Microsoft extends event partnership for Halo

RNS Number : 4378Z

Gfinity PLC

15 December 2017

 

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

Gfinity plc

("Gfinity" or the "Company")

Microsoft extends event partnership for European focused Halo tournament

Gfinity to organise, promote and execute a further EU Halo 5: Guardians tournament in Q1 2018 as part of the global "Halo World Championship 2018"

Gfinity plc (AIM: GFIN), a leading international esports entertainment group, announces that it has once again been named as a preferred event partner to Microsoft for the forthcoming "Halo World Championship 2018" for the next season in 2018. This further extension of Gfnity's partnership with Microsoft follows the successful previous Halo Championship Series ("HCS") tournament in Autumn 2017, the successful Forza Racing Championship in 2017 and the Gears of War 2017 tournaments.

The Halo World Championship 2018 will include four weekly tournaments, during late January and early February, which will be broadcast live from the Gfinity Esports Arena. The season will also include a three-day EU Open LAN event with a prize pool of $25,000 to be held at Gfinity's London Arena in February 2018.

Neville Upton, Chief Executive of Gfinity, said: "Gfinity is delighted to announce yet another event partnership with Microsoft as part of the Halo World Championship 2018 in Europe next season. This extension of our already close relationship with Microsoft underlines our dedication and commitment to organising, promoting and executing world class esports events".    

Tahir Hasandjekic, Lead Esports Producer of 343 Industries (a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios), said: "Gfinity have proven to be one of the world's preeminent esports entertainment organizations, and we're excited to continue our partnership with them in 2018. After the sold out event at HCS London in September 2017, we're looking to take things to the next level with Gfinity to create best possible experience for the European Halo community."

Enquiries:

Gfinity plc	www.gfinityplc.com
Neville Upton, Chief Executive Officer	Via Walbrook PR
Allenby Capital Limited - AIM Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel. [phone]
Jeremy Porter / John Depasquale / James Thomas
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 Challenger and Elite Series:

·     Challenger Series has had over 20,000 18-35-year-old gamers participate from 18 different countries

·     Elite Series Season 1 created 180 hours of live broadcast viewed by over 3M people in more than 30 countries 

·     Through the first seven weeks of Elite Series Season 2, total views were 3.64M showing a 40% increase on Elite Series Season 1 viewership

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 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.

About Halo

The "Halo" franchise is an award-winning collection of properties that have transcended video games and grown into a global entertainment phenomenon. Beginning with the original "Halo: Combat Evolved" (2001), the critically acclaimed and record-shattering series of games have reinvented how people think about video games and has since built a fan base of millions worldwide and inspired multiple New York Times best-selling novels, a live-action digital series, comic books, action figures, apparel and more.

 

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