Gfinity
Gfinity, founded in 2012, is a UK based eSports company which operates globally. It is based in London at the UK's only dedicated eSports Arena and is listed on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market trading under LON:GFIN.[1]
It hosts daily online tournaments from its online tournament platform. It also has a free app for Xbox One; Tournament Builder.[2] In March 2017 the Gfinity Challenger Series launched, as part of the Elite Series.[3]
History
2012 - 2014
It hosted G1 in July 2013 followed by G2 and G3 took place at the Copper Box at the Olympic Park in August 2014; which included a $30,000 Call of Duty, a $7,500 FIFA and a $15,000 StarCraft tournament.[4]
2015
Gfinity hosted the Call of Duty European Championships at the Royal Opera House in February 2015.[5]
Gfinity opened the first dedicated eSports Arena in early 2015 in Fulham, London.[6] when it partnered with Vue Cinemas [7] and organised over 20 offline events from the Gfinity Arena in the 2015 Gfinity Championships. Games played included Hearthstone, FIFA and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Over $500,000 in prize money was paid out to teams and players. The Championships attracted over 58 million views.[8]
2016
Gfinity hosted the first FIA Formula E Race Off event in January 2016[9] and in the same month delivered the Halo World Championship Tour [10] followed by the Vainglory European Winter Championship in March 2015,[11] the second year in the FIFA Play Like a Legend tournament,[12] it hosted the global reveal of Battlefield One, premiering the official trailer and live stream from the Gfinity Arena in May 2016,[13] the $20,000 Call of Duty World League Summer Masters [14] and the Gears of War European Open tournaments in July 2016, the Serious Rainbow 6 tournament with grime MC JME [15] and the Nintendo Summer of Splat Finals[16] in September 2016. The CS:GO Invitational took place at the Eurogamer Expo in the NEC in Birmingham.[17] In December 2016 it delivered the $100,000 Gears Pro Circuit: London tournament.[18]
2017
Gfinity organised the Gears Pro Circuit: Mexico in Mexico City and Call of Duty World League London in January, the EU Halo World Championship London at the Great Hall in Wembley Stadium and the LATAM Halo World Championship in Mexico City in February. It will organise the Gears Pro Circuit: Paris in the Spring.
In January a partnership with Mediacom was announced.[19]
Online tournaments
Gfinity runs tournaments on its online platform for games on PlayStation 4, Xbox and PC which are open to registered competitors, membership is free. It also hosts competitions for companies such as Activision and Microsoft and has partnered with global brands such as the FIA Formula E,[20] OMEN by HP, Gillette[21] and Virgin Media.[22]
It launched the Gfinity Elite Series in March 2017 with the Challenger Series supporting CS:GO, Street Fighter V.[23]
References
- ^ "Gfinity answers the call of duty for AIM listing" Express.co.uk Dec 22, 2014
- ^ "Make your own ladders and leagues with Gfinity's Xbox One app" Engadget.com April, 2016
- ^ "Gfinity announce details on their upcoming Gfinity Challenger Series" PCGamesn.com March, 2017
- ^ Gfinity – UKs Biggest eSports Tournament Wraps-Up Godisageek.com Aug 4, 2014
- ^ "Call of Duty European championships to be hosted by Royal Opera House" The Guardian, Feb 2015
- ^ "Inside the UK's first dedicated eSports arena" Engadget.com March 4, 2015
- ^ "UK's first eSports arena opens in London next month" Eurogamer.net Feb, 2015
- ^ "Gfinity blows away targets with 58m viewers in 2015" MCV.com Oct 13, 2015
- ^ "Senna & Prost trade cars for consoles to race fans in the next generation of gaming" fiaformulae.com Jan, 2016
- ^ "Halo World Championship Tour: Watch all the Halo 5 action from the Gfinity Arena" Dailystar.co.uk Jan, 2016
- ^ "Team Secret wins Vainglory European Winter Championship at the Gfinity Arena" esports-news.co.uk March, 2016
- ^ "Gfinity Play Like A Legend Season 2 Kicks Off Today" Futhead.com Mar 26, 2016
- ^ "Battlefield 1 interview: EA Studios EVP on World War 1 setting, single player, remasters and horses" International Business Times May, 2016
- ^ "$20,000 Call of Duty World League tournament taking place at the Gfinity Arena next month" mcv.com June, 2016
- ^ "Jme and Gfinity join forces for a series of gaming tournaments" BT.com Sept, 2016
- ^ "The Splatoon Summer of Splat begins this July!" Nintendo.co.uk Aug, 2016
- ^ "$100,000 Gfinity CS:GO Invitational" HLTV.org Sept, 2016
- ^ "RECAP - GEARS PRO CIRCUIT LONDON OPEN" gearsofwar.com Dec, 2016
- ^ "MEDIACOM PARTNERS WITH GFINITY" sportsindustry.biz Jan, 2017
- ^ "Full capacity at Gfinity Arena to launch the first in a series of Forza 6 fan gaming events" motorsport.com Jan, 2016
- ^ "GILLETTE STRIKES ESPORTS DEAL WITH GFINITY" sportsindustry.biz June, 2016
- ^ "Virgin Media makes play for video gamers" ft.com Aug, 2016
- ^ "Street Fighter V Joins the Gfinity Challenger Series" shoryuken.com March, 2017