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.
This week on the ESI Digest, we cover ESL and Guinevere Captial launching the League of Legends Circuit Oceania, Nerd Street Gamers raising $11.5m in additional funding, PUBG esports’ 2021 plans, PGL announcing a Dota 2 major, plus Anzu’s $9m investment.
This edition of the ESI Digest is in partnership with apparel and esportswear firm We Are Nations.
League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO) unveiled by ESL and Guinevere Capital
Esports organiser and production company ESL and advisory and investment firm Guinevere Capital have unveiled the League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO), a new eight-team League of Legends competition.
The new tournament becomes the premier League of Legends esports event in the Oceanic region after Riot Games pulled the plug on the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) last year.
Starting on February 23rd, Oceania’s League of Legends players will compete in a new format for the region. Over the course of eight weeks and 19 playdays, eight teams will compete in a double round-robin format.
PUBG esports unveils 2021 structure
South Korean video game holding company KRAFTON, Inc. has revealed the structure of its PUBG esports ecosystem for 2021.
The upcoming season, which starts with PUBG Global Invitational.S (PGI.S) this week, will consist of four global PUBG esports events throughout the year.
Nerd Street Gamers raises $11.5m in additional funding
Esports infrastructure company Nerd Street Gamers (NSG) has raised $11.5m (GBP8.48m) in additional funding, with the round led by venture capital firm Founders Fund.
According to the release, the additional funds will be used to accelerate the company’s growth. This round of funding comes after the company raised $12m (~GBP8.8m) through its Series A funding round in October 2019.
Anzu raises $9m in latest funding round
In-game advertising platform Anzu has raised $9m (GBP6.56m) in its latest round of funding, with the likes of BITKRAFT Ventures and Sony Innovation Fund becoming investors.
The capital raised will be used to expand the company’s commercial growth alongside funding sales and marketing initiatives to assist in moving it forward on a global scale.
PGL to host 2021 Singapore DOTA 2 Major in March
Esports tournament organiser PGL has announced it will host the Singapore DOTA 2 Major, the first Major of the 2021 DOTA Pro Circuit (DPC) season.
The offline event, scheduled to take place between March 27th and April 4th, will be the first Major to occur since January 2020.
Danish esports org North shutters
After just four years, Danish esports organisation North has announced its closure through a statement posted on the official Football Club Copenhagen (FCK) website.
In the announcement, translated from Danish, investors Parken Sport & Entertainment and Nordisk Film state that as a consequence of COVID-19’s effect on the experience industry, the two partners will pull their investments from the esports team and instead focus on their core businesses.
ESI Digest, in partnership with We Are Nations, is part of ESI 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.