Esports Entertainment Group, Inc., a licensed online gambling company with a specific focus on esports wagering and 18+ gaming, is pleased to announce the appointment of John Brackens as Chief Information Officer.  Mr. Brackens is a senior level professional with extensive experience in startups, high-tech companies and the gaming industry, holding positions that have included CIO, COO and CTO.

During his time at Activision Blizzard, Mr. Brackens served as Manager of Network Operations, where he directed IT service management and hardware support for 4,500+ servers and 50+ million monthly active players. In addition to reducing server maintenance costs by 35%, he also improved system uptime from 97.81% to 99.99%.  Moreover, he managed technology projects including the automated detection and repair of online services and infrastructure using artificial intelligence.

Other key achievements by Mr. Brackens include the creation, execution, and monetization of the League of Gods Asia eSports series, as well as, managing a licensing application for Malta Gaming Authority and Curacao eGaming License.

Mr. Brackens stated, “I joined Esports Entertainment Group because of Grant Johnson’s commitment to providing a best in class betting experience to esports fans. Esports is going to be the leading source of entertainment in the next few years eclipsing many major traditional sports. I want to be a part of this movement. I look forward to helping drive the growth of VIE.gg through cost-effective technologies that deliver value and innovation to players and fans alike, so that everyone can enjoy all of our services as intended.”

Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group stated, “We are very pleased with the addition of John to our senior management team. His experience at the highest levels of information technology and network operations, especially within different licensing regimes, will be invaluable as the Company embarks on its aggressive growth plans within the global esports industry.”

Lenovo North America announced a local partnership with Team SoloMid (TSM), the premier digital gaming platform that includes gaming strategy sites, world class influencers and championship esports teams. The partnership is Lenovo North America’s first official esports sponsorship, and the investment will further enhance the company’s focus on the gaming industry.

As the exclusive PC partner of TSM’s teams and organization, Lenovo will outfit a revolutionary, state-of-the-art, gaming lounge for players inside TSM’s new 25,000 square foot training facility, currently under construction in Los Angeles. With Lenovo’s support, TSM’s players will not only be able to train and work toward competing at the highest level possible, the organization’s content team will have access to the technological tools necessary to produce world-class content. The Lenovo Legion™ Lounge will feature sleek, high-performance Lenovo gaming PCs, complete with immersive visuals and audio. The company will also host exclusive TSM events and giveaways throughout the year.

“With the esports audience projected to surpass NFL viewership and reach 276 million by 2022, Lenovo is excited to partner with a veteran team that helped to elevate the popularity of esports in the U.S.,” said Matt Zielinski, Lenovo’s President of North America, “We understand the tremendous growth potential of this market, and this partnership is a great complement to our investments in bringing professional-grade gaming experiences to avid players around the world.”

For more than a decade, TSM has fielded some of the most talented and successful professional esports teams in North America, competing across multiple titles such as League of Legends™, Fortnite™, Smash Brothers™ and Rocket League®. In addition to its elite players, TSM has one of the largest, most engaged fan bases in esports with nearly 80 million followers across multiple platforms, and a network of gaming sites that boasts over 180 million page views a month.

“For TSM, partnering with Lenovo was simple,” says Andy Dinh, Founder and CEO of TSM. “Lenovo Legion is best in class when it comes to PCs that are optimized for gameplay. It’s important that we believe in the brand and products we partner with, and I want to make sure our players, and our audience, are using the best hardware possible. TSM focuses on excellence, and we only partner with the best. Lenovo’s history of a commitment to high performance and quality aligns with TSM’s vision for the future—not only for our teams, but our entire organization.”

FN Media Group Presents Microsmallcap.com Market Commentary

The Esports industry is growing exponentially, but there’s one catch. With prize pools for Esports tournaments hitting the tens of millions, players of games such as Fortnite run by Tencent Holdings Ltd. backed Epic Games, are not getting paid on time. Esports payments present an enormous opportunity with a lack of fast and cost-effective payment options being available. Platforms such as PayPal are angling to be the preferred payments solution for global gaming events, recently announcing a partnership with Ubisoft for the 2019 Pro League Sessions of Rainbow Six Siege. E-gaming streaming also accounts for a big chunk of that business, including mini-donations made to Twitch users via Amazon payments. Having recently entered a strategic partnership with online Esports media giant Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. , LiteLink Technologies Inc.’s wholly-owned subsidiary uBUCK Technologies SEZC is on the verge of disrupting the payment sector of the Esports industry by offering a truly fast payment option that also allows saving on payment fees.

Payment Delays Plague Esports

Industry watchers agree that Esports is about to be the greatest opportunity for investors this side of cannabis. Estimates from Newzoo have projected the global Esports market to easily top $1-billion by this year, and then go on to speed past $1.6 billion by 2021. Meanwhile, the global Esports audience is projected to grow to 453.8 million worldwide this year, a 15% year-on-year growth figure.

Sponsorships and prize pools have swelled as a result. The first Fortnite World Cup held by Tencent Holdings’ Epic Games on June 26-28, 2019, will be putting up a whopping $30 million dollar prize pool to 200 qualifying players — each of whom will walk away with at least $50,000. These phenomenal prize pools have drawn world-class competitors from all over the world. Yet with all that money flying around to far-flung bank accounts, transaction and wiring fees have also escalated dramatically, and so has delays.

These problems can now be avoided with Streambucks, developed by LiteLink Technologies Inc.’s subsidiary uBUCK Technologies SEZC – a globally accessible decentralized digital wallet and P2P online payments platform that offers a stable token with a pin voucher solution, that serves as an attractive payments alternative for Esports tournaments and Egaming streamers.

Payment services such as Paypal have taken notice of the increased business in the Esports sector, partnering with game developers such as Ubisoft to get in on the action. As the official payment platform partner for Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League and Majors, Paypal is acknowledging the reality that gaming now accounts for more than $12 billion in Paypal’s total global payment volume. Yet Paypal has its drawbacks which include high fees, payment delays, and potential account suspensions – not to mention the prerequisite requirement of having a bank account to use the platform.

Secure cross-border payments have also become a persistent pain point in the world of Esports, with some organizers reported to be struggling with the exorbitant global wire fees charged by banks, PayPal and other money transfer services. This has led to inexcusable delays. Players from this January’s Fortnite Australian Open Summer Smash event, for instance, still haven’t received their prize money from Tencent Holdings Ltd. backed Epic Games, and according to Reddit, 25 players are still short of AUD$187,000 out of a combined AUD$500,000 prize pool.

This is far from an isolated incident. Many Esports players have complained all over Reddit boards and Twitter about their payments being delayed, even from known organizations. At times, entire tournaments, such as the Electronics and Games Expo in Cape Town held last year, have been skipping over winnings. In a majority of these cases, organizers have blamed administrative problems for payment issues.

Secure, Fast And Free Worldwide Transfers

LiteLink Technologies Inc.’s (LLT-LLNKF) deal with Enthusiast should put Streambucks squarely in the Esports firmament, and shake up a nascent sector. Under the terms of the letter of intent, uBUCK Technologies SEZC will serve as an official sponsor for Enthusiast’s EGLX tournament events, with uBUCK’s “Streambucks” digital payment solution acting as its payment remittance and funds transfer partner for Canada’s largest video game expo, an event that drew in 55,000 attendees last year. uBUCK will also facilitate the transfer of the prize funds to the winners of the tournament.

Under this arrangement, Enthusiast will now be able to transfer Streambuck cash to vendors, tournament winners, and business associates from around the world without having to pay a single cent in transfer fees. With a reputation for fast, near-instantaneous payments, the top players should flock to the EGLX event from all over the world, bolstering this prestigious event even further.

Overseas payments have always been a sore spot for businesses and gamers, which is why the Streambucks platform will completely rewrite the rules. Unlike blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, Streambucks is truly democratized and accessible to mainstream users. Eliminating these costly fees and long processing times should go a long way to ensuring that tournament winners and participants are paid fast and without hassle.

Streambucks is also built on the decentralized, distributed ledger platform of Waves blockchain, known for its record-breaking speeds, while enjoying the same security as cryptocurrencies but with none of the volatility of crypto. That’s because Streambuck cash is a U.S. dollar-backed stable token, unlike popular cryptocurrency coins and tokens which can fluctuate wildly as they’re traded primarily by speculators on digital currency exchanges. Streambuck cash, on the other hand, is neither mineable nor tradeable, and its value is backed by the U.S. dollar through pin voucher sales.

The Disruptive Fintech Of Streambucks

The growth potential for Streambucks within Esports is limitless. uBUCK’s deal with Enthusiast goes far beyond just payments for events, covering streaming and other online gaming activities. The company has agreed to integrate uBUCK’s Streambucks solution on its colossal publisher network, which is currently frequented by 75 million monthly visitors. Enthusiast will receive a percentage of the profits from the uBUCK’s Streambucks user activity.

Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V:EGLX) (OTCQB:EGHIF) has been on the lookout for different ways to monetize its large and enthusiastic base of followers and engage with them across multiple touch points. Streaming services and broadcast is the latest expansion in its services portfolio—and it’s where much of the Esports money is at, with Twitch raking in $1.6-billion in revenue in 2015, the year that Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) took over. Much of Twitch’s revenue was generated through mini-donations made through Amazon Pay.

Specifically developed for Esports, Streambucks offers gamers and gaming fans with a seamless and secure way to make online payments, offering a solution that’s designed to beat all potential payment competitors in terms of ease of use, speed, security, and cost.

Streambucks should help to accelerate this growth in Enthusiast Gaming’s streaming revenue, as visitors to its network of sites can now use the Streambucks app to purchase products with Streambuck cash, with a debit card and make transfer payments and donations to streamers and Egamers.

Enthusiast will give Streambucks unprecedented exposure to their large community, helping to advertise the product in areas where there is unsold inventory, as part of its preferred partner pricing strategy. With the largest online gaming network in North America and a sprawling community dedicated and passionate about gaming, Enthusiast Gaming’s tens of millions of gaming visitors is set to help Litelink Technologies Inc.’s (LLT) (LLNKF) uBUCK-developed Streambucks platform become a leading payments contender in the Esports sector, while revolutionizing digital payments as a whole.

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