eSports
Leading Esports Platform Challengermode Announces US Launch
Leading Swedish esports platform Challengermode, the home of competitive gaming, has today announced that it will be launching into the North American market. With a focus on building out existing and new partnerships, driving customer acquisition and expanding its international team, this move will help deliver against its mission to make esports accessible to everyone.
The Challengermode platform serves as an esports ecosystem for key actors, including game developers, tournament organizers, content creators and brands. It provides a place where millions of esports fans and casual gamers can compete at any level of skill. For organizers it offers an automated and scalable tournament and league infrastructure, and flexible monetization tools.
For years, Challengermode has been the home for various national, collegiate and corporate esports leagues throughout Europe, as well as a wide variety of official competitions for game publishers like Riot Games, EA Games and PUBG Corp (KRAFTON, Inc.) – with millions of competitions played on the platform yearly. Among its suite of fully automated game titles is the popular mobile game Gods of Boom that integrated with Challengermode’s platform in order to provide its community with accessible esports tournaments.
CEO at Challengermode Robel Efrem said: “We’re incredibly excited to announce our official expansion into the US. Thanks to our established industry partners we are well positioned to bring grassroots esports the focus it deserves, giving players an all important place to compete and level up their skills – while simultaneously acting as a gateway for other stakeholders to participate in the esports economy. Beyond creating a space for players and organizers, our presence in the US is also targeting further integration with game developers looking to build out the esports aspects of their games, allowing new esports titles to hit the ground running.”
Challengermode has been rapidly adopted by thousands of tournament organizers that use its infrastructure to scale up their esports competitions – even ahead of the official US launch.
The esports infrastructure is made available through Challengermode Spaces, with which any gaming community, tournament organizer or game developer gets access to their own all-in-one esports arena. Spaces makes it possible and accessible to grow, engage and monetize an esports or game community.
Philip Hubner, Chief Business Development Officer at Challengermode: “North America is home to over 57 million esports viewers but, despite the scene’s exponential growth in the last decade, the vast majority of this audience has never had a chance to participate in esports in any capacity – this is especially true on consoles. The industry is still extremely top heavy, and built too much around sponsorship, broadcasting licenses and advertising revenue, rather than consumer revenue and participation. Challengermode is looking to turn the current industry model on its head – creating value for all esports stakeholders from the bottom up as well as the top down. Game Developers to us are a key part of what will drive this change, and so we’re excited to work more closely with developers across the Americas – and around the world.”
With recent funding from eWTP Innovation Fund, the global investment arm of the Alibaba Group, GP Bullhound, Telia Ventures and Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Challengermode has cemented its position as the fastest-growing grassroots esports platform. The company has hosted millions of competitions with millions of players in Europe alone, and has partnered with some of the globe’s biggest names in esports, including FIFA, renowned esports team Fnatic and digital gaming festival DreamHack. The platform already supports some of the most popular esports titles in the world, including League of Legends, DotA 2, FIFA and PUBG with more being added all the time.
eSports
Esports Charts and GG.BET have presented an interactive map with data on tournaments around the world
Esports Charts, an analytical service that analyzes esports viewership, has partnered up with betting brand GG.BET, to present Esports Map, an interactive map with data on the most popular esports tournaments in 110 different countries. Each tournament also comes with historical moments when favorites and outsiders unexpectedly switched places in the bracket.
The analytical service Esports Charts has added a new interactive tool to its website, the Esports Map. It features the most popular tournaments by country, as well as data on peak viewership, winners, and prize pools. It also contains information on the most popular games in each country. There are also separate analytics dedicated to the United States, with information available for each of the 50 states. Data has been collected for a period spanning from 2017 up to right now, and is continuously updated.
GG.BET, who partnered with the project, supplemented the tournament information with interesting facts about participating teams. The insights include historical breakthroughs by underdogs and unexpected losses by tournament favorites. The information is provided using past outright betting data.
Esports Map allows users to track the esports industry’s development in various parts of the world. For instance, although League of Legends remains the most popular game and the League of Legends World Championship has kept its spot as the top esports tournament for many years, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is visibly closing the gap between the two games. Worlds 2024 in London had 6,856,769 peak viewers, breaking the world record among all esports games since 2017. However, MPL Indonesia’s Season 15 of MLBB has kept its place in the top spot for 2025, with 4,132,224 peak viewers. Today, MLBB remains the only mobile game capable of attracting such a massive audience, and its fan base is growing, especially in Southeast Asia. Analysts are looking forward to Worlds 2025 in China, which will allow them to update the available data and compare how different games are developing.
“Esports Map is a new project from Esports Charts, which we’ve launched alongside GG.BET as our first partner. We aimed to create a tool that would be interesting and useful to both fans and industry professionals. At its core lies Esports Charts’ analytics, supplemented by betting insights from GG.BET—covering everything from peak viewership and prize pools to discipline trends and stories of unexpected victories.. When combined, this data turns into a live snapshot of esports that can be tracked by country and region,” said Esports Charts’ press office.
“GG.BET regularly supports projects that help people understand esports at a greater depth. Esports Map provides an easy-to-understand visual representation of the industry’s progress in individual countries around the world and displays the breakdown of games by region. It will be of interest to fans and will prove useful to professionals who are developing the industry,” added GG.BET’s press office.
Esports Charts and GG.BET have previously worked together on an analytical project dedicated to the BLAST Premier 2024 season. That project displayed data on views, unique statistics about both the game and bets placed, an analytical breakdown of the season, and exclusive infographics on teams and players.
eSports
Thunderpick Partners with Oddin.gg and Introduces BetPeek, First Fully Interactive Esports Viewing Platform
Thunderpick, the leading esports betting platform, in partnership with Oddin.gg, a provider of end-to-end esports betting solutions, today announced the exclusive launch of BetPeek, a first-of-its-kind interactive esports viewing experience available only on Thunderpick.io.
While most esports streams today limit fans to static broadcast feeds and pre-selected camera angles, BetPeek flips the script. For the first time, viewers can control how they watch the action—transforming every match into a personalized, immersive event.
BetPeek’s key features include:
- Follow Any Player – Switch instantly to the POV of any competitor on the server.
- Dynamic Camera Control – Place the camera anywhere on the map for a unique vantage point.
- X-Ray Vision – Unlock strategic insights by seeing what players can’t.
- Play, Pause & Rewind – Revisit every clutch play with DVR-style controls.
- Integrated Betting Tools – Access deeper context and analysis to inform smarter wagers.
“Traditional esports streams have barely evolved; they’re often one-size-fits-all broadcasts that leave fans wishing for more control,” said Kelly Sanders, Head of Strategy at Thunderpick. “BetPeek completely changes that. By putting fans in the driver’s seat, we’re delivering an esports experience that’s not just more engaging, but truly revolutionary for bettors and spectators alike.”
Why It Matters
Until now, esports fans had little choice beyond passively watching standard tournament streams or fragmented co-streams. BetPeek represents the next era:Â an interactive, on-demand, and bet-integrated platform unlike anything else in the industry. For bettors, this means unprecedented visibility into momentum shifts, rotations, and player form. For fans, it’s a chance to experience the match exactly how they want.
Exclusive to Thunderpick
BetPeek is available only on Thunderpick.io, reinforcing Thunderpick’s position as the most innovative esports betting destination worldwide. In partnership with Oddin.gg, a global leader in esports betting solutions, Thunderpick continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in live, fan-first esports engagement.
The Global Esports Federation at its 16th Board Meeting approved the draft program for the Los Angeles 2026 Global Esports Games, to be held in December 2026. This follows the earlier announcement of Los Angeles as host city at a major ceremony hosted by Los Angeles Times Media Group Executive Chairman & CEO Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel—now marking a significant milestone on the road to GEF’s flagship event in the United States.
The GEF Board also unanimously elected Paul J. Foster as President of the Global Esports Federation. Paul, who is GEF Chief Executive Officer, was appointed President ad interim following the resignation of founding President Chris Chan in July, and now assumes the role of President & CEO through December 2027.
In addition, the GEF Board approved the establishment of frameworks to develop the esports ecosystem in the United States, anchored in Los Angeles. This initiative will strengthen the GEF’s connections with stakeholders worldwide and reinforce its mission to elevate esports for all.
The outcomes of GEF 16th Board Meeting reaffirm the GEF’s role as a convening platform, uniting athletes, publishers, Member Federations, and partners to power the future of esports globally.
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