Esport entertainment company BLAST has revealed the global financial technology company Revolut as presenting partner for the BLAST Premier Spring Final, ahead of Counter-Strike’s long-awaited return to the United Kingdom in the summer.

The partnership with BLAST is Revolut’s first foray into esports – an industry known for its next-level global entertainment and world-class experiences. It is part of the fintech’s strategy to provide unique experiences to a global audience of tech-savvy gamers.

With more than 40 million customers worldwide in 38 countries, Revolut’s popular online banking platform aims to revolutionise the way people spend, send, save and interact with money.

Revolut comes on board as the Official Finance and Payments Partner of the BLAST Premier Spring Final, which is due to take place at London’s OVO Arena Wembley from 12-16 June. Revolut will feature heavily across the event, with both digital broadcast integration across BLAST.tv, Twitch and YouTube, with dedicated Revolut broadcast segments and physical branding and activations at the arena.

The Spring Final 2024 will be the biggest Counter-Strike event to take place in the United Kingdom since the London Major 2018, which took place in the OVO Arena Wembley and saw Danish organisation Astralis crowned champions.

Fans online will enjoy an economy focussed broadcast segment as well as a bespoke giveaway with fantastic prizes. Revolut will be kicking off the Spring Final action with an opening party on Friday, 14th June. A Revolut booth on-site will allow fans to sign up to exclusive discounts for Revolut customers and exclusive perks including queue skip for meet and greets with professional esports players.

Alexander Lewin, SVP, Commercial Revenue at BLAST said: “We’re thrilled to mark the historic return of CS arena events to the UK with a groundbreaking presenting partnership. Revolut has been at the forefront of digital banking and financial innovation for nearly a decade, and shares BLAST’s dedication to creating fantastic experiences for fans and customers. As presenting partner, Revolut will feature prominently across our entire broadcast and arena experience, and we look forward to incorporating their innovative digital-first approach. This partnership is testament to the value esports can bring to a leading global brand, and we are delighted Revolut has chosen BLAST for their first entry into competitive gaming.”

Deborah Wajsbrot, Head of Growth – Strategic Partnerships & Sponsorships at Revolut, said: “We’re delighted to be able to unveil Revolut’s marketing partnership with BLAST – our first in esports. BLAST is a world-class esports tournament and an iconic event for the gaming community. Just like Revolut, the gaming industry is at the forefront of innovation worldwide. This partnership is the beginning of our efforts to bring unique and unforgettable experiences to Revolut customers and gaming fans – not just at Wembley, but worldwide.”

The BLAST Premier Spring Final gets underway on Wednesday, 12th June, with eight of Counter-Strike’s best teams descending on the UK’s capital to battle for a total prize pool of $425,000. The winning team will qualify for the BLAST Premier World Final later this year.

Participating teams: Astralis, FaZe Clan, G2 Esports, Natus Vincere, SAW, Virtus.pro, Team Spirit and Team Vitality.

Online casino, PlayOJO returned to the streets of London for a repeat of its successful ‘Street Casino’ marketing campaign. The campaign promoted fun, authentic engagement with the brand in the form of gameshow-style challenges for cash prizes. Social media users could also take part digitally, through similar challenges for the chance to win Amazon vouchers.

Comic actor, Andy Hindson returned as the larger-than-life gamemaster. He hosted a suite of challenges, including ‘Bingo Basket Head,’ in which two contestants tried to catch as many bingo balls in their head baskets as possible.

Or Axe Throwing, where contestants needed to take aim at Andy with velcro axes as he donned a medieval helmet and a target circle. Some of these challenges even tested the British public’s knowledge on famous songs and movies.

Social Media Manager, Alessandro Iacovangelo at PlayOJO said: “This campaign aims to create a buzz around the brand through authentic entertainment with consumers both digitally and in-person. It emphasizes PlayOJO’s brand identity, which is fun and unconventional while also highlighting the casino’s commitment to fairness and a chance to win cash with no strings attached.

The British public is always up for a good laugh, and we didn’t want this to get lost in translation, so each challenge was done unscripted and purely focused on delivering entertaining content to our players.”

Golden Whale Productions, the pioneering data science company that specialises in AI and machine learning-powered solutions for the iGaming industry, has announced that it has formed a new strategic partnership with advisory firm, SCCG Management.

While the industry expertise brought by the firm will undoubtedly bring myriad benefits to Golden Whale’s operations, the major goal of the collaboration will be to promote awareness of the company’s products and services across the Americas and beyond over the coming months.

Founded by Stephen A. Crystal – a seasoned veteran in the global gaming industry with over 30 years of experience under his belt – SCCG Management has an established track record of delivering expert solutions for strategic success in areas such as iGaming and casino technology.

With a global network of clients and offices in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Latin America, SCCG is well-known for connecting companies with the right strategic partners for global-scale growth, which is exactly what Golden Whale is looking for as it enters its next phase.

Having already made a major impression across Europe – where its innovative data-driven solutions and pioneering products for the Gaming industry such as Foundation – scalable optimization modules for high-leverage decision making or the iterative machine learning system, LOOPs, have already been short-listed for a number of industry awards – Golden Whale its understandably keen to expand its outreach and the new partnership will give it the foothold to do precisely that.

As such, both parties are looking forward to the collaboration and the business opportunities SCCG will create for Golden Whale in the near future, with the former’s industry know-how and far-reaching network combining with the latter’s trailblazing technology to hopefully great effect.

Eberhard Dürrschmid, Chief Executive Officer at Golden Whale, said: “While Golden Whale has enjoyed an incredible year of growth during which the company quadrupled its revenue without the help of an external investor, our partnership with SCCG is definitely the next big step.

“By teaming up with an industry expert like Stephen, we’ll be able to broaden our horizons, expand our reach and really start pushing our game-changing products across the Americas and beyond. We’re really looking forward to collaboration and are hugely optimistic about the business opportunities it’ll bring as Golden Whale enters the next exciting stage of its evolution.”

Stephen Crystal, Founder and CEO of SCCG Management, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership: “Golden Whale Productions brings a wealth of expertise and a proven track record in data science to the gaming industry. By combining their state-of-the-art technology with our global reach and extensive industry relationships, we are well-positioned to deliver unparalleled value to gaming operators worldwide. This partnership will empower companies to maximize their data potential and achieve new levels of success.”