eSports
Acer and Envy Gaming Announce First Predator Training Day to Celebrate PC Gamers
Partnership’s first online community event features fan and professional tournaments, sweepstakes, swag drops and more
Acer, an industry leader in gaming hardware and Envy Gaming, one of the most winning Esports organizations worldwide, will host Predator Training Day for esports fans and competitors on Saturday, June 26th from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. It features a full day of livestreamed play, giveaways, special guests, new swag and hot deals, as well as activities to compete and earn prizes leading up to the event. Highlights include fan and content creator tournaments and the Ultimate Sweepstakes awarding participants popular Predator gaming systems and accessories as well as Dallas Empire x Predator branded swag.
“Our Predator lineup of gaming solutions has grown to become a premier brand within the esports world and supporting this community is a top priority for us. It’s our goal to support players of all levels with the experiences and tools they need to compete and exceed their potential,” said Richard Black, vice president of marketing, Acer America. “We look forward to growing Predator Training Day in its scope and will continue to
encourage and benefit the esports community in fresh and new ways.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with Acer to give aspiring gamers the training and challenges required to increase their competitive skills and gaming acumen,” said Shay Butler, Envy Gaming vice president of sales and marketing. “Our partnership continues to grow and activate in ways that are action-packed, fun-filled and honor our fans and the gaming and esports community.”
Turbopolsa Summer Circuit
The Turbopolsa Summer Circuit invites esports enthusiasts to compete in a 2v2 double elimination, best of three Rocket League tournament. The winning team of two players will each earn a powerful, award-winning Predator Triton 300 SE gaming laptop. The tournament begins at 11 a.m. PT on Friday, June 25. The most-winning Rocket League player of all time, @Turbopolsa, will host the finals livestream as a showmatch on twitch.com/teamenvy starting at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday, June 26.
The Predator Cup
In addition, The Predator Cup, a Rocket League 2v2 tournament will showcase 16 of the world’s leading Rocket League content creators and streamers competing in a double elimination, best of three format, to win a $20,000 prize allocated among the top 3 winners (First: $12,000; Second: $5,500 and Third: $2,500). The Predator Cup (The @Predator_USA Cup) will be broadcast live starting at noon PT on June 26 as http://twitchtv/teamenvy.
Ultimate Sweepstakes
The Ultimate Sweepstakes offers those 18 and older in the United States the chance to win a powerful gaming
setup comprised of an acclaimed and highly rated Predator Orion 3000 gaming rig and a Predator XB3 monitor. There will also be opportunities for gamers to win a Predator XB3 monitor, a gaming accessory bundle that includes a Predator Cestus 350 mouse, Predator Aethon 300 keyboard, Predator Rolltop Jr. backpack and
Predator-branded mousepad as well as chances to win exclusive Dallas Empire x Predator co-branded swag.
To enter and for more information on the sweepstakes, follow the following social channels where sweepstakes opportunities will be launched on June 16 and run until June 26, closing at midnight PT; @Predator_USA, @DallasEmpire, @DallasFuel and @Envy on Twitter and @PredatorGamingUSA, @TheDallasEmpire and @DallasFuel on Instagram. Winners will be announced on these social channels.
Sweet Deals & Discounts
Throughout Predator Training Day on June 26, there will be excellent deals and discounts available on a variety of Predator-branded gaming accessories and bundles, such as a free Predator Cestus 310 mouse and Predator Galea 310 headset with the purchase of a Predator Helios 300 gaming laptop. Acer’s gaming ecosystem in North America currently includes gaming hardware (gaming PCs and gaming accessories), tournaments (Predator League) and a social platform (PLANET9).
To register and learn more details on Predator Training Day activities and opportunities, go to https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/training-room.
eSports
Community Gaming Joins Forces with Moonton as Official Esports Partner for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Community Gaming (CG), the leading esports platform for automated tournament payouts and sponsor of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang’s professional league for the Latin America Region, MPL LATAM, now supports developing esports communities in Latin America in collaboration with Moonton.
This partnership is a significant boost to CG’s existing advantages associated with its grant program, a partner-backed initiative to provide organizers with economic resources based on the performance and growth of their local gaming communities. Tournament organizers can apply to receive platform support, prizes, in-game currency, items, and tournament professional assistance including “Tournament Mode,” a special setting on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang that grants organizers enhanced features, such as unlocking all available skins in the game for players to fully enjoy a complete and unique MLBB pro tournament experience.
Wei Xu, regional esports operation manager at Moonton, said: “We are excited to announce the partnership with Community Gaming. Community Gaming is the most accepted esports platform in our community in Latin America. We hope this partnership brings new experiences to the players.”
As MPL comes to its end this year, CG will also be collaborating with MLBB professional teams for a flash $4000 prize tournament set to enhance the visibility of the company’s services. This event marks a pivotal moment set to highlight CG’s preparedness to impact the professional MLBB scene.
Community Gaming and Moonton are no strangers to mutual cooperation. In the past both companies have partnered to develop the Dawn of Heroes Series, a set of events in 2021 and 2022 that offered qualifying slots to MLBB’s Signature Competition, Liga LATAM. The companies have also worked together on Peru’s University Tournament INTERU 2023 and currently Community Gaming hosts significant activity of MLBB Tournaments from over 12 countries on a monthly basis.
eSports
Esports player age verification should be simple
Despite the continuing professionalisation of esports, misconceptions about player age persist – particularly of underage pros playing in professional esports.
Back in 2021, the PandaScore whitepaper dug into the data around player age in professional esports and found that the average age of a pro player was just under 24 years old. By comparison, the same report noted that the average age for a men’s professional footballer was about 26 years old.
While there is no great gulf in player ages between esports and traditional sports, there’s more apprehension around this topic once there’s a keyboard or controller involved. There are good reasons behind this focus, but the truth is that a simple and straightforward product makes player age verification easy.
The reason behind the focus on player age
Compliance with player age requirements has been a particular concern as legalised sports and esports betting rolls out across the US. These are completely reasonable concerns, partly because of the state-by-state nature of American regulation, but also due to past compliance issues in the likes of ITF tennis.
Age compliance isn’t a challenge unique to esports. It does have younger players in the same way tennis does, so it’s a space that operators consider a potential risk area based on precedent. While it’s understandable to be vigilant about ensuring age compliance across your whole book, the reality in esports is it’s just like any other sport.
However, with this greater attention, it’s crucial for esports suppliers to have a simple, high-quality solution that is flexible for any jurisdiction – and not just treat it as a spreadsheet-based, tack-on service.
Importance in the US
It’s abundantly clear that if you want to ensure compliance in the US space, player age verification isn’t a nice to have, it’s an integral part of your product. Across each jurisdiction player age verification can vary – something we’ve seen in Europe as well such as Sweden’s rule that a match must have 60% of players over the age of 18 for an operator to offer match bets.
In sports, it’s fairly straightforward to implement but has been an oversight from sports data providers in the past. It’s quite easy to provide, it just requires collecting data from multiple, reputable sources outside of the match itself.
PandaScore has been collecting player age verification data since it was founded in 2017 to ensure compliance no matter the regulation, no matter the jurisdiction.
Embedding player age verification in your product
Ensuring age compliance was a founding principle for our product suite – we included it as a key datapoint in our API, which is the bedrock of our broader offering. Suppliers should have this embedded in their products, rather than an additional service.
PandaScore believes that offering player age verification as part of an API and integrated into your service means you can be more confident in your compliance not just for individual esports titles, but from match to match.
For us it’s simple: one of PandaScore’s founding principles is to not rely on only one single data source, but leverage multiple quality data sources that we can trust. We have a longstanding and highly developed process that guarantees a level of accuracy for player age verification that’s in line with regulation and gives operators the confidence that they’re compliant. Our practice of using multiple data sources means that double and triple-checking information to ensure player age compliance is in our nature.
With player age verification built into an API, operators can leverage the data to match the compliance needs of any given jurisdiction. This can be done by integrating player age data via the API, it can be included in their feed via our odds product with the flexibility to add exclusions where necessary, or if an operators wants it in a simper form, it can be done via request.
Player age verification might seem like a simple item, but is a compliance matter that’s essential to operating in a proper fashion. Noting the concerns and greater focus on player ages in esports, it’s something that’s important to get right: player age verification should be entrenched in esports products themselves to give operators the flexibility and simplicity that they need.
Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.
eSports
CS2 Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 SuperComputer: NaVi to bounce back after Blast Fall Final loss
Final: Natus Vincere (36.5%) to beat Team Vitality (28.1%)
Semifinal 1: Natus Vincere (52.6%) to beat MOUZ (16.3%)
Semifinal 2: Team Vitality (47.7%) to beat G2 Esports (18.7%)
Quarterfinal 1: G2 Esports (39.8%) to beat FaZe Clan (32.8%)
Quarterfinal 2: MOUZ (35.9%) to beat Eternal Fire (24.7%)
Group stage:
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Natus Vincere – 48.7% to finish 1st; 17.0% to finish 2nd; 84.1% to make playoffs
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Team Vitality – 40.8% to finish 1st; 17.4% to finish 2nd; 77.7% to make playoffs
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G2 Esports – 19.3% to finish 1st; 20.4% to finish 2nd; 56.7% to make playoffs
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MOUZ – 14.5% to finish 1st; 21.8% to finish 2nd; 53.0% to make playoffs
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FaZe Clan – 13.9% to finish 1st; 21.0% to finish 2nd; 50.2% to make playoffs
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Eternal Flame – 40.7% to finish 1st; 16.2% to finish 2nd; 40.7% to make playoffs
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Liquid – 16.3% to finish 7-8th; 35.7% to make playoffs
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Virtus.pro – 15.4% to finish 7-8th; 29.9% to make playoffs
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Astralis – 28.9% to finish 9-12th; 31.5% to make playoffs
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The MongolZ – 32.7% to finish 9-12th; 25.4% to make playoffs
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Complexity – 34.3% to finish 9-12th; 21.2% to make playoffs
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Heroic – 26.8% to finish 9-12th; 23.5% to make playoffs
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paiN – 36.5% to finish 13-16th; 21.0% to make playoffs
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FURIA – 36.4% to finish 13-16th; 20.9% to make playoffs
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9z – 44.7% to finish 13-16th; 14.6% to make playoffs
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Imperial – 49.1% to finish 13-16th; 13.9% to make playoffs
It has been quite the run for NaVi despite their loss with back to back grand finals in recent weeks but CSDB.gg’s predictive model suggests there will be no let up for the Ukrainian esports organisation.
G2 will also be looking to build more momentum in preparation for Majors season with NiKo on a quest to finally get over the line this year to win his first major title. Hopefully Rio won’t have to see a repeat of his reaction in the semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 where he punched a hole in a table after losing out to Team Vitality in a key moment.
However, the hosts of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 may want to lockdown any nearby furniture and reinforce their desks if G2 are set for disappointment at the semifinals stage as predicted by the CSDB.gg SuperComputer.
A victory in Rio could be even more consequential for how the end of the year shapes up for the leading teams on the circuit. The Valve Global rankings have both teams close at the very top (NaVi at 1988 and G2 at 1953) meaning a win for either team could hand them a key advantage when it comes to who enters the Majors as top seed.
Back-to-back wins in T1 events for G2, should they prosper in Rio, would set the Berlin-based team on an incredible trajectory going into the winter months.
Meanwhile, Brazilian hopes for glory look slight according to the CSDB.gg SuperComputer with FURIA, the team co-owned by Neymar, having only been given a 20.9% chance of even making the playoffs.
They are the leading contenders to make an impact for the home crowd but there are other teams flying the flag for Brazil with paiN and Imperial also set to give it their best to give local fans something to cheer on.
In terms of forecasted matchups of note, G2 and FaZe Clan could offer up a fascinating encounter in the quarterfinals should both teams qualify, with each organisation rated as having a strong chance of making the semis with little to separate them should they meet.
How was the CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer created?
The CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer is a predictive model created using world ranking points, team quality ratings and performance trends. An element of randomness is also included in the model to avoid the best teams and players always winning, to reflect the fact that upsets can happen.
Every tournament is simulated 1,000 times with the results aggregated into a percentage rating of the chances teams or players have to achieve the predicted result.
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