SLIVER.tv is all about streaming top eSports videogames in fully immersive, 360° cinematic virtual reality (VR) video, known for previously broadcasting the Dreamhack Masters, and the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice. Now the company has partnered up with Tencent Games to stream its new battle royale title Ring of Elysium, all powered by its Theta rewards blockchain.
Developed by Aurora Tencent Studio (formerly known as Europa), Ring of Elysium launched for free on 19th September as a multiplayer online arena shooter. Players find themselves trapped on a snowy mountain assaulted by a disastrous snowstorm, the only way out is a rescue flight which can only save up to four people. So all they need to do is stay ahead of the approaching storm while eliminating competition.
As part of the partnership with SLIVER.tv, viewers watching Ring of Elysium matches will be able to earn Theta tokens by logging in, watching live content, and will also be eligible to win premium crates. Viewers can also use tokens to purchase in-game exclusive skins and premium items or for discounts on real-world products from sponsors.
“We’re excited to be partnering with SLIVER.tv and bringing unique Theta rewards to Ring of Elysium players,” said Tencent Games in a statement. “We want viewers to be able to become part of the eSports experience, and will be able to do so with the interactive eSports channel with SLIVER.tv.”
“Our partnership with Tencent Games will help us continue to drive interactive eSports by featuring exciting content from Ring of Elysium,” said Mitch Liu, co-founder, and CEO of SLIVER.tv and Theta Labs, Inc. “Combined with our unique Theta rewards and blockchain technology, users become part of the eSports experience, driving greater engagement and retention for our partners and games.”
Play Labs, the incubator/accelerator for startups related to blockchain, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), as well as other areas such as eSports and Artificial Intelligence (A.I) has revealed a new strategic partnership with Theta Labs, a subsidiary of interactive eSports live streaming platform SLIVER.tv. A name showing up more and more on VRFocus.
As part of this partnership, the forthcoming Summer 2018 sessions from Play Labs, hosted on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – better known as MIT – by the MIT Game Lab, will be sponsored by Theta Labs. Theta Labs is itself a blockchain related project “creating a decentralized, user-powered video mesh network. Theta aims to provide higher quality streaming around the world while lowering costs for content delivery and helping content creators capture more of their advertising revenue”.
The sponsorship, however, looks set to benefit all creators at the event, which is expanded its focus this year particularly with blockchain, VR and AR in mind. Play Labs is dedicated to helping startups off the ground that utilise “playful technology”, providing them not just funding and facilities but also guidance. Such guidance comes from mentorship by MIT staff and successful entrepreneurs, often including MIT alumni. Startups will now be able to include ‘the Theta protcol’, as it is referred to, in their projects. Helping with plans for video streaming, music, entertainment, eSports and other media applications and which will also benefit both content acquisition and project costs. Theta Labs CEO Mitch Liu, himself an MIT alumnus, will become a blockchain mentor in the Play Labs program as well
“As we roll out the Theta protocol, we are already seeing applications across many industries – esports, entertainment, training, music and more,” said Mitch Liu, CEO and founder of Theta Labs, Inc. “We are looking to partner with great institutions around the world, and as an MIT alum myself, I believe that the innovative startups from the MIT ecosystem like those in Play Labs are terrific partners to invent new and value-driven applications for this powerful innovation.”
“A new decentralized video streaming architecture like Theta’s can be very disruptive to the entertainment and live streaming industries, especially when considering the surge in video content coming with the rise of esports, VR, 8K and more.” Adds Executive Director of Play Labs, Riz Virk. “Both streaming and blockchain are key technology areas for Play Labs this year and we look forward to fostering an ecosystem that delivers real value.”
“We are excited to see new innovations with blockchain beyond cryptocurrency,” said Rik Eberhardt, Studio Manager for the MIT Game Lab. “And we’re are very interested in what new applications Theta Labs and our startups come up with this summer!”
SLIVER.tv, the virtual reality (VR) esports platform known for broadcasting the Dreamhack Masters, and the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice has announced the close of a $20 million USD Theta token private sale.
The sale was led by Danhua Capital and advised by Steve Chen, Co-founder of YouTube and Justin Kan, Co-founder of Twitch. Investors included DHVC, I Blockchain Capital, Nirvana Capital, aelf, Synapse Capital and leading Silicon Valley VCs DCM, Sierra Ventures and the Venture Reality Fund.
SLIVER.tv launched Theta Tokens back in December 2017, earned by fans by logging in daily and used as gifts for their favorite influencers/streamers, and soon, to buy virtual goods for their favorite videogames. Over one million Theta tokens have been earned and gifted to two dozen top esports streamers by over 980,000 SLIVER.tv users since launch. In the future, tokens can also be utilized by advertisers and brand sponsors to fund ad campaigns and support key content creators.
“Our vision is to create the next generation esports and video streaming ecosystem by democratizing today’s centralized content delivery networks,” said Mitch Liu, Co-Founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv and Theta Labs. “We’re thrilled to have the support of so many blockchain and esports experts, we truly believe blockchain technology will disrupt esports and the broader video and media industries. Video content accounts for nearly 80% of all internet data, it’s a huge problem and a multi-billion dollar opportunity that Theta is looking to democratize.”
“We’ve been impressed working with Mitch and the entire SLIVER.tv team since we led the company’s Series A round of financing. It’s clear they’re on an exponential growth trajectory and getting huge traction in the esports streaming community, their underlying video delivery technology under development makes all this possible,” said Dovey Wan, Managing Director of Danhua Capital. “We’ve been in the crypto space since 2013 and are among the earliest supporters of DFINITY, Brave and Orchid Labs. Content delivery networks by nature can leverage decentralization and blockchain technology very well. Today’s blockchain technology is like the internet in 1996, I think Theta has the opportunity to become the dominant decentralized network that powers all video streaming for the next 20 years.”
To find out more about SLIVER.tv’s Theta Tokens read Theta Labs’ blog. For any further updates keep reading VRFocus.
Taking place tomorrow is the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 tournament by Turner Sports and IMG. While there will be traditional coverage on TBS as well as Twitch, Youtube and other digital channels, virtual reality (VR) esports broadcaster SLIVER.tv will be adding its immersive experience to the event.
Just like SLIVER.tv has done with past esports events like the Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2017, the broadcaster will provide CS:GO fans with a unique perspective for the matches. They’ll be able to get inside the game map, follow their favourite teams and players, all in VR.
“These latest technology and product enhancements will further improve the fan experience, creating even more opportunities to engage with our ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier content,” said Robert Occhialini, Vice President, esports Products and Technology, Turner Sports in a statement. “We’re looking forward to working closely with our technology partners as we continue to drive innovation across our growing esports portfolio.”
Fresh off a successful round of venture capital funding, Sliver.tv announced a partnership today with ELEAGUE, Turner and IMG’s eSports venture. ELEAGUE will use Sliver’s 360-degree video technology in the upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Premier 2017.
Fans will be able to watch matches in 360-degrees, just like they do now in Sliver’s own Counter-Strike coverage. ELEAGUE will support 360 on the web, iPhone, Android, Gear VR, Oculus, HTC Vive, Daydream, and Cardboard. Viewers can even watch the 2D television feed while in 360-degree mode.
Sliver is not the only company Turner is licensing technology from in its eSports push. ELEAGUE is partnering with Dell, who will furnish the tournament with Tobii eye tracking technology. Viewers will be able to see players’ field of vision and exactly where they are looking during a match.
Meanwhile, Shadow.GG from Dojo Madness will provide detailed analytics for viewers to check out. Heatmaps, smokemaps, pathmaps, and replay views will allow amateur CS: GO aficionados to quantify how pros take advantage of territory and then use that information in their own play.
360 seems like the best way to take in Counter-Strike, but those of you still subscribed to basic cable can watch the CS: GO Premier 2017 tomorrow on TBS at 10 PM ET.
Esports have been gaining increasing amounts of attention as the fanbase grows and it moves towards becoming mainstream. A growing number of Esports fans are choosing to watch Esports tournaments in360-degrees. SLIVER.tv is one of the providers of the 360-degree Esports experience, and has just secured $9.8 Million in series A funding for its 360-degree platform.
Since itsl aunch in 2016, SLIVER.tv has broadcast several global Esports tournaments in 360-degrees in partnership with brands and companies such as DreamHack, ESL One and Intel Extreme Masters. The company has broadcast Esports matches from top videogames such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) and League of Legends.
Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Danhua Capital, Heuristic Capital Partners and ZP Capital to the SLIVER.tv family. Our platform today enables our global fans to connect and truly experience esports in a whole new perspective. We’re on the cutting edge developing the next-generation live streaming technology, and this new funding will accelerate our R&D investments in machine vision, artificial intelligence and virtual reality.”
Dovey Wan, managing director of Danhua Capital, said: “We are very excited to partner with SLIVER.tv. Mitch and his team are fundamentally transforming the live spectator experience for global esports fans with their patented video streaming technology. Together with a new interactive engagement model, 360 esports content, and a novel incentive model for streamers, tournament organizers, and esports fans, we firmly believe they are ready to disrupt the industry with their next-gen multimedia entertainment platform.”
VRFocus will continue to report on news from the VR and 360-degree sectors.
Over the last few months Sliver.tv has become the go-to provider for immersive coverage of esports entertainment. Today the company announced livesteam coverage of the DreamHack ASTRO Open Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournament at DreamHack Austin this month.
For the broadcast Sliver.tv will be including additional functionality for spectators, enabling them to select from multiple virtual cameras and teleport to different areas of the game map. This new option will be available in all seven CS:GO tournament maps and supported across the SLIVER.tv platform network.
Marcus Lindmark, CEO of DreamHack AB, said: “SLIVER.tv is on the cutting edge of esports broadcast entertainment with its immersive 360º VR streams. Letting viewers step into CS:GO and teleport to different battle locations instantly is truly ground-breaking, and for the first time enables our fans to catch all the action in live tournament matches. We are thrilled to bring this experience to millions of DreamHack esports fans worldwide.”
While Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, added: “Our long-term vision is to transform the esports spectating experience. The multi-stream teleporting capability powered by our virtual camera array technology truly augments the live viewing experience, and takes 360º VR immersion to the next level. We’re excited to launch this new technology in partnership with DreamHack Austin.”
As with all of Sliver.tv’s immersive livestreams there are several ways to get in on the action. Either head to the SLIVER.tv website or download the SLIVER.tv Android and iOS apps to view in 360-degree video or with a Google Cardboard. For the best experience you’ll need to download the app for Samsung GearVR, Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
DreamHack Austin runs from 28th-30th April, 2017. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Sliver.tv, reporting back with the latest announcements.
For VRFocus’ weekly roundup of virtual reality (VR) related sporting goodness the NHL is celebrating 125th anniversary of the Stanley Cup and the recent Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2017 saw VR broadcast popularity and engagement growing by 200 percent.
Intel and ESL Welcome 173,000 Fans to the Extreme Masters Katowice 2017
Last month VRFocusreported on ESL and SLIVER.tv collaborating on a virtual esports stadium experience for fans watching the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice 2017 event.
The entire competition turned out to be a huge success, 173,000 fans attended the stadium event and surrounding festival over the course of two weekends, with more than 46 million unique online viewers, a 35% growth from last year’s event.
Intel and ESL partnered with SLIVER.tv and WonderWorld VR for the VR experience, delivering an immersive 360-degree space that included live stats, replays, and scores in real-time. The VR stream featured a 200 percent growth in peak concurrent viewers compared to IEM’s first VR livestream in Oakland, with 340,000 unique viewers tuning into the VR broadcast reports ESL
“Intel Extreme Masters Katowice shattered all expectations with record breaking attendance and viewership,” said Frank Soqui, General Manager of the Virtual Reality and Gaming Group at Intel. “The gaming community’s passion for esports was on display and Intel is proud to continue delivering the best gaming experiences to fans around the world, whether that’s with IEM tournaments, driving growth in VR content, or improving how people play with Intel processors and technology.”
The IEM Expo also included VR Games Festival and VR tournament, interactive demos including Intel’s Project Alloy merged reality headset, and VR viewing stations from SLIVER.tv.
NHL Fans Experience The Moment Of A Lifetime With The Stanley Cup
To celebrate the 125th Anniversary of the Stanley Cup, the National Hockey League (NHL) teamed up with advertising agency R&R Partners, creating two ad spots voiced over by Liev Schrieber, highlighting the iconic trophy and a VR experience that allowed fans to get up close to the cup.
Housed inside a 20-foot shipping container at PPG Paints Arena, home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and current holder of the Cup, the experience transported fans to a VR world compiled of historic Stanley Cup wins, clips of the Cup being hoisted by famous players and teams and a final moment with the infamous ‘Keeper of the Cup’ Phil Pritchard and an opportunity to virtually reach out and grab the Cup.
What the fans didn’t realise, the actual cup had been placed in front of them whilst in VR so when they removed the headset there it was in all its glory.
While traditional eSports aren’t going away, many companies are building the foundation for a virtual reality subset. The current eSports numbers are staggering. According to Newzoo, of the 1.3 billion gamers worldwide, 256 million are eSports fans today. That number will grow to 385 million by 2017. ESports generated over $493 million in revenues last year and are expected to jump to $696 million this year.
When you look at the gaming landscape, the only thing as “hot “as eSports is virtual reality. Newzoo forecasts global virtual reality and augmented reality will generate $569 billion by 2025. And gamers will be a big part of that revenue, with projections of spending $100 billion on VR hardware by 2018.
Record-Breaking Numbers
So it should come as no surprise that the world’s largest eSports company, The Electronic Sports League (ESL), and one of the giants in both the tech and gaming markets, Intel, are already laying the groundwork for virtual reality eSports. The eleventh season of the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) eSports tournament just concluded in Katowice, Poland over two sold-out weekends this month. Over 173,000 people attended and another 40 million people tuned into the livestreams across Twitch, Twitter, and a dozen television networks globally. IEM Season 12 will kick off its year-long tournament tour schedule on May 6 in Sydney, Australia.
ESL and Intel partnered with Sliver.tv to broadcast IEM Katowice in 360-degree video as part of a 2017 contract that will include seven global eSports events across ESL One and IEM. At Katowice, the included a first-person virtual eSports stadium experience delivering an immersive 360 VR space that includes live stats, replays, and scores in real-time. The VR stream featured a 200% growth in peak concurrent viewers compared to IEM’s first virtual reality live stream in Oakland, with 340,000 total unique viewers tuning into the VR broadcast.
The tech companies first experimented with 360-degree broadcasting across Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, and Dota 2 at ESL One New York and IEM Oakland last fall. More than 130,000 unique viewers tuned into the IEM Oakland VR streams. Sliver.tv has a separate deal with DreamHack to bring seven of its global 2017 eSports events to fans in 360. That deal kicked off with Dreamhack Vegas last month, which means eSports fans will be able to virtually attend 14 events this year using any VR headset.
Frank Soqui, general manager of the enthusiast desktop group at Intel, told UploadVR that Intel has invested in companies like Voke and Replay people fans of all sports want to look around and enjoy a 360-degree experience.
Redefining How Viewers Enjoy eSports
“We want to bring the audience into the immersive experience from a VR perspective through apps like Sliver.tv,” Soqui said. “Just because existing eSports games like League of Legends and CS:GO aren’t native VR games doesn’t mean we can’t use Sliver.tv to get people inside. We believe eSports will quickly evolve from watching competition from a flat screen perspective and will include virtual reality. I don’t know how many games will start taking existing designs and move to VR, but a lot more games will show up inherently designed with VR in mind.”
Intel actually showcased several of these potential VR eSports titles in Katowice, including a game being developed in Warsaw, Poland by HyperVR called Hyper Arena. While the game developer had a 1 vs. 1 version of the TRON-inspired disc-based HTC Vive game playable at the Intel Showcase at the Katowice International Conference Center, Lukasz Kur, founder and general director at HyperVR, said the studio is creating multiple additional levels that add new locales as well as a variety of weapons to the mix. The ultimate plan, according to Kur, is to release the game in 2018 with 2 vs. 2 gameplay. Beyond that, Kur would like to expand the gameplay into a 5 vs. 5 gameplay experience, which he believes will be perfect for team-based eSports. The game’s being designed to allow spectators to sit and watch the physical competition inside the virtual arena.
“Just imagine a full stadium of people who are watching gladiators rumble inside a virtual arena, when not only reflex and concentration matters but also physical muscle strength, agility, balance and creativity to finish off your opponent with style,” Kur said. “Hyper Arena VR is a perfect balance between sport and eSport.”
Intel is also showcasing a number of other eSports titles that could find a place into the tournament this year or beyond. Insomniac’s Oculus Touch spellcasting game, The Unspoken, made its second straight tour stop in Katowice (following its debut at IEM Oakland), alongside Ready at Dawn’s Lone Echo and Croteam’s Serious Sam. These games were featured in eSports tournaments open to the public in Katowice – complete with prizes.
“These games were developed with VR in mind and we’re starting to see the eSports angle emerge,” Soqui said. “Developers are starting to think about what kinds of VR games they should be creating that incorporate eSports fans into the experience. With Sliver.tv we at least have the audience inside of the game, but now we’re starting to see developers create games specifically for VR eSports.”
Intel also hosted VR games throughout the two-weekend event, which also featured a VR Festival Day on March 5. Vertigo Games’ zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine, Ubisoft’s Star Trek Crew Commander and Survios’ cooperative shooter Raw Data were among the titles playable for visiting eSports fans who attended from across Europe.
According to Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, two things will happen in the coming years as eSports evolves. One is that almost every game will have a competitive online aspect to it. And the other thing is there will be growth in the diversity of games.
“There’s a very small number of top games that people play today, but that will grow to include more games,” Reichert said. “And more professional eSports teams will be playing different types of games. Some of those games will be in VR, where you play standing with a controller and other input mechanisms that we haven’t even invented yet. The viewing experience could change as spectators wear VR headsets. It’s going to be fascinating to see how this all develops over the next 20 years. Like everything in gaming, it changes quicker than anything else does.”
Getting Active
Soqui said to succeed in eSports, VR games have to be really compelling from a viewing perspective like these giant tournaments that CS:GO, League of Legends and Dota 2 attract.
“I expect to see a lot of experiments and small local eSports things spring up,” Soqui said. “How fast it gets to that depends a lot on the fan base and how immersive it is. But you can see developers already interested. The great thing about VR is that it can bring new players into the market, and introduce a new audience to eSports.”
Lee Machen, director of developer relations at Intel, said one role IEM will play moving forward is ensuring that everyone has a chance to experience VR around the world.
“People who try VR are usually blown away by the experience,” Machen said. “There are a few things that have limited the growth of VR to date and one of them is how to get more people have that first ‘Oh my God’ VR experience.”
Intel showed off its Project Alloy wireless VR head-mounted display to eSports fans. That technology debuted at CES 2017. Soqui believes Intel’s Y-Gig technology, which debuted at Mobile World Controller, will also find a place at IEM moving forward, while that tetherless VR tech could also free up more competitive eSports play inside virtual reality in the near future.
As ESL and Intel map out the global stops for the 2017-18 tour schedule, VR will be a mainstay for eSports fans to play games, watch livestream eSports from the arenas and potentially become the future of eSports competition – at least on the smaller tournament stages for now.
SLIVER.tv has been heavily promoting its immersive esports coverage since it began last year after securing $6.2 million USD in a seed funding round. Having partnered with Intel, ESL and WonderWorld VR, most recently it’s collaborated with Nokia on the DreamHack Masters Las Vegas event.
Both companies live-streamed the competition to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) fans worldwide, with SLIVER.tv’s virtual camera array technology placing the viewer inside the game in VR, while Nokia used its OZO camera capture the excitement of fans inside the MGM Grand Arena.
Tarif Sayed, Head of VR Technologies at Nokia, said: “Virtual Reality allows us to explore a fantasy world; immersing people in experiences they could never engage with before and this is especially true with eSports. Working with SLIVER.tv on the hybrid reality livestream for DreamHack transported fans into both the game and the event in a completely, new and unique way that takes eSports to a brand new level.”
Mitch Liu, co-founder and CEO of SLIVER.tv, said: “We were thrilled to work with Nokia and its award winning professional OZO cameras for our DreamHack live-action production. The dual 360° VR live streams truly pushed the boundaries of today’s video technologies, and we successfully created an unique hybrid reality experience to esports viewers worldwide. This is a first step towards our mission to transform the interactive esports entertainment industry.”
