The PUBG Global Championship Finals approacheth. Would it have been more profitable if they’d done it in China? Read more below.
24 teams walked into the semifinals this last weekend and 16 left after 18 games of absolute havoc. Each day of the semifinals had two teams showcasing incredibly performances. On Friday, Team SoloMid and OGN Entus Force showed their dominating playsyles. On Saturday, 4A.M showed who was in charged over all six matches, whereas VC Gaming went through to defeat what was left of the competition. On Sunday, Lazarus battled excellently toward their 100+ points and QM showed their strategic brilliance with five out of six games resulting in a win.
Narrow victory: FaZe Clan was having a difficult time of things in 11 out of their 12 games, and they looked to be almost entirely out of the competition. Then in an almost last-minute change of heart, they suddenly wracked up the kills and clutched the final Playoffs spot.
The Finals: South America’s wClick now faces off against Master League’s GEX. Japan, Oceania, and Southeast Asia all lost their representatives over the course of the competition and will have to wait until next year to try again at the trophy. The Finals occur this Saturday, November 23rd at The Oakland Arena. Watch it online if you haven’t secured tickets to attend.
It is unsurprising that China has the most dynamic and influential esports market in the world. The sales figures now back that statement even more so with revenues of more than 100 billion yuan in 2018. The first half of 2019 has likewise seen sales surpass 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion).
Progress: As a further sign of this booming region, FunPlus Phoenix from China, established fewer than two years ago, became the World Champion at League of Legends in 2019. Despite how dominating China is as a region in esports, the sector is still feeling a great shortage of talent, between 500,000 and 1 million professionals.
Government backing: Still the market is making up for lost time thanks to recent developments. China’s ministry of education officially approved esports as a degree program, and more than 50 universities now offering esporting programs. Additionally, many cities have now rolled out incentives, such as taxation and land use to boost development of esports.
The tournament kicks off on November 20-24 at the Jing’an Sports center in Shanghai. According to the event organizers, they’ll be running on the version prior to Monday’s latest gameplay update, which created significant adjustments to gameplay.
Teams attending: The event features eight teams, including two top-ten sides in Evil Geniuses (#2) and AVANGAR (#9), four teams from the top-15 in mousesports, G2, ENCE, and MIBR, and two Chinese challengers, TYLOO and ViCi.
Schedule: A best-of-three group stage with four teams per group will kick off the competition. The winning sides each secure a spot in the semifinals, wherein the second and third-placed teams will advance to the quarter-finals. The first two days will see the group competitions. On Saturday, the quarterfinals kick off, and Sunday features the semi-finals and grand final.
English commentary: The official English commentary will be brought to us by PGL and features a three-man analyst team led by Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner and two commentator duos.
Prize pool: First place gets the lion’s share of the prize pool, being $250,000. Second place gets $100,000, and third place gets $50,000.
We just had our latest MAINGEAR gaming backpack giveaway drawing! The lucky winner is Tristan Pope. You can check out our new winner on their respective social medias at Twitch or YouTube. When asked to comment, Tristan had this to say: “Maingear is the best gear!” Damn straight, it is. Congrats for winning and we’re grateful for everyone’s support!
Sad you missed out? Don’t worry. We’re doing more drawings every Tuesday! So if you aren’t Devin from Chicago, you’ve already been thrown back into the drawing for our next backpack giveaway! Stay strong, your time will come!
Have you ever wondered how esports organizations make money?
While each team organization is going to look a little bit different, we were nonetheless excited when Astralis Group, the parent company of Astralis (CS:GO), Origen (League of Legends) and Future FC (FIFA), filed its IPO prospectus in Denmark last week.
For 2020, the company expects to generate 70% of its revenues (ex-prize money) from sponsorships. Notably, the document hinted at the formalization of a league structure for Counter-Strike, with an expected company investment (franchise fee?) of EUR 2M.
Without more details from other organizations, we can’t make any sweeping claims about how (or if) these companies are making money… hopefully we’ll have more soon. Stay tuned.
Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. For a prospectus and holdings, click here. Foreside Fund Services, LLC, Distributor.
Roundhill believes that esports and video games are the future of live media, sports and entertainment. $NERD is the first pure-play Esports ETF (exchange-traded fund), offering exposure to 25 global esports and digital entertainment companies.
Blizzard Entertainment has started their latest iteration of the Hearthstone Global Games, wherein 32 teams (down from 48) from 32 regions face off over four weeks for the $75,000 prize pool. The Games began on November 15th and features teams of two from each region that scored highest from the 2019 Masters Tour for Las Vegas, Nevada; Seoul, South Korea; and Bucharest, Romania.
Base pool: The base prize pool is $75k, as compared to $410k in 2018, though that was because it included bits from Twitch Cheering, which allows players to support their teams.
Tournament structure: The tournament consists of two group stages with playoffs at the end over a two-day period. The first group stage takes place November 15-24 where eight groups of four players each compete in dual tournaments. The top two of each group advance. Then four groups of four teams will duke it out again, the top two teams in each group moving on to the playoffs. The grand finals stage will consist of single-elimination matches.
Always online: Due to “unforeseen circumstances,” the entire event will take place online.
Brazilian fans of CS:GO have ample reason to get excited for the 2020 season. According to one journalist, the first Major of 2020 is going to happen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The event is to be titled “ESL One Rio Major.” There is still no word on an official date, however.
Thanks to leaks from the PC files of the game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare apparently has an upcoming battle royale mode that may be coming soon. The files revealed multiple details including the map, player count, and other gameplay elements. While a precise release date is only speculative, one rumor suggests it may come as soon as early 2020.
Ready to respawn: One such unique feature discovered is “Gulag.” As the leak explains, once you die, one of your teammates can retrieve your “Respawn Token.” Players must then “drop their body near an Ambulance.” The player is then put in the “Gulag queue” for a chance to win a 1v1 which then allows them to “respawn into the match.”
/More School News
Congratulations again to Tristan Pope for winning our latest gaming backpack!
We’re giving away a free gaming backpack every Tuesday to people who sign up here.
To start, you’ll get three entries in the drawing. Want more? Then refer friends, follow us on social media, and more.