Torque Esports (GAME.V), and subsidiary UMG Gaming, has expanded their partnership to broadcast with Xbox game studio, The Coalition, to host and broadcast the Gears e-sports season finals, according to a press release.
UMG has made a name for itself as a home for online competitive gaming, specifically in the Gears of War series of games, including Gears of War 4 and 5, over the years. As such, UMG was selected by The Coalition to take care of their Gears 5 Esports Spring Online Major in May. When the event was completed, the Engine Media brand was chosen as tournament operator and broadcast partner for the Gears Esports Season Finals in late July.
“It was a huge validation to be selected by The Coalition to convert the Gears Esports Spring Major to an entirely online event — now we’re expanding that partnership further for the Gears Season Finals. UMG has been the leading platform for enabling gaming tournaments for many years. Our expansion of the UMG.tv network streaming platform this year has enabled us to present The Coalition with a complete solution – run the entire tournament producing a programming package,” said Darcy Lorincz, Torque Esports COO.
UMG’s platform has generated more than 300 million views and paid out more than US$3 million prize money. Having previously only been staged as an on-site event, the Gears Season Finals will now be a steamed event with the top five players competing for $250,000 prize. The finals will feature teams from North and Latin America, and the event will be streamed on Twitch from July 31 to August 2, 2020.
“The Spring Quarter Major was our most successful Gears Esports broadcast of the season and the UMG team were instrumental in that. We’re pleased to be able to work with them again on the biggest event in the Gears Esports calendar, the Season Finals,” said Roddy Adams, director of partnerships at The Coalition.
UMG is the esports and tournament arm of Torque esports, and they’re soon to join forces with Torque to become part of Engine Media Incorporated. The creation of which, in May, was when Torque Esports closed the acquisitions of Frankly and WinView. The combined company now has clients over 1,200 television, print and radio brands, including CNN, ESPN, Discovery/Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek and Cumulus, and other gaming and tech companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch, and Ubisoft.
To date, the combined companies have a lengthy and prestigious client list comprised of more than 1,200 television, print, and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery/Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek, and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft.
—Joseph Morton
