- Online gaming tournament specialist Esports Mogul (ESH) has been chosen as the platform provider for the upcoming esports and tech festival, ReWired Fest, in the United States
- The event will begin as an online eSports qualifier tournament in June
- Finalists from this qualifier event will then be invited to an in-person finale at a two-day festival in October, with around $129,000 in prizes up for grabs
- Esports Mogul will provide the platform for the gaming tournament as it launches its updated Sit’n’Go instant matchmaking technology
- The company said it does not expect the value of today’s contract to be material
- Shares in Esports Mogul are up over 9 per cent this morning to trade at 1.2 cents each
Esports Mogul (ESH) has been chosen as the platform provider for the upcoming ReWired Fest in the United States.
The festival, which was created by Inclusion Companies, is an eSports and tech experience designed to encourage young people to pursue passions and careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths (STEAM) fields.
ReWired Fest, which is powered by Walmart, will have a particular focus on black, indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities, women, and people with disabilities.
The event will begin as an online eSports qualifier tournament in June, with the qualifiers winning tickets to the in-person finale at a two-day festival in Northwest Arkansas in October.
There are US$100,000 (around A$129,000) in prizes up for grabs as part of the tournament and event.
Esports Mogul will provide the platform for the online qualifying tournament leading up to the two-day event as well as for the live-streamed finals event at the festival.
Company CEO Michael Rubinelli said the deal with Inclusion Companies comes amid major investments in furthering Esports Mogul’s momentum in the North American market.
“The opportunity to run the esports component of this event further showcases our platform to the largest brands in the country,” Michael said.
“The initiative gives further credibility to the formation of our solutions engineering team, who worked with Inclusion Companies to designed the overall tournament experience, game integration, tournament structure and sponsorship tiers,” he said.
While Esports Mogul said revenues from the deal will include an initial payment and some ongoing milestone payments over six months, the company said it does not expect the value of today’s contract to be material.
Still, Inclusion Companies CEO Trevor Drinkwater spoke highly of the ESH platform.
“Mogul’s technology means we can engage both our target audience and brand sponsors months in advance of the physical event,” Trevor explained.
“With gaming being a core content track at the event, an esports tournament experience on the run-up brings our brand sponsors closer to gamers than ever before.”
Upgraded matchmaking
Esports Mogul has launched its new Sit’n’Go matchmaking technology as part of the ReWired tournament platform.
Essentially, this matchmaking system means gamers no longer have to wait to compete at specific tournament times — they can register for a tournament and begin searching for a match immediately.
Up until now, players have had to wait hours or even days from the time they sign up to a tournament to a designated playing time. With the new Sit’n’Go system, players can begin searching for a game straight after signing up and get matched with another player of similar skill also looking to play.
Of course, this means the matchmaking time for games is dependent on the number of other players looking to find a game at that same time.
Nevertheless, Mogul said the new system increases player engagement and day-to-day player retention, and it provides the “immediate gratification” necessary to ensure gamers continue to choose eSports over other traditional media like TV and music.
Shares in Esports Mogul are up 9.09 per cent this morning to trade at 1.2 cents each as of 10:16 am AEST. The company has a $38 million market cap.