Swedish esports platform Challengermode has announced a partnership with web browser Opera GX.
The partnership will see both parties create a ‘grassroots esports fund’, which aims to accelerate the growth of small emerging esports organisers in the UK, US, and Germany.
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A total of $30,000 (~£21,150) will be distributed to local esports organisers through the fund. External platform support will be provided by Challengermode to streamline tournament and competition setups.
Philip Hübner, Chief Business Development Officer at Challengermode, commented: “Grassroots esports communities act as the introduction to esports for thousands of players around the world. But because of the evolving nature of the esports space local and third-party efforts organisations are often fragmented, underfunded, and lack the polish you’d expect from an established sport.
“These are pain points we want to eliminate with this fund, empowering esports organisers to easily create their own dedicated space for their community, reducing their costs and giving players a respectable prize pool.”
The initial round of funding will focus on organisers in VALORANT, CS:GO, League of Legends, and Teamfight Tactics.
According to the release, the offering focuses on the ground level infrastructure, in order to ‘foster long term esports engagement and increase the accessibility of small scale esports initiatives’.
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Maciej Kocemba, Product Director of Opera GX, stated: “Opera GX has a long association as a browser of choice to complement gaming, so partnering with Challengermode to encourage the next generation of esports players is a natural fit for us.
“So much of the money and attention in the esports industry orbits around the very top tier of competition, with little trickling down to the grassroots level. We want this fund to give grassroots organisations real staying power, making them institutions similar to existing local sports clubs.”
The application period for organisers will remain open throughout the duration of the three-month campaign.
Esports Insider says: Supporting small and local tournament organisers is an admirable initiative. The esports space could use more collaborations like this.
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