Xbox Teams up with Eleague for Gears 5 eSports PartnershipDate: Monday, May 06 @ 22:25:38 UTC Even though a release date for the highly anticipated Gears 5 is yet to be announced, Xbox and Eleague have entered into a wide-ranging partnership which will celebrate the eSports community of the Gears of War franchise as well as launch the next chapter of competitive Gears play on the new game.
The Gears of War series, from the original trilogy through to Judgement and then Gears of War 4 has long proven to be one of the Xbox's most popular exclusive titles. This partnership with Eleague is surely intended to bolster the franchise further, enhancing its appeal to the ever-growing online and competitive gaming community. Making Gears 5 the biggest instalment yet
It all started with Gears of War in 2006 on the Xbox 360. Not only was the game's trailer incredibly enticing at the time, but the gameplay itself was deeply satisfying while working through the powerful storyline. The Gears of War franchise has remained a major selling point of the Xbox console, with the 2016 release of Gears of War 4 ranking as the Xbox One's best-selling exclusive title worldwide, per Statista, in the year of its release. Since the release of Gears of War 4, the eSports industry has exploded to become what is now reported by Fortune as being a $1.1 billion industry. The world of eSports has introduced a level of engagement for fans and players to the games that they enjoy, offering exciting viewing and the chance to win huge sums of money if a player is good enough at the game. But it's not just games that the industry appeals to; its massive viewership numbers have piqued the interest of third parties, from sponsorships and investments from traditional sports stars to new services catering to eSports fans. The increasingly popular industry boasts such a huge amount of appeal and legitimacy now that professional bookmakers can now offer their services to eSports fans, with eSports-specific bookies like Betway emerging to offer markets on LoL, DOTA 2, Rainbow Six, CS:GO, and quite possibly Gears 4 when its eSports scene is up and running later this year.Despite its release coming three years ago, Gears of War 4 still boasts an impressive presence according to Twitch Tracker, with an average of 388 views on Twitch per day over the last week and around 66,000 hours of videos watched over the last week. They're not the biggest numbers in the grand scheme of eSports, but certainly show the appeal of the franchise to the community. Xbox looks to capitalise on the popularity of the Gears of War franchise, particularly its online and competitive modes, going all-in on offering unique content to eSports fans which will heighten engagement with the upcoming Gears 5 as well as advertise the new game to the gaming community. The Eleague-Xbox partnership
The partnership between Eleague and Xbox will take the form of a six-part series entitled "Eleague Gears Summer Series: The Bonds and Betrayals of Brotherhood" that delves behind the scenes and into some of the best Gears of War players of the eSports scene. It will showcase the Gears 5 multiplayer mode "Versus" as well as culminate in the live Eleague Gears Summer Series tournament to get Gears 5 eSports underway. As relayed by Esports Insider, Craig Berry, chief content officer for Turner Sports, explained that no one has "cracked the code" of how to connect to the coveted audience demographic that is currently engaging in content. With the heavily publicised partnership with Eleague, the documentary series, and the grand multiplayer mode reveal within the series, Xbox hopes to learn how to connect to the audience as a new game on the eSports scene. Information about the upcoming Gears 5 has been sparse: an official release date hasn't even been announced yet. But with Eleague's documentary series set to explore players' transition from Gears of War 4 to Gears 5 as well as unveil game modes in June and July, it could be assumed that the game's official release won't be too far behind. To maximise viewership and engagement, Xbox may advertise that the release date will be revealed during the series. The six-part series will premiere on 14th June on TBS with the inaugural Gears 5 eSports event taking place on 13-14th July on B/R Live and Twitch. |
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