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IEM Katowice 2024: Team Spirit and BASILISK’s Joona “Serral” Sotala BASILISK’s Joona “Serral” Sotala crowned champions

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The Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2024 Grand Finals have concluded, with BASILISK’s Joona “Serral” Sotala named the new StarCraft® II Champion and Team Spirit being crowned the Counter-Strike 2 Champions. While BASILISK’s Joona “Serral” Sotala returns for a second time, Team Spirit joins the legendary Hall of Heroes for the first time in history.

Team Spirit’s dominance in the Counter-Strike 2 Grand Finals saw an epic display of the young team of prodigies as they took down the veterans and one of the favorites to win the competition, FaZe Clan. Ranked #19 in the ESL World Ranking, Team Spirit beat the #1 ranked FaZe Clan in a decisive 3-0 victory. Making his tier 1 competition debut, teen superstar Danil “donk” Kryshkovets took fans’ breath away in what many are calling the best individual performance in history.

The fastest-selling IEM Katowice tournament in history, the event saw a peak viewership of over 972,000* for Counter-Strike 2 and more than 77,000* for StarCraft® II. The sold-out Spodek Arena and MCK Auditorium welcomed over 65,000 fans across four days of live StarCraft® II competition, and three days of Counter-Strike action, complemented by IEM Expo.

The return of the IEM Expo gave esports and gaming enthusiasts from Poland and beyond the opportunity to test the latest Intel® powered gaming hardware, get involved in partner activations, try out the newest games, marvel at cosplay costumes, and much more.

Counter-Strike 2

Play-In Stage & Group Stage

The tournament commenced on January 31 with the Play-In Stage, during which 16 teams battled it out for eight of the 16 spots available in the Group Stage. Local heroes ENCE proceeded to the second stage of the tournament, amongst others.

The Group Stage ran from February 3 – 6 and saw teams divided into two groups of eight, where the top two teams from the upper bracket and the top team from the lower bracket advanced to the Playoffs. Group A saw Team Spirit dominate the upper bracket, with FaZe Clan coming in second and Team Falcons emerging victorious in the lower bracket.

In Group B, G2 Esports beat out HEROIC in the lower bracket final to claim their spot in the Playoffs. In the upper bracket, MOUZ and ENCE secured the final two spots, meaning that IEM Katowice 2024 marks the first time in eight years that a majority Polish team has reached the Playoffs.

Playoffs

The final stage of the competition kicked off on Friday, February 9, with a quarterfinal clash between IEM Katowice 2023 Champions, G2 Esports, and IEM Katowice 2022 Champions, FaZe Clan. After many close rounds, the determination and teamwork of FaZe Clan proved to be stronger, leading to a 2-0 win and a spot in the semifinals.

The second quarterfinal was also an emotional rollercoaster for the Polish fans as ENCE faced off against Team Falcons. Despite having the full backing of the arena, it was ultimately Team Falcons who claimed the victory with a narrow win on map 3 and a final score of 2-1.

Saturday, February 10, saw the semifinals take place, with the top two teams from the Group Stage up against the quarterfinal winners. FaZe Clan proved themselves against MOUZ as they secured their spot in the Grand Final with a flawless 2-0 score, and Team Spirit dominated Team Falcons 2-0 to secure the other spot.

Grand Final

Following impressive performances in the Playoffs where neither team dropped a map, FaZe Clan and Team Spirit geared up on Sunday and took the stage for the Grand Final.

The first game of the day saw an even 6-6 score at half-time before Team Spirit managed to pull ahead and secure a 13-9 victory over FaZe Clan, in large part thanks to Danil “donk” Kryshkovets’ incredible performance.

The second game was closer, with FaZe Clan narrowly missing out on a win and the game ending in a 13-11 victory for Team Spirit.

The third and final game, however, saw Team Spirit dominate, winning round after round and concluding the match with a 13-3 score. Team Spirit were an unstoppable force, claiming the title of Champion with an impressive 3-0 final score in the best-of-5 Grand Final.

“I’m very happy. ” said Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov of Team Spirit. “We beat FaZe Clan 3-0. For me, it’s a really, really big achievement.”

With their win, Team Spirit will take home $400,000 of the $1,000,000 total prize pool, while also securing their spot in the IEM Cologne 2024 Group Stage and entering the race to secure the Intel Grand Slam V.

One of the best professional Counter-Strike debuts of all time, Danil “donk” Kryshkovets received a lot of praise from his teammates as well as from the wider esports community. Furthermore, for his achievements, the young Rifler has been awarded the ESL Pro Tour DHL MVP.

The ESL Pro Tour (EPT) for Counter-Strike continues with ESL Challenger League Season 47 commencing online on February 13 and IEM Chengdu 2024 taking place on April 8-14, with the final three days being played out live in Chengdu, China.

For more information and the latest updates about ESL’s Counter-Strike esports ecosystem, head to the official ESL Pro Tour website, and follow ESL CS on X, Instagram, and Facebook.

StarCraft® II

Group Stage

The Group Stage ran from February 8 – 10 and saw 24 players split into four groups of six to compete in a Round-Robin format live in front of their fans at the MCK Auditorium.

After two and a half days of fierce battles, HeRoMaRinE (Group A), SHIN (Group B), Serral (Group C), and Dark (Group D) topped their respective groups and secured themselves a direct spot in the quarterfinals.

Surprisingly, reigning World Champion Oliveira and Gamers8 Champion Reynor fell short in the Group Stage and it was Solar, GuMiho (both Group A), Cure, Clem (both Group B), ByuN, SKillous (both Group C), Dark and herO (both Group D) who advanced to the Playoffs, following some close battles that kept the community on the edge of their seat.

Playoffs

With the Group Stage concluded, the second- and third-placed teams of each group continued their fight for victory in the Round of 12, with Clem, Dark, ByuN, and Cure coming out on top.

In the quarterfinals, Serral continued his reign without dropping a single map by beating Clem 3-0, while Dark and Maru beat their countrymen SHIN and Byun 3-1 and 3-2 respectively. In the fourth quarterfinal, Cure proved to be dominant over HeRoMaRinE, who, until then, had not yet lost a map in the competition

The first semifinal was a clash between Zergs as Serral and Dark entered the final part of the competition with Serral taking out Dark 3-1. During the second semifinal it was Maru and Cure’s turn to show who was the strongest Terran, with Maru eventually claiming a 3-0 victory.

The long-longed-for Grand Final between Maru and Serral promised some spectacular action, yet already early on Maru’s dedication and diligence showed to be no match for Serral’s unparalleled level of gameplay, leading to a 4-0 win on Serral’s behalf.

“It feels amazing to play in front of the Polish crowd,” said Joona “Serral” Sotala of BASILISK. “I think I gave this one my everything, and I didn’t really leave anything in myself. This was my full performance, I don’t think I can do much better.”

With his victory, Serral takes home $150,000 of the $500,000 total prize pool, on top of an additional $2,500 awarded to him for map wins in the Group Stage. For their top placementsMaru, Dark, and Cure received a direct invite to the Esports World Cup – the 2023/2024 ESL Pro Tour season’s Championship event – later this year, joining Serral and Clem who secured his spot by winning ESL SC2 Masters 2023 Summer and Winter respectively.

Next up in the ESL Pro Tour for StarCraft® II is the ESL SC2 Masters: Spring season concluding with live Finals at DreamHack Dallas in Dallas, Texas, USA, on May 31-June 2.

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

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Gaming Innovation Group – Mandatory notification of trade

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Mikael Riese Harstad, Chairman of the Board and primary insider of Gaming Innovation Group Inc.

(GiG), has today transferred 864,403 shares in GiG to a life insurance policy with SEB Life International Assurance Company DAC with himself as the sole policy holder.

In addition, Helena Riese Harstad, a close associate of Mikael Riese Harstad, has today transferred 477,733 shares in GiG to a life insurance policy with SEB Life International Assurance Company DAC with herself as the sole policy holder.

After these transactions, Harstad and close associates owns no shares directly, but hold 1,342,136 shares through life insurance policies with SEB Life International Assurance Company DAC.

For further information, contact:
Tore Formo, Group CFO, [email protected] +47 916 68 678

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

 

The post Gaming Innovation Group – Mandatory notification of trade appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Clarion Gaming and ExCeL London plan for the migration of iGB L!VE 2025 to the heart of igaming

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Clarion Gaming is advancing preparations for the migration of iGB L!VE to London in July 2025 establishing a roadmap of activities in partnership with the senior team at ExCeL London which will host the leading global event.

The latest meeting between the two organisations featured:

  • iGB L!VE Portfolio Director Naomi Barton,
  • Clarion Gaming Managing Director Stuart Hunter,
  • Head of Operations Richard Logan and
  • Head of Marketing Jody Frost with the senior team from ExCeL led by the venue’s
  • Chief Commercial Officer Simon Mills.

Expanding on the meeting Naomi Barton said: “This was the second senior level planning meeting that we have held with our colleagues at ExCeL London in order to move the home of the igaming community to a city which is the heart of the igaming industry in a country which is igaming’s largest market.

“The roadmap is being created in order to anticipate industry needs, address pain points and to exceed the expectations of customers. The migration of what is already a top performing Tier One igaming event is set against the backdrop of iGB L!VE’s 5-year growth plan which is focused on delivering 35,000 visitors and over 550 exhibitors and sponsors by 2029.

“Our vision is to harness the tremendous momentum created by the iGB L!VE brand and to take the event to a whole new level in a new venue, and a new exceptionally well-connected global home in the city of London.

“ExCeL London has a fantastic track record of helping events to fulfil their potential, and all of the building blocks are in place for iGB L!VE and its customers to accelerate their businesses to new heights in London.

She added: “Placing our customers at the heart of everything that we do is central plank to the iGB L!VE growth strategy, and the roadmap for 2025 is underpinned by a clear customer-focused programme that will ensure maximum cost-effectiveness as well as global growth for all of our stakeholders.

“We will be using July’s edition of iGB L!VE not only to reflect and celebrate our time in Amsterdam and say thank you to our fantastic partners for many years RAI Amsterdam, but also enable our vendors and customers to secure their presence at ExCeL London in 2025.”

 

The post Clarion Gaming and ExCeL London plan for the migration of iGB L!VE 2025 to the heart of igaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Paf’s results for 2023

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The Nordic gaming company Paf’s annual report for 2023 shows that it has been a good year which means a good sum of Paf funds for society. Paf’s published customer segments show more sustainable revenue in the past year. The Paf board gets a new member.

The Paf Group’s revenue for 2023 increased from €165.7 million to €177.1 million, an increase of 7%. The growth in revenue results in an increase in profit from €44.8 million to €55.1 million, which is a record for Paf.

“We can be happy and proud with the past year. We have gained a larger customer base and the number of active customers has increased by 27%, which explains some of it, but we are also well aware that the temporarily low gaming taxes in Finland have helped the result,” says Christer Fahlstedt, CEO.

Paf’s result is the best result in Paf’s 57-year history and an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. However, gaming taxes in a number of countries will be increased in 2024, which will create different conditions going forward. In Finland, the temporary reduction of the lottery tax has increased from 5% to 12%, in Sweden the gambling tax will increase from 18% to 22%, in Estonia from 5% to 6% and in Latvia from 10% to 12%.

“The trend of increasing gaming taxes will continue, and we expect to see more much-needed demands for increased responsible gaming measures. The changes will result in reduced profitability and many operators will find it more difficult. But Paf is well prepared for the times ahead,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

31.4 million euros in Paf funds
The annual distribution of Paf funds will be €31.4 million. Paf funds are used for the benefit of society, including a number of third sector organisations that work to promote society in social activities, culture, youth work, sports, environmental activities and more.

“It’s undeniably great that Paf is achieving a great result, allowing us to distribute a total of €31.4 million in the form of Paf funds. The employees have done a phenomenal job over the past year, and the Board would like to thank all Paf employees who have made this possible,” says Jan-Mikael von Schantz, Chairman of the Paf Board.

Sustainable entertainment
In 2023, Paf chose to invest heavily in responsible gaming, and the loss limit for all customers was lowered to EUR 17,500 per year. In addition, in spring 2023, Paf introduced a specific loss limit for young players aged 18–19, €1,800 per year. In spring 2024, Paf chose to lower the loss limit for young people aged 20–24. Young people of that age already had a lower loss limit at Paf but it was further reduced from €10,000 to €8,000 per year.

“This is an important continuation of the direction we are striving to take at Paf for our responsible gaming. Now young customers can only gamble with us for sums that are at more sustainable levels and within the framework of the customer segment we have defined ourselves as the green segment,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

Paf’s customer segments 2017–2023
The published table shows the development of gaming in different customer segments from 2017 until 2023. The red segment for customers who have lost more than €30,000 in one year is at zero in recent years, as Paf’s loss limits stop large losses. The white segment shows the number of players who ended the year in profit.

“It is encouraging to see that we have once again increased the green revenues with more sustainable revenues by a full 7.6%. It is possible to change an outdated business model in the industry and we will continue our strive to be a gaming company that provides sustainable entertainment in everyday life,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

The figures for Paf’s customer segments have been reviewed by auditors as part of the audit of the financial statements.

“Our published and open customer segments show what our investments in responsible gaming measures have achieved over the years. The publication gives credibility to our efforts at a level that no other gaming company has been able to show,” says Christer Fahlstedt.

Daniela Forsgård new on the board
Paf gets a new board member when Daniela Forsgård takes a seat on the board. At the same time, Birgitta Eriksson is stepping down after many years on Paf’s board.

“I really want to thank Birgitta for the solid contribution she has made to Paf’s Board over the years.”

“Daniela Forsgård’s merit-based knowledge of finance, combined with the international experience she possesses, will fit in well with the Board. In addition, Daniela has personal experience of Paf as she previously worked at Paf,” says Jan-Mikael von Schantz.

The Paf Board now consists of Chairman Jan-Mikael von Schantz, Board members Gunnar Westerlund, Denise Johansson, Roger Nordlund and Daniela Forsgård.

The post Paf’s results for 2023 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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