TIDMGFIN
RNS Number : 5759Z
Gfinity PLC
18 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")
World-renowned esports franchise to compete for the first time
in Elite Series
Team Fnatic is first new franchise to be announced for third
season of the esports tournament taking place in March 2018 with a
prize pool in excess of GBP250,000
Gfinity plc (AIM: GFIN), a leading international esports
entertainment group, announces that world-renowned esports
franchise, Fnatic, will join the highly popular Gfinity Elite
Series season three, which is due to commence in March 2018.
Fnatic is a professional esports organisation headquartered in
London, United Kingdom, and has established itself as one of the
leading franchises in global esports with teams competing in over
20 global competitions each year. Founded on 23 July 2004, the team
has players from around the world, across a variety of games, such
as FIFA, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and
Dota 2. Earlier in 2017, Fnatic signed an exclusive partnership
with Italian football club, AS Roma.
Fnatic, which has been a huge part of the esports revolution
with its teams winning more than $8 million in prize money, is the
first new team to be announced as part of Gfinity's Elite Series
expansion which sees the number of teams increase from eight to
ten. Gfinity recently added EA SPORTS FIFA 18 to the line-up of
titles, joining Rocket League and Street Fighter V, and teams will
compete for a prize pool in excess of GBP250,000.
Prior to Fnatic's opening FIFA 18 match, amateur players from
around the world are invited to sign up for free to compete in the
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 six-week regular season in a bid to
make the play-offs which will be played over a two-week period from
the Gfinity Esports Arena in London.
Neville Upton, Chief Executive of Gfinity, said: "Having
established the Elite Series as one of the leading esports
tournaments in the world, we couldn't be more excited by expanding
and bringing in a team of Fnatic's calibre.
"With their inclusion, an already competitive roster and more
announcements to come, this will be our most action-packed season
to date."
Patrik Sattermon, CGO and Co-Owner, Fnatic, said: "We have
followed the Elite Series closely for some time and have been
thoroughly impressed, in terms of the tournament but also in both
the professionalism and vision of Gfinity's team.
The new opportunities for our existing FIFA and Rocket League
rosters are very exciting and a return to the fighting game scene
with Street Fighter V is something we very much look forward
to."
Enquiries:
Gfinity plc www.gfinityplc.com
Neville Upton, Chief Executive Via Walbrook PR
Officer
Allenby Capital Limited - AIM Tel. +44 20 3328
Nominated Adviser and Broker 5656
Jeremy Porter / John Depasquale
/ James Thomas
Walbrook PR (Media & Investor Tel: +44 (0)20
Relations) 7933 8780
Paul Cornelius /Sam Allen or gfinity@walbrookpr.com
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 Elite Series Season 2 highlights:
-- Gfinity received over 5 million live views and over 9 million
in total which was an increase of 51% and 86% respectively
-- Total engagement on Facebook was in excess of 1.1 million
-- Average viewing time on Twitch increased by 20%
Gfinity is an accredited official EA SPORTS(TM) 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 FNATIC
Fnatic is a leading, global esports organization with
professional teams in the most popular games such as League of
Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm and
more. Since being founded in 2004 by Sam Mathews, Fnatic teams have
collected numerous honors including winning the first ever LCS
World Championship and winning three CS:GO Majors, in addition to
other major gaming titles. In 2015, Fnatic launched Fnatic Gear,
the hardware line of gaming peripherals. The organization launched
the first ever esports concept store, BUNKR, dedicated to all
things esports in 2016.
Fnatic is headquartered in London, United Kingdom with
additional offices and gaming houses in Berlin, Belgrade, Los
Angeles and Kuala Lumpur. For more information about Fnatic, visit
www.fnatic.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.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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