The biggest stories from the business world of esports this week come as WESA and Paladins creator Hi-Rez announce a league, as well as Gamer Sensei securing investment and BMW getting involved with the EU LCS Finals in Paris.
BMW announced as official partner for the EU LCS Finals
Riot Games has announced that German car manufacturing giant BMW is the Official Partner for this year’s EULCS Summer Finals.
The deal, which was announced on Twitter, sees Riot partnering with one of the best selling brands in the world for Europe’s biggest annual League of Legends event. The 2017 Finals will be held in Paris, and will see long-time European top dogs G2 face off against a Misfits lineup who have surprised many by upsetting both the Unicorns of Love and Fnatic in a series of dominating performances.
The much-anticipated final will take place on Saturday the 3rd of September, and will be preceded by Fnatic’s third place match against H2K. With both finalists having already qualified for the World Championships, and with Fnatic already set to take top seeding in the upcoming gauntlet for the third spot, the matches this weekend will have a focus on local pride – and the small matter of a $200,000 (£155,000) prize poo
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WESA and Hi-Rez announce Paladins Premier League
The inaugural season will get underway in the immediate future in the autumn of 2017 and will see the participation of all the current 10 WESA Member teams. This means the likes of EnVyUS, Fnatic, G2, mouz, Na’Vi, NiP, Renegades, SK Gaming, Splyce and Virtus.Pro will each be getting a Paladins team. The PPL will become the second professional esports competition played under WESA guidance.
Importantly, it has been confirmed that non-WESA teams will be able to join the league too, though they must comply with WESA’s regulations on the league and treatment of players.
As part of the launch of the league, Hi-Rez Studios has partnered with WESA to split league revenues with participating teams, and to guarantee a minimum salary to players. These measures, combined with the global reach of the 10 WESA teams, give the PPL an exciting foundation from which to grow.
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Gamer Sensei secure $4 million in venture funding
Gamer Sensei, an esports coaching service working across multiple titles has secured $4 million (£3.09m) in venture funding.
The latest round of funding was led by Accomplice and Avdvancit Capital, jined by Origin Ventures CRCM Ventures and Kiwi Ventures as well as attracting investment from other new and existing investors including the likes of aXiomatic, Abstract Ventures and Subversive Capital.
The Gamer Sensei portfolio of coaching services is impressive, offering a multitude of popular esports titles. It offers ten titles in total for consumers. A consumer will choose their title before being matched with a coach from a collection of experts through Gamer Sensei’s system. Players will then “meet their Sensei” and be coached to improve at whichever title they’ve chosen. Support is in place for all big titles, including the likes of League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Overwatch. It also covers the likes of Starcraft II, Hearthstone and even GWENT, CD PROJEKT RED’s upcoming card game.
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