eSports
Esports Tournaments and Viewership is on the Rise, but Payment Solutions Lag Behind
As the landscape of thematic investments continues evolving and shifting, it is becoming apparent that many of the technological themes of tomorrow share practical applications. Some companies are acknowledging as much and are positioning themselves for leverage to multiple, fast-growing themes. Leading the charge to ameliorate some of the payment issues associated with Esports platforms, LiteLink Technologies Inc. is encroaching on territory dominated by the likes of PayPal Holdings Inc. , Tencent Holdings Inc., Huya Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.‘s Twitch platform.
Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI), itself a booming theme, LiteLink Technologies Inc. has roots in developing AI and predictive analytics technologies aimed at improving the fragmented logistics industry’s problem with antiquated technology. Tapping its expertise in AI, blockchain and cloud computing, the company is expanding into fast-growing digital and mobile payments arena.
Mobile payments – a market dominated by the likes of PayPal Holdings Inc. and Tencent Holdings Inc. via its WeChat Pay business, is growing at an exponential rate.
“The transaction value of the Mobile Payments Market was about USD 718.49 billion in 2017, and is expected to reach a transaction value of about USD 2,732.89 billion by 2023, recording a CAGR of 24.5%, over the forecast period of 2018-2023,” according to Research And Markets.
LiteLink Technologies Inc. is establishing a digital/mobile payments footprint of its own via its wholly-owned subsidiary, uBUCK Technologies SEZC business. uBUCK Tech is a fintech enterprise that has built uBUCK Pay, an online digital wallet and payments platform using pin vouchers and utility tokens to serve as a payment alternative for consumers, businesses and merchants. That venture could solidify LiteLink’s foray into other arenas where digital payments are increasingly relevant, including Esports.
Evaluating The Esports Opportunity
A slew of fundamental factors bodes well for the burgeoning Esports industry, potentially spelling significant opportunity for payment providers, such as LiteLink Technologies Inc., that are building Esports exposure.
Gamers that stream on a variety of platforms, including Amazon.com Inc.’s Twitch, can accept donations and tips from followers via digital payments processors, such as PayPal. In China, the world’s largest Internet market, Huya Inc. provides one of that country’s most popular game streaming platforms where TencentHoldings Inc. via its WeChat Pay business can process digital payments. Rongjie Dong, CEO of Huya Inc. recently had an interview with CNBC where he spoke about the company’s future growth strategies. He specifically went on to state that Huya will focus on growing in Asia, Africa, and Latin America before competing in the U.S. market. With over 100 million users, China remains the top Esports country in the world in terms of size.
LiteLink Technologies Inc., through the uBUCK Tech business, and Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. are among the companies leveraging the intersection of digital payments and Esports.
LiteLink’s uBUCK is working on Streambucks, a digital payments solution dedicated to the Esports industry. Streambucks is ideal for gamers that are looking to efficiently get paid for tips or tutoring other players, betting on Esports matches or for players that want to privately play games amongst each other for money. With Streambucks, winners can access their funds immediately, without any of the delays that are customary with bank wires or PayPal transfers.
“Esports continue to drive headlines around the world, as revenues and prize pools grow to new heights,” said VanEck in a recent research note. “According to Newzoo’s recently released 2019 Global Esports Market Report, Esports revenues exceeded $860 million in 2018 and is expected to grow to $1.7 billion by 2022. Newzoo also reports that the total prize pool for Esports matches exceeded $150 million in 2018.”
The opportunity set for LiteLink Technologies Inc. and Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. in the Esports arena could be lucrative for both parties as Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. just announced that they’ve hit 150 million monthly unique users.
On its own, the growth of streaming platforms offers compelling data for investors seeking Esports exposure and profits.
“Online streaming has a low cost of entry, and social media streaming websites allow anyone to create a username and post videos,” said VanEck. “Twitch currently generates 140 million unique viewers per month. On average, there are 15 million people who are considered daily active users (DAU). There are also 2.2 million monthly broadcasters. These are people who are posting their own videos to the website (as opposed to just watching and commenting).”
Making Transfers More Efficient
With prize pools for Esports tournaments swelling, the issue of paying winning players and teams on time is repeatedly cropping up. Players of games such as Fortnite run by Tencent Holdings Ltd. Companies, such as PayPal Holdings Inc., are taking notice and are forming partnerships with other fintech companies to speed Esports digital payments along.
With huge prize pools on the line, players want their winnings as quickly as possible. But some tournament organizers have been skimping on payments, citing administrative issues. In other cases, payments take months due to the payment platform used, misentered data, and a host of other delays. The recent deal between LiteLink Technologies Inc. and Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. aims to solve that pain point. LiteLink’s digital payments platform will act as an escrow agent for the prize pool, enabling instantaneous payment with no administrative hassle. The tournament organizers put the prize pool in escrow with payment. The players enter their user IDs and e-mails. As soon as the tournament is over, the prizes are paid immediately.
What makes Streambucks unique is that it is dedicated to Esports. Payment transfer platforms offered by the likes of Tencent are big, but they are not focused on the Esports market. In 2018, Tencent’s combined smartphone and PC client games revenues amounted to $19.13 billion (¥128.4 billion). The Chinese-based internet service provider and media giant reported a 16% increase in year-over-year revenues. Much of this increase was due to the lingering revenue stream from last years Fortnite, produced by Epic Games, which Tencent Holdings owns a 40 percent stake in.
Streaming payments are another pain point for gamers. Twitch took $1.6 billion in revenue in 2015, prompting Amazon Inc. to buy it for a $970 million all-cash deal. Streamers on the service can accept donations via payment platforms such as PayPal, and Amazon’s in-house payment platform AmazonPay. Delayed payment pain points still persists, with both payment options requiring bank accounts and user details to be entered exactly, and neither option being instantaneous.
The LiteLink Technologies Inc. and Enthusiast Gaming partnership is practical. LiteLink’s Streambucks could potentially lure more gamers, who are eager to get paid efficiently. That could boost the community growth for the Enthusiast even further. In turn, LiteLink Technologies Inc. gets to unveil Streambucks to a broader audience, providing a runway for Streambucks to become the preferred payment option in the Esports universe.
Data confirm that LiteLink Technologies Inc. could be onto something big with its emphasis on Esports payments.
“If you’re wondering how massive Esports has become, just follow the money,” reports Venture Beat. “The live-streaming platform Twitch paid $90 million for the rights to the Overwatch League. Activision Blizzard, the creator of Overwatch, beat its revenue forecast for Q1 2019, in part because of its Esports initiatives. If you combine fan spend, media rights, and sponsorships, the Esports market is now worth an estimated $922 million.”
LiteLink Technologies Inc. is focusing on a niche (speedier payments) within a niche (Esports). That combination has sizable potential going forward. By 2022, it is expected that Esports television viewership will rival the current level of viewership of the NFL and big-name sponsors are taking note. Revered brands such as Coca-Cola, Kit Kat and more have recently sponsored Esports tournaments. Increased viewership and airtime on networks such as ABC, NBC, ESPN, and TBS, could turn casual gamers into enthusiasts, potentially providing throngs of new users for LiteLink’s Streambucks.
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eSports
Everything you need to know ahead of ESL Pro League Season 19
The ESL Pro League (EPL) returns to St. Julian’s, Malta, for Season 19 on April 23 – May 12, 2024. The world’s biggest Counter-Strike league will see teams from around the world arrive on-site for three weeks of non-stop action, and only one team will emerge victorious as Champions.
Here is all you need to know about ESL Pro League Season 19
The 19th Season of the ESL Pro League will see the 32 best Counter-Strike teams compete for a total prize pool of $750,000, a win in the race to secure Intel® Grand Slam V, and a spot at IEM Cologne 2024. Commencing on April 23, contenders from around the globe will face off in Malta for a spot in the Playoffs. There, the six best teams will compete live in front of an intimate live audience at the InterContinental Malta on May 10 – 12, 2024.
Starting with the upcoming season, EPL will see some improvements to its schedule. While the number of teams and the tournament structure remain the same compared to recent seasons, the duration of the tournament has been adjusted to three weeks instead of five. To accommodate this change, two groups will be played simultaneously during the Group Stage, resulting in a more intense story for fans to follow.
Schedule and Format
Group Stage (April 23 – May 5):
- Four groups of eight teams will compete in separate triple-elimination brackets
- All matches are best-of-three
- The top four teams from each group will advance to the Playoffs
- Group Stage winners advance to the Quarterfinals
- The Group Stage runner-ups advance to the Round of 12
- The Group Stage third and fourth-place teams advance to the Round of 16
Playoffs (May 7 – 12):
- The top sixteen teams will compete in a single-elimination bracket
- All matches will be best-of-three, excluding the Grand Final which will be best-of-five
- The third and fourth Quarterfinals, as well as both Semifinals and the Grand Final will be played out live on stage in front of an audience
Teams Attending
- Astralis (Partner Team)
- BIG (Partner Team)
- Complexity (Partner Team)
- ENCE (Partner Team)
- FaZe Clan (Partner Team)
- Fnatic (Partner Team)
- FURIA (Partner Team)
- G2 Esports (Partner Team)
- HEROIC (Partner Team)
- MOUZ (Partner Team)
- Natus Vincere (Partner Team)
- Ninjas in Pyjamas (Partner Team)
- Team Liquid (Partner Team)
- Team Vitality (Partner Team)
- Monte (ESL Challenger Jönköping winner)
- Virtus.pro (ESL Challenger Atlanta winner)
- SAW (ESL World Ranking)
- Team Falcons (ESL World Ranking)
- GamerLegion (ESL World Ranking)
- BetBoom Team (ESL World Ranking)
- Eternal Fire (ESL World Ranking)
- 3DMAX (ECL S46 Europe winner)
- FORZE (ECL S46 Europe runner-up)
- M80 (ECL S46 North America winner)
- BOSS (ECL S46 North America runner-up)
- The MongolZ (ECL S46 Asia-Pacific winner)
- TYLOO (ECL S46 Asia-Pacific runner-up)
- Imperial Esports (South American Qualifier winners)
- Sharks Esports (South American Qualifier winners)
- Pera Esports (European Conference winner)
- Bad News Kangaroos (Oceanic Qualifier winner)
- FlyQuest (ANZ Champs winner)
Prize Money (USD)
TOTAL | $750,000 |
1st | $170,000 |
2nd | $80,000 |
3rd-4th | $45,000 |
5th-8th | $32,000 |
9th-12th | $23,500 |
13th-16th | $17,500 |
17th-20th | $12,000 |
21st-28th | $7,000 |
29th-32nd | $3,500 |
Broadcast Talent
- Hosts
- “Tres “stunna” Saranthus
- Freya “Freya” Spiers
- A Stream
- Jason “moses” O’Toole
- Janko “YNk” Paunović
- Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez
- Harry “Harry” Russell
- Hugo “Hugo” Byron
- Henry “Henry” Greer
- Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill
- Alex “Machine” Richardson
- B Stream
- Neo “Ne0kai” Caine
- Harvey “Skriv” Rodgers
- Lucy “LucyLuce” Eastwood
- Brandon “BDog” Rawlings
- Travis “Trav” Landaw Mott
Where to Watch
The live broadcast will be available on FACEIT Watch, ESL FACEIT Group’s premier esports viewing platform created by esports fans for esports fans and open for all.
Featuring a unique multi-perspective view selector where users can watch their favorite player’s perspective directly next to the main event stream, a live chat, a kill cam, live-generated replays of key moments, a sound mixer, a rewards program, and more, FACEIT Watch revolutionises esports streaming by putting fans in control of their viewing experience.
Fans can also watch the action on the ESL Counter-Strike Twitch and YouTube channels. For those unable to tune in live, all matches will also be available to watch on-demand for free via YouTube.
For more information about ESL Pro League Season 19, and the latest updates on the event, please visit the official website, and follow ESL Counter-Strike on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Asia
Team ATK Oshun excels at 2024 Online Championships held on 13 April 2024
Mind Sports South Africa’s (MSSA) 2024 Online Championships held on 13 April 2024 showed sterling results.
The championship was yet another chance for many esports athletes to qualify for MSSA’s National Team Trials to be held on 25 May 2024 at which the team will be selected to officially represent South Africa at the African Qualifiers which lead up to IESF’s 16th World Esports Championships to be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in October and November 2024..
All Registered Players who have finished in the top three places, or the top 20% – whichever is greater, are entitled to enter trials.
However, it must be remembered that all players must have a valid passport to participate in the National Team Trials.
It was indeed exciting to watch just how much all the female teams have improved.
Team ATK Oshun (ATK Club Sport) being a female team astounded all with their skill and sportsmanship. The team demolished all ATK Club Sport opposition to ultimately won the premier event overall and qualify for the National Team trials to be held on 25 May 2025.
IESF’s 15th World Championships will be played to the following titles:
- Counter-Strike 2
- Counter-Strike 2 – Female division
- DotA 2
- eFootball
- Mobile Legends, Bang Bang
- Mobile Legends, Bang Bang – Female division
- PUBGM
The high standard of play saw 37 Registered Players from six provinces being awarded Provincial Colours. Only Limpopo, Free State, and Northern Cape did not have Registered Players who did not earn provincial colours.
Title | Name of player/team | Club | Provincial Colours awarded |
Clash Royale – Premier | Johan Coetzee | Middies | Mpumalanga |
Clash Royale – High School | Aryan Maharaj | PR0NHS | |
Counter Strike: 2 | ATK Oshun | ||
Kaylee Ludick | ATK Club Sport | Gauteng | |
Jessica Eleez Greeff | ATK Club Sport | Gauteng | |
Christin Brazier | ATK Club Sport | Gauteng | |
Megan van der Westhuizen | ATK Club Sport | Gauteng | |
Kayhla Rose Calder | ATK Club Sport | Gauteng | |
DotA – Premier | ZAG DOTA 1 | ||
Suhail Khan | ZAG Academy | Gauteng | |
Travis John Waters | ZAG Academy | Western Cape | |
Mark Kilian Lehle | ZAG Academy | Gauteng | |
Mohammad Dhooma | ZAG Academy | Eastern Cape | |
Nicholas Dammert | ZAG Academy | Gauteng | |
eFootball – Premier | Aslam Parker | PES Society | Gauteng |
FIFA 24 – High School | Daiyaan Hendricks | PES Society | Western Cape |
Mobile Legends – Premier
|
Mavericks | ||
Matthew Tatalias | Mavericks | Gauteng | |
Damian Bransby | Mavericks | Western Cape | |
Preshan Pillay | Mavericks | Gauteng | |
Mohammad Azhar Ansari | Mavericks | KwaZulu Natal | |
Taygan Gabriel | Mavericks | KwaZulu Natal | |
Luke Green | Mavericks | Western Cape | |
Mobile Legends – Premier – Female
|
AHG | ||
Je’nielle Cavanagh | PES Society | Western Cape | |
Inez Pringle | PES Society | Western Cape | |
Salma Parker | PES Society | Western Cape | |
Ra’isha Prout | PES Society | Western Cape | |
Fatimah Prout | PES Society | Western Cape | |
Mia Anthony | PES Society | Western Cape | |
PUBGM
|
Team uEnvy | ||
Richard Henry | ZAG Academy | Eastern Cape | |
La-eeq Arendse | ZAG Academy | Western Cape | |
Kyle Dudley | ZAG Academy | Western Cape | |
Clayton Leak | ZAG Academy | Western Cape | |
Rocket League – Premier – 1 v 1 – Premier | Nathan Strange | Hoërskool Klerksdorp | |
Rocket League – Premier – 1 v 1 – High School | Luther Peens | Hoërskool Klerksdorp | |
Street Fightter V – Premier | Marnus van der Merwe | Hoërskool Klerksdorp | North West |
Tekken 8 | Stasch Cloeta | Team PlayBell | Western Cape |
Valorant – Premier
|
TuksValorant | ||
Tapiwanashe Keith Matema | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Kyle Halvorsen | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Jaden Connor Swarts | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Ronald James Tyler Wheeldon | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Alejandro Luca Sartini-Kruger | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Armand Pierre van der Colf | TuksEsports | Gauteng | |
Sportsmanship Award | Je’nielle Cavanagh | PES Society |
Asia
Maharashtra Government rewards state’s Asian Games 2022 Esports athletes with INR 10 lakhs; marks historic moment for Indian Esports
In a groundbreaking move, the Directorate of Sports and Youth Services of the Government of Maharashtra has rewarded a significant amount of INR 10 lakhs to each Esports athlete of the state who represented India in the Asian Games 2022, held in Hangzhou. This marks a historic moment for Indian Esports, as it is the first time any state has included Esports alongside mainstream sports in prize money rewards for its state players in a major tournament. The recipients of this monetary reward include Darshan Bata, captain of the DOTA 2 team, along with his teammates Krish Gupta, Ketan Goyal, and Shubham Goli, as well as League of Legends athlete Samarth Trivedi.
Expressing his gratitude, Darshan Bata, the captain of the DOTA 2 team who hails from Mumbai, said, “I would like to express my sincere thanks to ESFI and the Maharashtra government for honoring us and recognizing and supporting Esports.”
Esports made its debut as a full-fledged medal event at the Asian Games 2022, where a total of 476 athletes from 30 different countries competed for gold medals across seven titles. India participated in four of these titles, including DOTA 2, EA Sports FC Online, League of Legends, and Street Fighter V: Champion Edition.
“It has been a great experience at Asian games, I am grateful for the support I received from the Maharashtra government and I really appreciate the efforts ESFI has contributed to our journey,” stated Ketan Goyal of Pune who was a part of the DOTA 2 team at the Asian Games 2022.
The talented Indian contingent for the Asian Games was sent by Esports Federation of India (ESFI), who had organized open for all nationwide online qualifiers to select the best and most deserving athletes to compete for the nation at the tournament.
“Really happy to see that Esports is getting recognized and we are being aided by the government. Thank you for the support to Maharashtra Government and a big shoutout to ESFI for giving us this opportunity to represent India in the Asian games,” highlighted Krish Gupta of Pune, a member of the Indian DOTA 2 team.
The League of Legends team, in particular, achieved a historic fifth-place finish at the 19th Asian Games after competing against top-tier teams from around the continent.
“I am really grateful to the Maharashtra government for providing us with the financial support. It is amazing to see Esports being recognized by the Government. A huge shoutout to ESFI for giving us the opportunity and platform to compete at the Asian Games 2022 in Hangzhou,” commented Samarth Trivedi of Thane who played a pivotal part in the country’s performance in League of Legends at the tournament.
Prior to the 19th Asian Games, India had also secured a remarkable bronze medal at the Commonwealth Esports Championships in DOTA 2, showcasing the country’s prowess in video gaming on the international stage.
“Thank you ESFI and team for all you support throughout Asian games 2022. We are really blessed and honored by Maharashtra Government for supporting Esports players and considering Esports in events like Commonwealth and Asian Games,” noted Shubham Goli, a resident of Pune who represented India at both the Commonwealth Esports Championships as well as the Asian Games 2022 in DOTA 2. The latest FICCI-EY report titled ‘#Reinvent: India’s media & entertainment sector is innovating for the future, India is expected to have 20 international teams by 2024.
The Maharashtra government’s recognition and support of Esports signals a significant milestone in the journey towards mainstream acceptance of competitive gaming as a legitimate sport in the country.
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