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.
eSports
PandaScore and Playbook Engineering join forces

Pioneering esports odds, data and betting products provider now available to operators powered by leading platform supplier with the integration facilitated by Sporting Solutions
PandaScore, the award-winning provider of esports odds, data and betting products, has integrated its suite of solutions with Playbook Engineering, the global sportsbook platform provider.
The partnership has been facilitated by Sporting Solutions, which has strategic partnerships with both PandaScore and Playbook Engineering.
Playbook Engineering has established itself as a leading sportsbook platform provider, supporting brands such as Star Sports, AK Bets, Priced Up, Bet Wright, Gentleman Jim, and Dragon Bet.
Following the integration, online sportsbooks powered by Playbook Engineering can access PandaScore’s Odds feed allowing them to offer comprehensive and competitive esports odds for some of the most popular disciplines.
The scope of markets and the value of odds are unrivalled with PandaScore using sophisticated models backed by a team of experienced traders including specialist traders for disciplines like CS2, Dota 2 and LoL.
A growing number of platform providers and operators are making a move into the lucrative esports betting space, with PandaScore recently surpassing €1bn of bets through its platform off the back of a sharp rise in demand among players and operators.
Joseph Noone, Senior Sales Manager at PandaScore, said: “Playbook Engineering powers some renowned sportsbooks as well as up and coming brands that are really making an impact.
“It’s great that these sportsbooks can access our esports odds, data and betting products, allowing them to engage new and existing player cohorts with a compelling esports offering that stands out when it comes to the range and value of odds.
“The integration wouldn’t have been possible without our shared partner Sporting Solutions, and stands as an example of what can be achieved when providers work together.”
Luke Cousins, Commercial Director at Playbook Engineering, added: “Sportsbook operators simply can’t ignore the demand for esports betting and in PandaScore, we have a premium odds, data and betting product provider that lives and breathes esports.
“This partnership, done through our mutual friends, Sporting Solutions, further positions Playbook Engineering as a tier-one platform provider to some of the most exciting sportsbook brands around the world. This makes it a win for us, our partners and their players.”
The post PandaScore and Playbook Engineering join forces appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
eSports
Four Countries Shortlisted to Host GOTF 2027

Phygital International (PI), the exclusive rights holders and custodians of The Games of the Future (GOTF), announced that Brazil, Serbia, South Africa, and Uzbekistan are the shortlisted applicants to host GOTF 2027. The Games of the Future is the world’s leading phygital sports tournament, bringing together sports and esports athletes from around the world.
With the UAE set to host GOTF 2025 and Kazakhstan in 2026, the competition for the 2027 edition has drawn significant interest from nations eager to position themselves as leaders in the world of phygital sports.
Nis Hatt, CEO of Phygital International, said: “We received bids from right around the world which highlights the growing awareness and passion for phygital sports globally. We would like to thank all the nations who bid to host The Games of the Future 2027 and are pleased to announce that Brazil, Serbia, South Africa, and Uzbekistan have been selected as the nations shortlisted as potential hosts.”
Following further evaluations and detailed assessments of each finalist’s proposal, the final decision on the host country for GOTF 2027 will be announced in the summer of 2025.
The post Four Countries Shortlisted to Host GOTF 2027 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Asia
Valorant Added to Hero Esports Asian Champions League

The HERO ESPORTS Asian Champions League (ACL), Asia’s premier multi-title esports tournament hosted by Hero Esports, has officially announced the addition of VALORANT to its inaugural lineup.
Previously, ACL unveiled six game titles: Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), Honor of Kings, Teamfight Tactics, Delta Force, and Crossfire. With VALORANT joining the roster, the total number of games now stands at seven, with more titles expected to be announced soon.
Through continued collaboration with the Esports World Cup, ACL has revealed that the champions of the ACL CS2 and Honor of Kings Tournaments will secure direct entry to the Esports World Cup. Further collaborations on the remaining titles of the ACL are anticipated.
The ACL VALORANT Tournament will be the only international-level VALORANT tournament held in China during the first half of 2025, attracting top teams from overseas. The Final of the event will take place offline in Shanghai. The event will use world-class production and cutting-edge live broadcasting technology to enhance audience experience.
The ACL is set to take place in the first half of 2025, with the Finals of the ACL CS2 Tournament and Honor of Kings Tournament scheduled for May. The ACL will have a total prize pool of $2 million.
Jonny Wang, CEO of the Asian Champions League, said: “We are excited to announce the addition of VALORANT to the ACL. Our ambition is to make ACL into a truly comprehensive tournament, providing a larger stage for players and teams across various competitions while delivering more exciting content for our audience.”
Danny Tang, Co-Founder and CEO of Hero Esports, said: “We are pleased by the progress of the ACL and its ability to attract top teams and titles to compete across Asia. We look forward to the continued collaboration between Hero Esports, ACL and the Esports World Cup Foundation, which is testament to our shared ambition to shape and empower esports globally.”
The post Valorant Added to Hero Esports Asian Champions League appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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