In an official ESL blog post, the organisation confirmed all upcoming events in both leagues will be only available to watch on the popular social media platform, along with embedded streams on the event websites, as part of a new partnership.

The streams are available to both Facebook users and those without an account, meaning you do not have to register to access the live-streamed tournament coverage as before.

ESL has previously shared clips and stories of their esports tournaments on Facebook, but the next stage will involve “providing a much more advanced viewing experience which also connects to the existing Facebook pages of teams, players and talents.”

This will involve the Facebook Watch feature, which ESL says it will use to provide streams of their tournaments in full 1080p resolution and 60fps, a common request from the hardcore esports audience. You can also choose to watch live-streams in a virtual reality headset such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

In addition, a weekly esports show for Dota 2 will be aired through Facebook Watch, with further details to be announced at a later date.

The new collaborative video features on Facebook, which allow users to watch live-streams with friends and jump in both general and private chat-rooms while watching the same broadcast, is the main feature ESL points to as the solution for further developing the social esports viewing experience.

“Having two of ESL’s most adored properties for CS:GO and Dota 2 streaming exclusively on Facebook is the next step in our efforts to delight the passionate esports community on Facebook,” said Leo Olebe, Director of Facebook Games Partnerships. “The ability to now watch esports in 1080p and in VR underscores our commitment to adding more ways for fans to watch and connect with each other around the esports content they love most.”

All CS:GO Pro League and ESL One live-streams on Facebook will be broadcast in English and Portuguese, with other language options available.

The first ESL event to launch this year will be Dota 2 at ESL One Genting 2018 on January 23 – 28, followed by CS:GO Pro League on February 13, which we will be covering as it unfolds.

In the mean-time, keep www.iirgulf.com bookmarked for the latest betting predictions, team news and other industry updates.

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Chinese live stream video gaming platform Chushou has received significant investment from Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.

Specialising in esports live streams of mobile games such as Vainglory, Chushou features eight million users and hosts over 250,000 live streams of video games and esports events daily.

While Google’s flagship search engine has been shut out of China since 2012 due to restrictive Internet laws, its recent investment in Chushou guarantees involvement in the rapidly growing esports interest in the country.

Several companies invested over US$120 million into Chushou for future international expansion in mind, and while none of the parties involved revealed the size of Google’s stake or the valuation of Chushou after the round (via CNBC), Google is believed to have been behind the majority of it.

Meanwhile, ASUS’s Taiwanese subsidiary Republic of Gamers (ROG) has recently invested $16 million in a new business venture in mainland China with the intent of setting up an esports hub.

Local Chinese news outlets have reported ROG will start a company named Huajing Culture Media Co., Ltd. to cultivate the development of professional video gaming in the country, with a new League of Legends (LoL) esports team, Rogue Warriors formed to accompany the launch. It is set to compete in the LoL Pro League later this year.

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen told YT Sports the company’s presence in China is not “limited to esports product sales, but instead, ASUS aims to create its own esports industry”, with everything from merchandising, sponsorship, ticket sales, tournaments, and player investments likely on the cards.

A Taiwan-based affiliate team representing ROG is also believed to be in the works, which will join ROG’s many other sponsorships and involvement with high-profile professional gaming teams like Echo Fox and NRG Esports.

www.iirgulf.com analysis: Both announcements from ASUS and Google signal the beginning of China’s increasing importance in the growth of the esports industry. With over 72 million esports enthusiasts and 717.3 million smartphone users as recorded by NewZoo, China is a surprisingly highly untapped esport market. But some big technology companies like NetEase have paved the way for competitive gaming in the region with established partnerships with gaming powerhouses like Blizzard. Professional home-grown teams are also starting to take on the world stage in high-profile international tournaments, such as the Shanghai Dragons in the upcoming Overwatch League.

While Google already has a significant esports platform in the form of YouTube Gaming, its involvement with Chushou will allow the company to capture the elusive Chinese market via a home-grown service. It could also potentially provide decent international competition for the current dominant live-streaming esports platform, Twitch.tv.

Since?Chushou is a mobile-focused live streaming site, it only makes sense to strike while the iron’s hot with the massive numbers of Chinese esports fans recorded who don’t yet use Twitch or YouTube Gaming.

ASUS’s Republic of Gamers brand is also smart to stake their claim early. With a pre-existing solid reputation in PC gaming and hardware, they no doubt want a bigger slice of the $27.5 billion in gaming revenue generated by the 565 million Chinese gamers last year.

With esports continuing to exceed revenue estimates with $1.6 billion predicted in 2018, it’s likely more companies will quickly follow suit.

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From May to October, PUBG brought in a total of 202 million unique viewers on Twitch and 10 concurrent million players on Steam, a mere seven months after its Early Access launch. Starting with an already impressive 19 million audience, it skyrocketed to 126 million viewers on the live-streaming platform a mere two months later before steadily rising throughout the year.

PUBG’s October viewership is notable in that it is only beaten in raw viewership numbers by League of Legends, which gathered 286 million unique viewers and is considered the largest audience for a single video game and esport. LoL fans consumed up to 1,665 million hours of the game on Twitch in the period of April to October.

As the SuperData report states, we believe PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is well positioned to become the first and most popular esport in the emergent Battle Royale sub-genre it has popularised in 2017. Considering PUBG’s viewership is 20 times more than its actual active player-base, it’s a fair indication that the game has attracted interest from a significant portion of non-gamers.

Whether that popularity will last and translate into a potential esports fanbase remains to be seen, but Bluehole Inc. has given it a fair go with several sponsored events throughout the year. In May, the company hosted the 2017 Charity Invitational to raise money for the Gamers Outreach Foundation, eventually generating US$220,000 and acting as the prototype template for future, more professionally organised esports events.

In August, the Gamescom PUBG Invitational LAN Tournament hosted 80 of the most popular PUBG pro players and live-streamers for a share of US$350,000 in prize money. Just last month, the Intel Extreme Masters Oakland – PUBG Invitational 2017 was held and featured a 20-team, 80-player tournament organised by Intel and ESL with a prize pool of US$200,000.

The events were largely a success, but the main problems shoddy camerawork and broadcasting difficulties due to having to present the 200 million + audience with the best viewpoints among 100 possible players on the field – something Bluehole will need to nail before the game truly takes off as a competitive title.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is leaving Early Access on December 20 for its full 1.0 release, playable on Microsoft Windows (PC). It will launch with a brand new desert map called Miramar, currently being enjoyed on the game’s test servers. It is currently in the Game Preview program for Xbox One until its full retail release later in 2018.

Several of the world’s best esports betting sites have already begun offering markets on PUBG events – we recommend our readers from United States check out BetOnline if you’re interested in placing a wager on your favourite players and teams, and for hundreds of other betting options on CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends and more.

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The statistics company’s latest numbers indicate the professional gaming industry will grow 26% by 2020 as it continues to capture the attention of more mainstream audiences projected to grow 12% each year.

Advertisers and investors such as Mercedes Benz, the NBA and the Kraft Group have contributions accounting for 85% of the worldwide market, while video game companies such as Activision Blizzard, Riot Games and Valve support their titles, which have grown into esports power-houses, with bigger prize pools and increased player franchising agreements.

Additionally, esports like League of Legends and Overwatch are projected to grow direct revenue by selling advertisements, brand sponsorship, team merchandise and ticket sales in addition to indirect revenue from third-party investments. Overwatch is currently the most anticipated esports title for US fans.

SuperData also revealed increased viewership of esports on live-streaming sites such as Twitch: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds pulled in 200 million viewers just seven months after it launched – the second largest audience this year for a single prospective esports game and 20 times larger than its actual playerbase. It is only beaten by League of Legends’ recorded 286 million audience on the video game-centric streaming platform.

In the United States, Twitch continues to dominate as the go-to source for esports fans with 20% of them using the service exclusively, though YouTube is not far behind with 11% of esports enthusiasts using only that service. 87% of US esports viewers used Twitch for their live-streaming esports needs, while 77% used YouTube for other esports-related and curated video content and 67% of esports fans watched their favourite events through both platforms.

The research also gathered data on the current playerbases. Dota 2 and League of Legends remain the dominant esport picks, securing 10 million and 84 million active monthly players.

Author’s option: Overall, global esports revenue has greatly exceeded expectations from last year’s projections, previously estimated at just $1.1 billion by SuperData. While the metric data from this year’s report is a little iffy given investments and prize pools were counted in the total revenue number – investments are not generally counted as part of company earnings and the prize pools are sometimes funded by the organisers rather than crowdfunded – the growth in sponsorship, viewership and popularity is undeniable. If it isn’t already clear by now, the esports industry is profitable, going mainstream, and here to stay.

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Just when reality TV was getting a little boring, YouTube went and spiced things up with a new show about gamers.

Deemed the ‘Big Brother’ of esports, The Next Gamer reality series will focus on 10 gamers in a house in Sydney, Australia.

The winner will earn $10,000 in prize money and a six-month contract with one of Australia’s best League of Legends teams, the Dire Wolves.

40 successful applicants will first battle it out online over five days from August 11 to determine the 10 successful Next Gamer house occupants.

The top 10 will then enter the house on August 19 and compete in daily challenges and tournaments based on mental aptitude and physical fitness, as well as teamwork.

It is not clear whether the challenges will revolve entirely around League of Legends or other popular esports titles. The format of the video content available on the YouTube channel has not yet been detailed either – it could be edited episodes or unedited live streams.

The final five will then face off against Oceania’s top gaming teams to build skills before the live finale.

The entire process will be streamed on YouTube so budding gamers can watch the episodes as many times as they want.

The finale will be live streamed and one gamer will walk away with a new team and $10,000 richer.

Australian gamers have been asked to apply for the competition online. While the details were available on the site on Monday, as of Tuesday, they have been taken down. This could be due to the fact they have exceeded the number of applications required.

Applicants have been asked to link social media accounts, detail their preferred role, their current League of Legends rank and any previous competitive experience, as well as submit a video application.

The new reality series will hopefully bring an added boost to the young esports scene Down Under.

Southeast Asian esports show

If you are looking for another show to binge watch after The Next Gamer finishes, you’re in luck. Spout Entertainment has teamed up with Aurora for a 32-episode television series based on the Southeast Asian professional video gaming scene. A feature-length film is reportedly in the works too.

The Southeast Asian esports industry is a lot bigger than Australia’s and the first entry of the show will feature a four-part mini series where players compete for professional contracts in FIFA Online.

Known as Game To Fame: Road To World Cup, the series will also include other popular esports games like DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

BBC broadcasts esports coverage

Meanwhile, the BBC (UK’s national broadcaster) is getting in on the action, offering live esport coverage on its digital-only channel BBC3.

The channel, which is no longer considered a regular TV channel as users can only watch content online and via apps, began broadcasting the Gfinity Elite League last Friday. The competition is taking place in London with a total prize pool of ￡225,000.

The program will run for six weeks, with Street Fighter V, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Rocket League each getting an entire day of coverage.

BBC3 isn’t new to esports, with the channel covering the League of Legends World Championship in 2015. The event attracted over 137,000 unique viewers.

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