Each week, ESI Digest breaks down the weekly happenings in the esports industry, making sense of things so you don’t have to. As well as being housed on YouTube, ESI Digest is available on all major podcast platforms and is also available in written form below.
On this week’s ESI Digest we cover, the 2021 League of Legends World Championships being relocated to Europe, Virtus.Pro, Astralis and Alliance partnering with cryptocurrency platform Bybit, ESIC issuing a 2-year ban to former HEROIC coach Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, Wild Rift’s Origin Series Championship being held in Stockholm, plus Kambi Group’s acquisition of esports data firm Abios for up to £22m.
2021 League of Legends World Championships relocated to Europe
Riot Games has announced that the 2021 League of Legends World Championships has been officially relocated from China to Europe.
Details surrounding the event, such as an exact location of where in Europe the tournament will take place, have not been revealed. Riot Games’s global event was originally scheduled to be a multi-city event, with matches taking place in Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Shenzhen.
Virtus.Pro, Astralis and Alliance partner with cryptocurrency platform Bybit
Cryptocurrency platform Bybit has secured partnerships with Astralis, Alliance, and Virtus.Pro.
As a result of the partnership, all three teams will participate in Bybit’s crypto trading tournament WSOT 2021.
ESIC issues 2-year ban to former HEROIC coach Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has issued a two-year ban to Danish CS:GO coach Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen.
The ban was a result of allegations made when he was at his former team, HEROIC. The allegations state that Petersen shared information about the team’s strategy with opponents via Google Drive just before the start of IEM Cologne 2021.
Wild Rift Origin Series Championship to be held in Stockholm
Riot Games has revealed that the first League of Legends: Wild Rift Origin Series Championship will be held in Stockholm, Sweden with a €300,000 (~£257,000) prize pool.
The mobile esports Championship will run from September 24th to 26th, pitting six teams in the intercontinental Origin Series against one another for a lion’s share of the prize pool.
Kambi Group acquires esports data firm Abios for up to £22m
Sports betting service provider Kambi Group has announced the acquisition of esports data and technology company Abios for SEK150m (~£12.57m) in cash.
In addition, up to SEK120m (~£10.05m) will be paid in earnouts related to product development and Abios’s ‘future revenge performances’. As a result, the acquisition could eventually total SEK270m (~£22.63m).
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ESI Digest is part of the ESI Podcast Network, a collection of podcasts encompassing the esports industry. For deep dives into the major areas of esports with subject matter experts, check out ESI Focus. For conversations with key personnel and major stakeholders in esports, ESI Insight is the series for you.
