UKeSA News
Related News
eSports Awards: Corin Cole Journo 2009
Cadred's Corin Cole has won the Journo Award 2009 at GamesCom in Cologne .. read more
UKeSA Grand Finals: TI Win Both Halo 3 and CoD4 360 Champs
The Imperial took the console double in the Championship with wins in Halo and CoD4 .. read more
O Captain! My Captain! (How to Grow Old in a Clan, Part 3)
Yes players and team managers it is that time of the month again as our P.M.S. (Please Milk Spam) overpowers us and we milk the spam out of another look at life in a clan with Dekko's half baked & laboured football metaphors dragging us through another round of clan running. .. read more
Capcom & Sony Join GameOn! London
Resi Evil Publisher invites gamers to try out latest developments, Ghostbusters: The Video Game takes centre stage .. read more
ED Podcast 1: Closure, XAC & UKeSA
Yes, an ED Podcast! This week we talk about ed.co.uk closing, XAC and changes to the UKeSA .. read more
God is a Gooner! How to Grow Old in a Clan: Part 2
Dekko drools all over himself again and we all grow wiser from it. .. read more
How to Grow Old in a Clan: Part 1
Dekko continues on his journey to disect what makes a great clan. We don't know why he's on this journey, none of us asked him.... .... .... .. read more
X-ray Anti-Cheat 1.5 released!
Download the latest version of XAC from xraygaming.com now .. read more
CSS: The Last Resort calls it quits
TLR Manager and founder releases statement on clan website announcing team closure .. read more
CoD4: Dell XPS Premiership Week 4
Trademark Gamers and Crack Clan are squadless, now's the time to pounce .. read more
UKeSA & Future UK Join Forces
UKeSA & Future UK Join Forces
Posted by SmellyMoss on Jan 15th 2009 17:45
The UKeSA has made its first announcement on how it plans to reach out to gamers - through a partnership with the UK's largest gaming magazine & web publisher.
This is the first firm sponsorship and partnership news that we've heard from the UKeSA. Future Publishing reaches over 9 million gamers in the UK with titles such as PC Gamer, Edge, the Official Xbox/PS3/Nintendo Magazines, gamesradar.com, fileradar.net, and computerandvideogames.com (CVG) to name only a few.
Future PLC Director and UKeSA Executive Committee member, Richard Keith, is delighted to be working with the UKeSA and believes, "offering UK industry and gamers a responsible, media friendly framework for competitive gaming is the first step towards aligning the popularity of video games with the true recognition of this pastime. By catering for all gamers, professional and amateur alike, it’s a real home for eSports, and it’s an important step forwards that Future want to be a part of.”
UKeSA Chairman, Ray Mia added, "this partnership will augment the call-to-arms for gamers throughout the country to compete in the national Opens, whilst effectively placing Future’s far-reaching editorial machine ringside to report the action.”
The fact that the company is supporting all 22 Open Division titles for the UKeSA is exactly the support needed for this new organisation and is a sign that the UKeSA means business.
Ultimately, gamers are going to be gamers and the focus will be on the tournaments and competitions. The Future partnership should help bring much needed publicity to the UKeSA in turn drawing a wider audience to both the organisation, its competitions and eSports in general.
The competitions are set to begin in February with sign-ups opening tomorrow.
Good job UKeSA! Here's the press release in full:
FUTURE SIGNS UP FOR
OFFICIAL NATIONAL LEAGUE LAUNCH
Official UK eSports Body Partners with Future UK For
New National Videogaming League Open Division
15th January 2009 (London, UK) – The United Kingdom eSports Association (UKeSA), the official governing body for competitive gaming in the UK, today announced a wide reaching partnership with the UK’s leading games media company, Future centred on the forthcoming national open videogame championships.
The partnership will mean that the Open Division games played in Season One of the UKeSA national league will each be directly aligned with Future’s market-leading games media brands. Competitions will be played on PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii platforms. New games released which have an online competitive element will feature immediately in the Open Division and offered as part of a wide range of Future supported activities.
“We are delighted to be working with and promoting the UKeSA,” said Richard Keith, Publisher for Future’s games portfolio, “offering UK industry and gamers a responsible, media friendly framework for competitive gaming is the first step towards aligning the popularity of video games with the true recognition of this pastime. By catering for all gamers, professional and amateur alike, it’s a real home for eSports, and it’s an important step forwards that Future want to be a part of.”
“Future has been extremely supportive of UKeSA from the outset and is fundamentally involved in our efforts to provide a coherent structure for gamers and the Industry to directly interact through competitive gaming.” Ray Mia, Chief Executive of UKeSA said today. “Future editorial talks to over nine million active gamers every month. This partnership will augment the call-to-arms for gamers throughout the country to compete in the national Opens, whilst effectively placing Future’s far-reaching editorial machine ringside to report the action.”
Season One for the 2009 UKeSA Premiership, Championship and Open Divisions is due to start in February and will be featured online (IPTV/VOD) and in print, the professional levels will also have significant coverage on television, with the events culminating at a Gaming Exhibition in London in April 2009.
About UKeSA:
The United Kingdom eSports Association (UKeSA) provides an independent framework for Government, Industry and Community eSports interaction within the UK. UKeSA also provides access to and acts as a conduit for regional and international eSports organisations and subsidiary frameworks (pan European eSports Associations and the International eSports Federation IeSF). UKeSA seeks to adhere to a set of globally recognised founding principles of traditional sports by blending eSports with culture, education, and respect for the fundamental ethical principles of professional sporting competitions.
More information about UKeSA can be found at www.ukesa.com or by emailing info@ukesa.com.
About Future:
Future plc is an international special-interest media group with offices in the UK and USA. Founded in 1985 with one magazine, today it creates over 180 special-interest publications, websites and events, with strong portfolios in the technology, games, music, automotive and sports sectors. Over 130 international editions of Future's magazines are published under licence by publishing partners in 30 other countries around the world. Future employs around 1,300 people worldwide. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol FUTR).
Digg
Facebook
Delicious
reddit
StumbleUpon
Thalix said: (Jan 15 2009 at 18:38:51 GMT)
Sounds good, hopefully this will help console gaming aswell, as it has the potential to grow huge.
FP-Demon said: (Jan 15 2009 at 18:42:07 GMT)
Nice work :)
DS Jester said: (Jan 15 2009 at 18:50:04 GMT)
Wow Great work, sounds very promising. Having a company like Future PLC by UKeSA's side should really help untap the massive potential of e-Sports.
NyteTyme said: (Jan 15 2009 at 20:26:42 GMT)
Good job, keep up the good work.
Noy said: (Jan 15 2009 at 22:59:53 GMT)
Really starting to see the scale of UKeSA now, it's incredible!
Can only really see good things coming of this
tD I Hybrid said: (Jan 16 2009 at 07:09:51 GMT)
When you consider the size of this sponsorship, the prize fund on offer from UKeSA for the tournaments is a realistic one. Fantastic work guys. Glad somebody is taking an interest on the UK gaming scene.
Rossik said: (Jan 16 2009 at 12:48:46 GMT)
sounds awsome :)
Ryoga Hibiki said: (Jan 16 2009 at 13:36:35 GMT)
I think the reason why they can get these great synergies is due to the organisation being a non-for-profit setup and that they are getting everyone involved such as Future. Even the executive committee sees people from ELSPA, BBC, etc.
"UKeSA also provides access to and acts as a conduit for regional and international eSports organisations and subsidiary frameworks (pan European eSports Associations and the International eSports Federation IeSF)."
This is the major wow factor since they are involved in an organisation that features 9 other countries including South Korea, who seem to be pioneering in the world of eSports.
Classix said: (Jan 17 2009 at 17:31:44 GMT)
Nice gj.
Page 1 of 1