Riot teams up with GGTech Entertainment to boost collegiate esports competitions

DUBAI: Riot Esports, one of the world’s leading game publishers and esports tournament organizers has signed a partnership with GGTech Entertainment, a  Spanish technology company specializing in the organization of diverse esports events and tournaments. The collaboration is to facilitate and enhance the development of two competitions in the USA featuring its most acclaimed titles: College League of Legends (CLoL) and College VALORANT (CVAL). It also has a support and mentoring programme for college clubs to help them develop and grow.

Collegiate esports has emerged as a dynamic and rapidly expanding field within the realm of higher education encompassing competitive video gaming at the university and college level, providing a platform for students to showcase their skills and passion for gaming. These programmes not only provide gamers with the opportunity to compete against their peers, but also build communities of like-minded student gamers and develop life skills such as teamwork, strategic thinking and respect. Collegiate esports serves as a bridge between academics and the booming world of competitive gaming, allowing students to pursue their gaming ambitions while pursuing a higher education.

With a global reach spanning 25 countries across four continents, GGTech Entertainment brings extensive expertise to the table. Among its prominent competitions is UNIVERSITY Esports, attracting participation from over 100,000 students representing more than 1,500 universities.

In the UAE, GGTech develops Amazon UNIVERSITY Esports, in which more than 850 players from over 40 universities took part throughout the Spring term. In the MENA region, there are over 3,500 students representing more than 90 universities, collectively forming more than 300 teams participating in the competition.

GGTech and Riot Esports have been working together for a number of years on various competitions in EMEA and Latin America.

GGTech will bring its global collegiate experience to help build on the success of the existing programmes. To this end, it will work closely with the RSAA (Riot Scholastic Association of America), the Riot Esports’ entity charged with governing collegiate competitions and fostering the development of gaming as a meaningful and complementary part of the high school and college experiences.

This move into the US market, coupled with GGTech’s global reach, represents a significant stride towards promoting worldwide competition, providing comprehensive support, and ensuring increased visibility for all territories, including MENA.

“As we add more games and continue to grow our offerings, we wanted a partnership where we could bring the whole program under one roof,” said J.T. Vandenbree, Head of the RSAA. “We are looking forward to leveling up our game and building more collaboration with students and schools of all sizes, investments, and solo queue ranks.”

Josh Williams, Global Director of UNIVERSITY Esports at GGTech Entertainment, said: “We’re delighted to be working with RSAA to help build on the success of Riot’s college programs. We want to use our decade of global experience in collegiate esports and work with the community to create new and exciting experiences for all college students in North America.” Mario Perez, CEO of MENATech, said: “We are excited about GGTech’s big step into the North American market and the expansion of UNIVERSITY Esports on a more global scale. This will also help all other regions get visibility and is a step forward in consolidating a global roadmap for UNIVERSITY Esports.”