm – Jim Rome - Aggressive, informed sports opinions, rapid-fire dialogue, and plenty of sports smack. As one of the most prolific sports talk hosts in America, Rome draws massive tune-in with legions of fans known as clones, who live for Rome’s take on the day’s largest issues in sports.
12pm-4pm – You Better You Bet – Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley have you covered for the best bets on the biggest matchups, the latest line movement and updates in the futures market. We’ll have up-to-the-minute coverage of backdoor covers and bad beats, and the cheers and tears that come with them. It’s sports betting conversation like you’ve never heard before.
4pm-8pm – Bet MGM Tonight – Live sports betting updates for all the night’s games as they happen – plus live “look-ins” for Major League Baseball games in progress. Get the latest scores, sides, totals, props, parlays, futures, and much more with hosts Quinton Mayo, Trysta Krick, and Ryan Horvat.
8pm-12 Midnight – CBS Sports Radio
BetQL Network programming is provided by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One through a partnership with Audacy.
For more information or to stream 810 THE SPREAD, visit: http://www.810thespread.com.
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