Game data platform GRID Esports, in partnership with Esports Insider and Opera GX, has launched the first DataJam, an online competition that invites developers and esports fans to build projects utilising the GRID Data Platform.
Starting July 18th, DataJam will run for seven weeks and aims to showcase the potential of live esports data. Competitors will be able to build a wide variety of projects — like Twitch bots, data visualisation tools and mini-games — with the only requirement being that the demo must be created using official data from the GRID Data Platform, which is provided free of charge to participants.
Creators can submit their projects in the Main Category, where all projects are welcomed, and an Opera GX Category, which challenges participants to build live data-powered projects specifically for gamer-focused web browser Opera GX.
Kamil Rzeźnik, Global Content Producer at Opera GX, commented: “Opera GX is known for its incredible community. Our users are gamers, creators, modders – creativity is in their DNA. Partnering with GRID for DataJam is a unique opportunity to ask our users how they would like to enrich Opera GX’s browser experience with official live data, and we can’t wait to see what they will come up with.”
Participants will compete for a prize pool offering cash prizes (over $20,000) and non-monetary awards such as premium access to the GRID Data Platform, ESI Media support, or consultations with industry experts to support the further development of their projects.
The winner of the Main Category will also receive a wild card to Esports Insider’s The Clutch, an esports startup pitch competition, with a chance to win an additional award.
“I remember over a decade ago when I manually collected all the data from esports matches to power my first business,” said Moritz Maurer, Founder, and CEO at GRID. “Back then, I faced the same issue that aspiring creators are still dealing with today — how to gain access to quality live data at the beginning of your journey when you don’t have a large budget?
“GRID has been built on the conviction that official data should be accessible to everyone, so my dream now comes true as we can give the next generation of talented esports fans free access to play with official, reliable data.”
Projects will be judged by a team of industry professionals from GRID Esports, Opera GX, and Esports Insider, with the support of Dota 2 and CSGO Talents Kyle ‘melonzz’ Freedman and Pavlos ‘ExWarrior’ Georgiou. The project with the majority of community votes collected on the Devpost Platform will also receive the Popular Choice Award. The winners will be announced in September during an online ceremony.
“As an Analyst and Caster, I use GRID Data in my day-to-day work to provide better insights and stats to the audience, so I am secretly hoping that participants will build something that I could use in my work too!” Added Pavlos ‘ExWarrior’ Georgiou, VALORANT and CSGO Analyst and Caster.
For more information and to register for the challenge, please visit the GRID Esports DataJam’s official website.
