Four tech companies to raise money for SpecialEffect in ESL UK’s Battle of the Brands

Ollie Ring
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ESL UK has announced the “Battle of the Brands: Christmas charity derby”. The competition will see four UK tech specialist companies battle it out across multiple game titles to be crowned the champion. The tournament will see all money raised through live streaming and prior donations go to SpecialEffect, a fantastic charity who do brilliant work across the gaming space.

Credit: ESL UK

The four companies set to compete on December 10th are: Ebuyer, SCAN, Overclockers UK and PC Specialist. Each team will have to compete across five different titles including Halo 5, Rocket League and FIFA. The winning team will be crowned the UK Battle of the Brands champion.

The livestream is also set to celebrate the work of SpecialEffect, a charity dedicated to helping people with physical disabilities play video games. The initial target for donations ESL have set is £10,000, with each retailer and sponsor contributing a minimum of £500 to the drive. As seen by the JustGiving page, over £6,600 has been raised already.

“SpecialEffect is close to the hearts of many of us in the games industry,” said James Dean, Managing Director at ESL UK. “I’d like to thank our partners at Ebuyer, PC Specialist, SCAN and Overclockers UK for being such good sports and joining us to raise money for this very worthy cause.”

Battle of the Brands will be streamed live from 12:00 GMT on 10 December. Those interested in watching can see the action unfold at twitch.tv/esluk.

Esports Insider: SpecialEffect were the partner for the first two #ESIForums and also hold a close place to our hearts. They do some fantastic work so it’s great to see ESL getting in the giving Christmas spirit nice and early. With over £6,500 raise towards the £10,000 target already, the tournament is in good stead to well exceed expectations. There’ll be insurmountable pressure on each member of staff from the aforementioned tech companies to show they’re truly the best in the space. Pride is on the line! Hats off to ESL for this great initiative. 

Ollie Ring

Contributing Editor
Ollie swapped the abacus for Sonic on the SEGA Mega Drive at neighbor Frank's house at an early age and has never looked back. With thousands of hours in Dota 2 (and no ability to show for it), he still clings on to the hope that one day, he will replicate Natus Vincere at gamescom 14 years ago and lift the Aegis of Champions. Ollie has been at the intersection of video games, esports, and gambling for over ten years and has also worked in consultancy in the gambling industry. Ollie's work can be found on the likes of: BBC, Red Bull Gaming, Esports Insider, CasinoBeats, PC Gamer, Green Man Gaming as well as his own thought-leadership substack "Esprouts" looking at specific studies and stories where games meet gambling.
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