Lenovo & Ubisoft are in a Relationship!

Lenovo Legion Sponsors Rainbow Six Siege

Lenovo and Ubisoft are in a partnership through Spring 2019. The brand will be the official sponsor for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege Pro League. Not only will Lenovo provide monitors and PCs but also help in promoting and branding. This means they’ll be doing fan giveaways, unique in game giveaways like a Lenovo Legion charm unlockable through gameplay. Geoffroy Sardin, Senior Vice President at Ubisoft said,

“The signing of this key partnership with Lenovo Legion is a clear signal that the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Pro League is reaching maturity, now attracting major partners while continuously growing. We cannot wait to unfold the extent of this partnership during our key events throughout the year, for instance at the Six Major Paris this August.”

Personal Statement: Rainbow Six Siege isn’t a hit with me nor many people I have interacted with but it turns out they are maturing. Their views add up to 321K viewers so, they’re doing something right.

Razer Partners with OW LA Team

A new partnership has begun between the LA Valiants and Razer. It’s a two year deal, this partnership means the Valiants will be using Razer phones. This is their second partnership, the first is Lionsgate, which took the form of providing jerseys. For the Immortals, the owner of the LA Valiants, this isn’t their first rodeo. They have deas with Mountain Dew, Microsoft, Estarz, LF Gaming & K-Swiss. Them shoes still ain’t hot tho, #justsayin. And K-Swiss announced it’s first esports focused shoe. Like I said, I’m not rocking no K-Swiss!! It’s just not a thing we do in Chicago, anywho, that’s cool.

Overwatch Stage 4 Scores

The first round of the scores are in for Overwatch stage 4. The L.A. Gladiators dominated over the San Fran Shock 3-1. Seoul Dynasty took an L to the LA Valiant 3-2. And the Dallas Fuel lit up the Shanghai Dragons 3-1. Today the Boston Uprising vs the Philly Fusion, NY Excelsior vs the Florida Mayhem & the Houston Outlaws vs London Spitfire.

Mobile eSports is on the Rise

The success of esports is making room for mobile esports. China is helping propel games like Clash Royales and Arena of Valor into the spot light and has made them the highest ranked mobile esports game. At some point Supercell, the publisher of Clash Royale is hoping to invest in 7,000 players competitng for a million dollar prize.

36% of the world’s gaming market are on mobile. Clash seems to be China’s foot in the door for their $32.5 billion gaming market. With mobile gaming on the rise, the esports demographic is broadened to people with disabilities because the focus will be more about strategy than physical reflexes or coordination like in fighting games and PC gaming. Asia has the US beat when it comes to participants in esports. China specializes in creating a culture around esports. It’s not just funding teams but, it’s the merchandise, creating esports on various media and rejecting traditional jobs or family businesses to make a name for themselves in esports. Generation Gaming, Gen G. is an organization which grooms players to be international champions. Gen. G is operated by Arnold Hur who said he wants to create a strong Asian presence just like in the US and Europe.

Microsoft Reveals a new Controller

Microsoft unveals a new controller catered to gamers with limited mobility. The Adaptive Controller allows the gamer to adjust the controllers to their needs. The body of the controller is boxy like a fightstick so it sits easily in a lap. There are Velcro straps attached to it so it can be mounted on a wheelchair or desk. There are symbols of what each port is etched on the top of the controller so the player doesn’t have to lift up the controller and turn it around to find the right one. The controllers are off to the side and the two buttons A and B are close together so a hand can be rested in between and reach them more easily. The edges are rounded out which takes away some impact if it’s dropped on a foot. This controller could even be used with feet. I wonder how this week affect the fighting game community.