From sponsorships to industry-wide announcements, Insider Sport has you covered when it comes to the world of esports.
This week’s edition highlights the latest developments in the esports sector, including OpTic Gaming CEO Hector ‘H3cz’ Rodriguez and former Call of Duty player Seth ‘Scump’ Abner filing a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.
H3CZ and Scump sue Activision Blizzard for $680m over ‘CoD League monopoly’
OpTic Gaming CEO Hector ‘H3cz’ Rodriguez and former Call of Duty player Seth ‘Scump’ Abner have filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.
The legal action, initially disclosed by Bloomberg Law, contends that Activision Blizzard committed “monopolistic, trade-restraining, and anti-competitive” behaviours, causing significant financial damage to Rodriguez and his enterprises.
Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that Activision declined to permit Rodriguez to possess sole ownership of a CDL team, among other grievances.
The lawsuit claims that Activision took control of the professional Call of Duty scene when it bought Major League Gaming in 2016. It says Activision refused to let other groups host Call of Duty competitions, forcing teams to play in the CDL under Activision’s rules and fees.
In a statement sent to news outlets, Activision commented: “Mr. Rodriguez (aka OpTic H3CZ) and Mr. Abner (aka Scump) demanded that Activision pay them tens of millions of dollars to avoid this meritless litigation, and when their demands were not met, they filed.
“We will strongly defend against these claims, which have no basis in fact or in law. We are disappointed that these members of the esports community would bring this suit which is disruptive to team owners, players, fans and partners who have invested so much time and energy into the Call of Duty League’s success.”
Australian university teams up with VADR Media to address cheating in online chess
The University of Technology Sydney’s Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute (AAII) has partnered with production and media company VADR Media to explore and create strategies to combat cheating in online chess.
Through this collaboration, the UTS project team will benefit from access to computing resources offered by Tencent Cloud’s TI Platform. Additionally, UTS will receive assistance from Tencent’s AI and Anti-cheat specialists.
This partnership stems from the existing partnership between Tencent Cloud and VADR Media’s chess platform, Checkmate.live, which focuses on broadcasting and organising tournaments.
John McRae, Managing Director of VADR Media, commented on the partnership: “We are deeply passionate about Fair Play and have taken proactive measures, implementing integrity protocols with trusted partners and investing in R&D.
“Our newly formed alliance with the UTS Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute (AAII), along with collaborations with key governing bodies in chess and esports, reflect our dedication to enhancing the community experience and accelerating speed chess as an esport.”
LEC Winter 2024 tournament peaks at over 800,000 viewers
The League of Legends’ LEC Winter 2024 split has achieved a remarkable surge in viewership, ranking as the fourth most-watched LEC event to date.
Esports data company Esports Charts reported a total of 830,000 peak viewers during the split, which is nearly equivalent to LEC Spring 2021 and surpasses LEC Finals 2023 by over 150,000 viewers.
During the final match of the series, the main broadcast for the event experienced a notable crash. However, co-streams remained unaffected by the issue.
This incident prompted backlash from the community towards Riot Games, the game’s publisher, particularly following the company’s recent decision to lay off over 500 staff members, including many from the LEC production team.
FaZe Clan introduces a new energy drink flavour in collaboration with GHOST
FaZe Clan and GHOST, the energy drink brand, have announced the release of a new flavour called FAZE UP, building on their successful collaboration from last year.
Their initial joint venture, FAZE POP, launched in February 2023 and quickly became the top-selling energy product at 7-Eleven stores nationwide. Thanks to the overwhelming success of their first flavour, FaZe Clan has announced an exclusive nationwide launch of their new drink at North American 7-Eleven stores in 2024.
FaZe Clan Co-Founder Tommy ‘FaZe Temperrr’ Oliveira, commented: “We are stoked to introduce another original energy drink flavour in partnership with GHOST.”
“FAZE UP tastes like a trip down memory lane, combining the citrus flavours loved by so many of us during childhood. We set out to create a taste that is both familiar and exciting, and hope our fans and community love it as much as we do.”
