France-based esports team to join Elite Series

RNS Number : 3238C

Gfinity PLC

19 January 2018

 

Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information according to REGULATION (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR)

Gfinity plc

("Gfinity" or the "Company")

France-based esports team to compete in Elite Series: Season 3

Team Alpha Republic of Esport ('ARES') becomes the latest franchise to join the third season of the esports tournament, taking place in March 2018 with a prize pool in excess of £250,000

Gfinity plc (AIM: GFIN), a leading international esports entertainment group, announces that Paris-based esports franchise, ARES, has acquired its place on the roster at the Gfinity Elite Series season three, which is due to commence in March 2018.

ARES is supported by a variety of World-renowned athletes, including a host of professional football players. Bayern Munich and Columbia midfielder James Rodriguez, Yannick Carrasco of Atletico Madrid and Belgium and Tottenham Hotspur's Moussa Sissoko are among the top names involved with the organisation.

Headquartered in Paris, France, ARES hosts its own competitions to discover the very best talent from across the world, with the tournament winners offered a professional contract - much like making the Elite Draft based on player ranking in Gfinity's Challenger Series. ARES is the first professional esports club to open its doors to all gamers, help develop their skills and allow new talent to break through on the global stage.

Elite Series

The Gfinity Challenger Series has had over 20,000 18-35-year-old gamers participate from 18 different countries.  Season One of the Elite Series created 180 hours of live broadcast viewed by over 3 million people in more than 30 countries, with Elite Series Season Two receiving over 5 million views, giving a combined total of 9 million views for the first two seasons. 

Having increased the number of teams competing in the third season to 10, ARES joins a growing roster of new teams including: Team Vitality, Fnatic and Elite Series two franchise winners Reason Gaming. The teams will go head-to-head on EA SPORTS FIFA 18, Rocket League and Street Fighter V.

Prior to ARES's opening match, amateur gamers from around the world are invited to compete in the previously announced Challenger Series to earn a place in the Elite Draft. After six weeks of online competition, the top 40 players will enter the draft in the hope of being selected by one of the 10 teams with each drafting two players to become part of their active roster. The teams will compete in a five-week regular season in a bid to make the play-offs which will be played over a three-week period from the Gfinty Esports Arena in London.

Neville Upton, Chief Executive of Gfinity, said: "We are excited to have ARES onboard heading into Season Three and we look forward to them bringing their top talent to the Gfinty Esports Arena.

"With a renowned pedigree and a host of top-tier sporting athletes who work closely with the teams, ARES will provide a perfect landing spot for our budding amateurs currently battling it out in the Challenger Series."    

Badr Slassi, CEO of ARES, said: "Being part of a world class tournament such as the Elite Series represents an excellent opportunity for ARES, with the support of our ambassadors, to begin our international venture here in the UK.

"The inclusion of FIFA 18, complete with qualifying spot towards the 2018 eWorld Cup, makes this a tournament we have to be involved in and we're thrilled to be a part of it."

Enquiries:

Gfinity plc	www.gfinityplc.com
Neville Upton, Chief Executive Officer	Via Walbrook PR
Allenby Capital Limited - AIM Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker	Tel: [phone]
Jeremy Porter / John Depasquale / James Thomas
Shore Capital - Joint Broker	Tel: [phone]
Patrick Castle
Walbrook PR (Media & Investor Relations)	Tel: [phone]
Paul Cornelius /Sam Allen	or [e-mail]

About Gfinity

Founded in 2012, Gfinity has established itself as one of the world's leading esports companies.  The London-based business enjoys strong relationships with game publishers, players and the wider esports community and has built a solid reputation for delivering high quality competitions, both on-line at www.gfinityesports.com and off-line, in addition to producing industry leading esports broadcasts.

The Gfinity Esports Arena at Fulham Broadway, London is the home of UK esports showcasing regular tournaments across the full range of competitive games. Beyond its own tournaments Gfinity provides a full turnkey solution for brands wanting to create their own esports tournaments and has staged premium esports events around the globe for leading publishers and brands including Formula 1, Microsoft, Activision, EA, Xbox, Gillette and HP.

Gfinity is an accredited official EA SPORTS™ FIFA 18 Global Series qualifier as EA brings competitive FIFA to millions of fans around the world through the EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series on The Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 in August 2018. 

For more details on the entire EA SPORTS FIFA 18 Global Series, please visit www.FUTChampions.com

For more information about the Challenger season, which is free and open to everyone, please visit https://challenger.gfinityesports.com/

About ARES

Ares Esport is the first worldwide esport organisation that offers the opportunity for millions of players to become a professional.

Supported by international football players like James Rodriguez, Moussa Sissoko, Sofiane Feghouli or Mario Lemina, Ares Esport organises qualifying tournaments which are able to detect and reveal the best future players of the most popular games. To help them to reach the top, Ares Esport offers a complete management and a professional player contract.

Ares' motto is: "From sport to esport, there is only one step. The revolution is on its way."

About esports

Esports (electronic sports) is watching or playing competitive video gaming. Leading titles include League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Defence of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2), Call of Duty and Rocket League. The industry is growing rapidly, with new communities developing around more and more titles. The global esports market generated US$493 million of revenue in 2016 and is expected to make $1.5 billion by 2020. The global esports audience in 2017 was 191 million people, 80% under the age of 35 and 70% male (source: Newzoo). Online streaming channels Twitch and YouTube command the biggest audiences, although esports events are also now being broadcast on conventional TV. The 2015 League of Legends Championships finals in Berlin were watched by 36 million people, with a peak concurrent viewership of 14 million viewers, while at DotA 2's flagship annual championship 'The International 2016' competitors from around the world competed for a prize pot of over $20 million.

 

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