Each week, ESI Digest breaks down the weekly happenings in the esports industry, making sense of things so you don’t have to. As well as being housed on YouTube, ESI Digest is available on all major podcast platforms and is also available in written form below.
On this week’s ESI Digest we cover, G2 Esports’s partnership with fashion brand Ralph Lauren, BLAST’s expansion into Apex Legends, Belong confirming its first US venue, Fnatic’s deal with Kaspersky, Dignitas partnering with NYX Professional Makeup, and GamerzClass closing a $2.5m seed round.
This edition of the ESI Digest is in partnership with GRID Esports.
G2 Esports partners with fashion brand Ralph Lauren
European organisation G2 Esports has announced a partnership with luxury fashion brand Ralph Lauren.
As a result of the partnership, Ralph Lauren and G2 will launch a series of ‘digital-first’ activations on platforms such as TikTok and Twitch. Moreover, both entities will collaborate on ‘global campaigns’ and events.
BLAST unveils expansion into Apex Legends esports
Esports tournament organiser BLAST has announced it will expand into Apex Legends esports by hosting its first event involving the free-to-play battle royale title.
BLAST Titans will feature 40 European teams competing for a share of the event’s €40,000 (∼£34,318) prize pool.
Belong confirms Houston as first US venue
Belong Gaming Arenas, a subsidiary of esports and tech company Vindex, has announced it will roll out ‘hundreds’ of ‘experimental’ gaming centres across the U.S.
In addition, Belong will collaborate with PlayStation, OMEN by HP, ViewSonic, and Mavix to equip these gaming centres.
Fnatic unveils global partnership with Kaspersky
London-based esports organisation Fnatic has entered into a partnership with Russian multinational cyber-security company Kaspersky.
The deal will see both parties collaborate on a range of digital content campaigns. Moreover, Kaspersky’s logo will be added to the jerseys of Fnatic Rising, the organisation’s League of Legends academy team.
Dignitas announces NYX Professional Makeup partnership
North American esports organisation Dignitas has announced NYX Professional Makeup as its official beauty partner.
The collaboration will see the cosmetics brand build custom product placement integrations inside Dignitas’s Verizon 5G Gaming Center in Los Angeles and its Headquarters in New York City.
GamerzClass closes $2.5m seed round
Danish esports training provider GamerzClass has completed a $2.5m (~£1.79m) seed round led by venture fund byFounders.
Other investors include Ben Holmes, formerly of GP Index Ventures, who invested in King and Playfish, and Morten Wulf, Founder of GameAnalytics with support from existing investors Bumble Ventures and TrueSight Ventures. The seed round brings total investments to $4.2m (~£3m).
ESI Digest, in partnership with GRID Esports, is part of the ESI Podcast Network, a collection of podcasts encompassing the esports industry. For deep dives into the major areas of esports with subject matter experts, check out ESI Focus. For conversations with key personnel and major stakeholders in esports, ESI Insight is the series for you.