eSports
YAS HEAT ESPORTS announces academy programme graduates
- Final five selected and eager to compete on the global stage in 2021
- YAS HEAT Open Trials deemed a success following 120 applications
- Four-week trials initiative yields abundance of top-tier talent
YAS HEAT ESPORTS has revealed the selected drivers from the official YAS HEAT Open Trials initiative established in August. The final five will continue to develop and eventually race for the squad in global competitions in the near future.
The line-up consists of Gran Turismo drivers Karl Etyemezian and Hazem Zaki, Assetto Corsa Competizione racer Mohamed Akram and iRacing specialist Yashish Manohar.
Joining these top-tier middle eastern talents is Emirati karting ace Khalifa Alqubaisi. Following a slew of high-profile karting achievements – two-time Champion of the Emirati School Karting Championship, YAS Kartzone Sprint Race Champion and current track record holder at the Dubai Kartdrome – the 16-year-old turned his attention to sim racing in 2017 and hasn’t looked back. Alqubaisi similarly recorded impressive results in esports placing second in a GCC Category 6HR Endurance Race and claiming the runner-up spot in the 2020 EMSO GT Championship on Playstation 4.
The final five will work closely with the YAS HEAT international team to better understand car set-ups and racecraft in preparation for their professional esports debuts next year.
The programme set out the goal of recruiting, nurturing and developing the esports superstars of tomorrow, with the intention of selecting a group of drivers who will compete for the Yas Marina Circuit-based outfit on the largest of virtual racing stages.
Following an initial 120 applications to the programme, 32 were shortlisted to go through to the all-important trials process. The 32 ambitious virtual racers were then put through their paces via a weekly time trial challenge to test their all-out pace, featuring a live leaderboard ensuring lap times were consistently improving to meet minimum threshold requirements. This procedure whittled them down to six finalists over a four-week period.
Once the finalists were established, YAS HEAT ambassador and Assetto Corsa driver ‘Jardier’ conducted fun, light-hearted interviews with each of the aspiring racers, bringing out the best of their personalities and enabling judges to get to know them better. Six then turned into five and thus became inductees onto the official YAS HEAT ESPORTS roster.
Saif Al-Noaimi, Principal, YAS HEAT said:
“It’s been great to watch the progression of the academy drivers over the past few weeks. We were thrilled with the initial applications of 120 keen virtual racers, but then to find five future superstars means the project has been a resounding success.
“Now we can’t wait to move on to the next step of the process, honing and developing their skillset and bringing them on-board with the international team. We’re all really excited to see how they get on as they’ll be competing across a broad range of virtual racing platforms and titles. YAS HEAT is heading into 2021 with high hopes and a lot of confidence.”
Baltics
BETBY TO POWER ESTONIAN BRAND WINNERZ WITH SPORTSBOOK SOLUTION INCLUDING PROPRIETARY ESPORTS FEED SOLUTION
Betby, a leading provider of sportsbook solutions, has announced a long-term partnership with the Winnerz brand. The partnership entails the provision of Betby’s cutting-edge sportsbook solution and its proprietary esports feed solution to the Estonian online casino brand.
The inclusion of the Betby Games esports feed solution comes on the heels of Betby Games receiving approval earlier this year from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which allows the sports betting supplier to provide its esports odds feed comprising of pre-match and live odds, round-the-clock content coverage, statistics hub, and resulting, either as part of the Betby Sportsbook solution or as a separate esports data feed to all operators holding an MGA license and other licensed operators in jurisdictions which accept MGA license.
Players on Winnerz’s casino platform now have access to an enriched sportsbook content portfolio featuring over 210,000 monthly events covering as many as 125 sports. The Betby Games esports feed solution will further boost the content offering with a broader and more engaging esports content, including 11 Betby Games e-simulator titles. This includes Betby Games’ renowned customized leagues, enabling operators to offer customizable esoccer football tournaments which are fully tailored to any brand’s identity.
Chris Nikolopoulos, Betby’s Chief Commercial Officer said: “I am very pleased to have agreed a broad collaboration with the Winnerz brand, as together we seek to grow the brand’s local marketshare. By continuing to deliver our extremely strong esport vertical to noteworthy brands, we stay true to our growth strategy, and bring incredible betting experiences to the operator’s customers.”
Kevin Liivamägi, Winnerz’s Head of Sportsbook, said: “I’m thrilled to provide our players with a premium sportsbook solution featuring one of the most extensive content portfolios in the industry. Their extensive range of content is truly impressive, and we’re confident that Betby’s comprehensive sportsbook solution and products are in line with our mission to provide our players with a fully immersive and well-rounded betting experience.”
eSports
The L&G esports team founded by Alona Shevtsova got four prize-winning places this month
The L&G esports team founded by Alona Shevtsova got four prize-winning places this month. Team’s sponsor — Sends company — plans to increase investments
CS:GO professionals — L&G team — got prizes in four championships this month. Starting May with 2nd place in the United21 competition, this young team continued the month with 1st place at the Dragon Esport Cup, 3rd at ROG Spring Cup 2024 and 3rd at Comic Con Baltics 2024. Simultaneously, the team continues its participation in ESEA Main S49.
“Following recent team changes, we’ve dedicated significant time to training and building strong relationships. I believe we now have the strongest L&G squad to date. Our current success is a great motivator, and we’re eager to achieve even more this year,” commented Kyryl «marat2k» Samsoniuk, captain of L&G Esports.
L&G esports team, one of the top five Ukrainian teams in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, has extended its sponsorship contract with Smartflow Payments Limited this spring. Sends is the trade name of Smartflow Payments Limited. The company’s founders always support sports initiatives and young teams with a particular interest in esports.
“I see tremendous potential in esports. This field is evolving rapidly, much like the fintech industry once did. As the world increasingly shifts online, we are opting for digital solutions more than ever before. This is why our company wholeheartedly supports, promotes, and cheers for the L&G team,” commented Alona Shevtsova, owner of the Sends Company.
The L&G team began competing in top tournaments and almost immediately reached the Advanced division of the ESEA League Europe competition. The team also participated in and took prizes in European tournaments such as the SCL League, WhiteBit Crypto Open, Phoenix League, and local competitions. The team players are marat2k, r0ublE, kr1vda, kL1o, OneUn1que, rji (coach).
Smartflow Payments Limited is an innovative private limited company based in England and Wales. It offers financial solutions such as Internet acquiring and multicurrency business accounts, currency exchange and card issuance.
It is worth mentioning that the L&G team created its merch items, which are available for order worldwide. For more information about the team, visit the L&G Instagram page, Twitch, or Telegram Channel.
eSports
SuperGaming Reveals Nationwide Grassroots Indus Battle Royale Esports Tournament Series With Rs. 5,50,000 Prize Pool
Made-in-India battle royale Indus is hosting its first ever series of nationwide grassroots esports tournaments dubbed Indus Inferno. This is SuperGaming’s summer special of tournaments with prizes and bragging rights on the line — but most importantly: a chance for players to experience Indus at the highest skill level and be the best in India’s first new-generation battle royale.
Created by award-winning Pune-based developer SuperGaming, Indus is an Indo-Futuristic battle royale slated for mobile, PC, and consoles with pre-registrations live on Google Play for Android. Pre-registrations for the game have crossed 10 million already.
Indus Inferno kicked off with the Regional Scrims featuring a Rs. 50,000 prize pool this week. The scrims were met with immense excitement, with players hailing from multiple cities across India.
The Indus Inferno Finale scheduled to take place on 1st June will feature a lucrative prize pool of Rs. 5,00,000.
Player registration for the Open Qualifiers is now open and will end on 19th May. The Qualifiers are set to run from 20th May to 24th May. It is important to note that only the top 2,000 players from the Inferno in-game Leaderboard will be eligible to register for the qualifiers. The top 10 winning teams from the Open Qualifiers will earn coveted spots in the finale, joining the invited esports teams for an epic showdown.
The following teams have been invited for the Indus Inferno Finale:
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Team Moggers
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Team Redlock
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Team Pushpa
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Destruction of Game
In addition to this, teams of Indus content creators, community members, several esports organizations as well as winners of past playtests will be present for the tournament. There’s a total prize pool of Rs. 5,00,000 with the winners netting Rs. 2,50,000 and the runners-up, third-place, and fourth place getting Rs. 1,00,000, Rs. 75,000, and Rs. 50,000 respectively. The most valuable player will get Rs. 25,000.
More importantly, the finale will feature India’s top esports team owners so Indus’ best players can have face to face opportunities to be scouted for a career in esports playing Indus. These include:
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Godlike Esports
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Revenant Esports
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Orangutan
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Entity Gaming
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Reckoning Esports
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Carnival Gaming
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Chemin Esports
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True Rippers
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Enigma Gaming
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Team Tamilas
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Marcos Gaming
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TWOB
“With Indus Inferno and previous Indus esports tournaments that we’ve been running since last year such as the Indus Invitational and Indus Unchained, we want to lay the foundation for a sustainable esports ecosystem for our community and the nation at large,” says SuperGaming CEO and Co-Founder Roby John. “Having India’s best esports team owners at the finale is our small way of making that happen.”
SuperGaming is also going to have exclusive rewards, developer panels, and more, so head on over to the official Indus Discord server for all the details.
Players will be able to share their thoughts on various aspects of the game and impact the direction of how SuperGaming crafts its most ambitious title yet through this official esports tournament.
This is inline with how SuperGaming has crafted its biggest hits — MaskGun and Silly Royale. Popular multiplayer shooter MaskGun has amassed over 80 million players since its launch with a relentless focus on putting its players first leading to some of its biggest community members featuring in-game as well as celebrating India-specific events like Diwali.
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