eSports
Team Vitality, Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum Unleash Sub-Zero Rocket League – The Frozen All Stars Showmatch!
Leading global esports organisation Team Vitality is thrilled to reveal The Frozen All Stars, a spectacular Rocket League exhibition match and fan event supported by Unilever’s iconic ice cream brands Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum. On December 15th, 2023, The Frozen All Stars will be live-streamed from Team Vitality’s Twitch channel and TikTok page, presented by the French Casters Robin ‘LifeIsCool’ Pachot-Giroux and Boyan ‘Boyan’ Kaftandjiev from Rocket Baguette. Scottish Rocket League casting legend, John ‘JohnnyBoi_i’ MacDonald will also stream the tournament globally through his official Twitch Channel.
A CHANCE TO WITNESS THE ‘BATTLE OF THE ROCKET LEAGUE ALL STARS PLAYERS’
As a gift to the Rocket League community, The Frozen All Stars will feature Team Vitality’s powerhouse 2024 Rocket League roster, including 2023 RLCS World Champions Yanis ‘Alpha54’ Champenois, Andrea ‘Radosin’ Radovanovic, Alexis ‘zen’ Bernier alongside the newly appointed head coach Victor ‘Fairy Peak!’ Locquet.
The Frozen All Stars has invited legends from across the globe to join in the festivities, such as:
- Jos ‘ViolentPanda’ van Meurs, a 25-year-old Dutch gaming prodigy. Boasting two World Championships and the 2020 European title, he’s now leveraging his strategic prowess as a coach at Dignitas. With a knack for creating crucial opportunities, ViolentPanda is set to create unforgettable moments during the showmatch.
- Kyle ‘Scrub Killa” Robertson, at the age of 20, the Scottish prodigy was catapulted into the limelight, showcasing his extraordinary 1v1 skills in Rocket League caster JohnnyBoi’s show matches. Recognising his talent, Team Vitality recruited him, leading to a triumphant victory at the Season 7 World Championship in 2019 alongside teammates Kaydop and Fairy Peak.
- Justin ‘jstn.’ Morales, a 21-year-old American prodigy. He achieved legendary status with a jaw-dropping 0-second goal in the season 5 final, though his team didn’t clinch victory. In 2019, he secured the Season 8 World Championship title, scoring the winning goal in a final showdown against Team Vitality.
Fans worldwide can tune in to the broadcast on Team Vitality’s Twitch channel featuring the casting duo of Robin ‘LifeIsCool’ Pachot-Giroux and Boyan ‘Boyan’ Kaftandjiev to witness the pulse-pounding battle of the champions as it unfolds.
FREESTYLE MODES, UNEXPECTED TEAM-UPS AND CHALLENGES
All evening, ‘The Frozen All Stars’ promises highly competitive clashes with a breathtaking display of skill and strategy. The evening will take place in three parts with different modes, with plenty of time for fans to enjoy delicious frozen treats between each match.
- Game 1: mix of players!
Following a public vote on Twitter, players will be divided into two teams of four. This is the first time that spectators will have the chance to witness a match that brings together players like Zen, Scrub Killa, or ViolentPanda on the same team. An exceptional format full of challenges!
- Game 2: 1v1, for Team Vitality players!
After a pulse-pounding first game, the second course of the tournament will see Team Vitality players put their skills to the test against each other in thrilling 1v1 matches.
- Game 3: Team Vitality vs their guests!
To finish, the showmatch ends with the Team Vitality roster, coached by FairyPeak!, fighting it out against the international players. As the rounds tick forward, the international players will rotate the role of coach – giving each player the opportunity to shoulder the responsibility and showcase their coaching prowess.
SERVING GOALS AND SCOOPS: THE V.HIVE TRANSFORMS INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND WITH BEN & JERRY’S AND MAGNUM!
The festivities are not just limited to the online experience. Team Vitality will open the doors to V.Hive for the community. Collaborating with Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, the esports organisation has transformed their Parisian spaces into magical, winter-warming experiences.
- The V.Café will be repainted in Magnum’s iconic colours, where it will be possible to eat personalised ice creams.
- V.Play will welcome players for the showmatch in an enchanted setting.
- The V.Shop will be transformed into Ben & Jerry’s colours with a Rocket League IRL style game, with remote-controlled cars.
- The Bootcamp will become ‘The Ben & Jerry’s Apartment’, a cosy lounge where fans can watch the matches, blind taste ice cream flavours, and look forward to prize giveaways throughout the evening.
Attendees not only have the chance to enjoy the immersive atmosphere but can also experience the excitement firsthand. Fans can use cutting-edge equipment and put their Rocket League skills to the test, meet both Team Vitality players and the legendary guests, all while indulging in the delicious icy treats provided by Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
‘The Frozen All Stars is a brilliant example of Team Vitality’s commitment to creating thrilling events focused on putting its fans at the forefront of esports entertainment. With the help of Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, this event showcases the incredible talent of Team Vitality’s current RLCS World champions and Rocket League All Star legends and unites its players and fans through the shared enjoyment of epic plays and frozen desserts – fostering inclusion within the community. The Frozen All Stars is more than just an exhibition match; it’s a celebration of passion, entertainment, and the joy of coming together as a global esports community.’ explains Nicolas Maurer – CEO at Team Vitality.
‘Leaders in the ice cream market, Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s want to position themselves as pioneers in new media and esports. By partnering with Team Vitality, number 1 in France, we are addressing our fans in a territory that speaks to them. With “The Frozen All Stars” event we are keen to give them a new and unique experience with our brands.’ states Nathalie Tempra – Head of Marketing Unilever Ice Cream.
Stay tuned to Team Vitality’s official social media at Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok for more information. Watch Frozen All Stars live on Team Vitality’s official Twitch and YouTube channels broadcast or at John ‘JohnnyBoi_i’ MacDonald’s Twitch Channel for the official English broadcast.
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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