Electronic Arts-owned game studio Respawn Entertainment announced Wednesday that it has decided to shut down the operation and service of Apex Legends Mobile at 4 p.m. PDT on May 1. In its announcement, Respawn claimed that Apex Legends Mobile failed in “quality, quantity, and cadence.” “Following a strong start, the content pipeline for Apex Legends Mobile has begun to fall short of that bar for quality, quantity, and cadence,” Respawn wrote in an official statement. “...We have made the mutual...

The Esports Advocate has reported a lot of layoffs in the esports industry during the month of January, but the separation of NetEase and Activision Blizzard earlier this month will likely lead to a lot more in China; perhaps thousands of industry layoffs including professional players, streamers, and talent,  in one of the biggest esports market in the world because Overwatch League’s future is uncertain there. The Overwatch League is one of the biggest franchise leagues in esports, and China...

U.S. game publisher Activision Blizzard announced on Tuesday that its Chinese distributor NetEase had refused a proposal to extend their 14-year long-term partnership deal for another six months as it seeks to find an alternative distribution partner in China. “Since NetEase posted its ending announcement , we are all suffering from the situation, as we always put our gamers and users in the first place,” Activision Blizzard claimed in an announcement in China. “Last week , we reached out to...

At the conclusion of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang 4 (M4) World Championship in Jakarta on Jan. 15, tournament organizer and game developer Moonton Games announced that the M5 World Championship would take place in the Philippines this year. After the finals, Moonton Games and its partner Esports Charts revealed that the M4 World Championship reached 4.2M peak concurrent users (PCU), becoming one of the "Top 3" esports competitions on its charts, following Free World Series 2021 Singapore (5.41M) and...

After two years of waiting, Chinese esports company eStar Gaming Victory Five (ESV5) announced Tuesday that the company has completed its merger with Sweden-based esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) through an equity swap. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The new entity will be called "NIP Group" in English (The Chinese name remains 星竞威武), and ESV5 CEO Mario Ho and NIP CEO Hicham Chahine will serve as the NIP Group’s co-CEOs. In addition, ESV5 told The Esports...

Chinese League of Legends Pro League operator TJ Sports revealed Monday its new logo and 14 league sponsors for the start of the 2023 season. The new logo is inspired by/celebrates the LPL 10-year anniversary with the number “10” as the logo background. The sponsors and partners include chief partner Mercedes-Benz; strategic partners apparel brand Li-Ning, e-commerce company Jing Dong, and dairy brand Momchilovtsi; official partners Exxon Mobil, chat service TT Voice, smartphone maker OnePlus, energy drink company Warhorse, spring...

The Esports Advocate has learned that South Korean esports organization T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1) has signed a three-year deal with sports lifestyle fashion brand Goal Studio, the global strategic partner of UK soccer news website Goal.com. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. Goal joins Nike as an additional apparel partner. Nike signed a four-year exclusive apparel partnership with T1 in January of 2020 that included all players and teams, including the organization’s League of Legends Korea (LCK)...

T1 Entertainment & Sports (T1) announced Friday that it has appointed Becker Jung as the new general manager for T1’s League of Legends team. Jung served as the esports lead of South Korean esports organization Sandbox Gaming in 2019 and the general manager of Liiv Sandbox in 2021. His primary role in Sandbox Gaming focused on youth development and fan communication. Both Liiv Sandbox and T1 currently compete in South Korea’s top League of Legends competition - The League of...

Chinese live streaming platform Migu Sports—a subsidiary of China’s biggest telecommunication company China Mobile—recently signed a three-year broadcasting/media rights deal with TJ Sports and Tencent for the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), League of Legends World Championship, Mid-Season Invitational (MSI), Honor of Kings competition the King Pro League (KPL), and Peacekeeper Elite’s Peace Elite League (PEL).  Final terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal includes Tencent’s three major esports titles, League of Legends, Honor of Kings, and...