Ignite tournaments a play-to-earn esports startup raises funding
Ignite Tournaments has raised $10 million in funding from key investors to develop the world's first mobile play-to-earn ("P2E") esports tournament and broadcasting platform. A $3 million seed round headed by Yield Guild Games and Ascensive Assets, with participation from Mechanism Capital, Arca Funds, Skyvision Capital, and several funds and angel investors, was completed in December 2021, resulting in a total of $10 million raised.
Animoca Brands, Infinity Ventures Crypto, and Moon Holdings Fund led a $7 million strategic round in February 2022. These new investors have decades of expertise in both conventional and blockchain gaming.
Brian Lu, Founding Partner at Infinity Venture Crypto, said:
Krystal and I were both competitive gamers, ranked #1 globally in different MZ games—I became the Emperor in Game of War, and Krystal was the #1 defensive “trap” player in Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire. It’s clear to me as both a former competitive gamer and VC investor that Ignite Tournaments will completely transform competitive mobile gaming. I am co-leading this round because I want to see Ignite Tournaments add that immense value to all games worldwide; to both IVC’s game portfolio and beyond.
Genesis Block Ventures, SevenX Ventures, Longhash Ventures, ROK Capital, Huobi Ventures, Akatsuki, MH Carnegie, D1 Ventures, Ghaf Capital, and Morningstar Ventures are among the other strategic investors. Angel investors included Jeffrey "Jiho" Zirlin, co-founder of Axie Infinity, and Looren Roosendaal, co-founder of Ember Sword and PlanetQuest.
Through its capacity to transform any pre-existing mobile game into a play-to-earn game, Ignite Tournaments' platform combines conventional gaming with web 3.0. By making P2E event organisation tools available to players all across the globe, their concept would alter the esports business and decrease the entrance barrier. Payments are made in bitcoin and NFTs, staked for more incentives. Web 3.0 infrastructure is also being developed to increase esports rewards.
What is eSports? A multi-billion dollar industry?
The world of organised, competitive video gaming is known as eSports. In games like Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Madden NFL, players from various leagues or teams compete against one other. Millions of fans across the globe watch and follow these gamers, whether they attend live events, watch on TV, or follow them online. Viewers may watch their favourite gamers play in real-time on streaming platforms like Twitch, and this is often where popular players grow their following bases.
As difficult as it may be for fans of conventional sports leagues such as the NFL or the NBA to believe, eSports operates similarly at its top levels. In reality, the NBA conducted a draught in April to prepare for the debut of its upcoming eSports league, which will be based on the basketball-themed NBA 2K game series. During the draught, 102 professional eSports players were chosen, with all fanfare and fanfare usually reserved for players on the court.
This is a valuable industry, not just for gamers but also for marketers and video game developers. The event in Jacksonville included Madden 19, a game from the long-running EA Madden franchise. The EA Madden Franchise has sold over 130 million copies and generated over $4 billion in revenue since its beginning over three decades ago.
Like conventional athletes, eSports players may earn a lot of money: Millions of dollars in prize money may be won in tournaments, and the winning teams' players are usually shared evenly. That means the best players in the world may easily make seven figures in a year. Ticket purchases for these contests help teams and event organisers as well. What was the name of the 2017 League of Legends tournament? Ticket sales brought in $5.5 million.
Following the incident, EA Sports cancelled the subsequent three Madden Classic qualifying events to examine safety standards for contestants and spectators, according to a press statement.
eSports will continue developing as a business — and leisure — for the foreseeable future, based on the statistics and the inevitable cultural trend. By the end of 2018, 1.6 billion individuals, or more than a fifth of the world's population, will have some awareness of eSports. Give it some time if you haven't heard anything about eSports. It is unavoidable that it expand worldwide and culturally.
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Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is to remove informational asymmetry existing today in our digital markets by performing due diligence, asking the right questions, and equipping readers with better opinions to make informed decisions. The writer holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana and Cosmos. The writer has a vested interest in the story.
