As part of an announcement related to the Omniverse Africa Summit 2024, it was revealed that Ultimate Endgamers League (UEL) is making inroads into Africa through a new partnership with Nigeria-based Game Evolution Esports.
According to a social media post by UEL SVP of Strategy and Co-Founder Brandon Painter, this new partnership will allow for the development of a new hub system “across the continent,” starting with a location in Lagos, Nigeria, followed by centers with partners in regions such as Ghana, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast. These hubs will be used to bring teams in Africa into the UEL ecosystem, which will eventually be able to join its “skills challenge” based league. Currently, teams in the league are located in the United States and matches take place in-person at its main location in Virginia. This season, the league has a total prize pool of $1M USD.
In other reporting there was some confusion on just what UEL is doing in Africa; the company is not running a separate tournament or circuit for the region—instead, it will bring a number of teams into the league at a later date, who will play for a part of the overall prize pool. Painter also noted in his social media post that UEL will likely need to hire an Africa regional manager.
The tie-in to Omniverse Africa Summit in February is that it will include a finals for UEL’s Africa teams (during Season 9, which is currently underway) to determine which two teams will officially join UEL for Season 10 (which officially kicks off on or around Jan. 18, 2025, according to the official sign-up page) in the Spring. Following an open qualifier period, teams will compete to become two of the “expansion teams” in Africa that will join the UEL in Season 10—there are currently 12 teams in the league.
While details are still being hashed out, the current plan is to have African teams compete during UEL game times in the United States remotely (typically 6 p.m. ET). Currently, all other teams in the league compete in-person.
Finally, Painter says that the league will work with its partners in Africa to select five regional publishers and/or developers to feature their games on its wheel (a randomizer element of matches that decides which one of 33 games teams will be playing during their weekly matches.
More details on format, games being played, schedule, and other elements concerning the UEL can be found at uelesports.com.