ESL UK is partnering with four of the UK’s largest tech specialists to host Battle of the Brands, a new Christmas charity derby.
The competition will be streamed live on Twitch and Facebook on December 10th, with all money raised going to the UK gaming charity SpecialEffect.
Staff from UK PC online retailers Ebuyer, SCAN, Overclockers UK and PC Specialist will compete in the derby to earn points across five games, including FIFA, Rocket League and Halo 5. The winning team will have the honour of being crowned the UK’s Battle of the Brands champion.
As well as the competition, the livestream will also celebrate the work of SpecialEffect, a UK charity organisation dedicated to helping people with physical disabilities play video games.
“I’d like to thank our partners at Ebuyer, PC Specialist, SCAN and Overclockers UK for being such good sports and joining us to raise money for this very worthy cause.”
James Dean, ESL UK
The initial target for donations is £10,000, with each retailer and sponsor already contributing a minimum of £500 to the drive. Fans looking to support SpecialEffect can donate through the Battle of the Brands JustGiving page.
So far £6,162 has been raised – 61% of the target.
Esports News UK also raised money for SpecialEffect earlier this year as part of a special 24-hour stream with the UK League of Legends community. We’ve made another small donation towards Battle of the Brands as it’s a great push from the UK industry.
“SpecialEffect is close to the hearts of many of us in the games industry,” said James Dean, managing director at ESL UK. “I’d like to thank our partners at Ebuyer, PC Specialist, SCAN and Overclockers UK for being such good sports and joining us to raise money for this very worthy cause.”
Battle of the Brands will be streamed live from 12 midday on December 10th. You can watch the competition live on twitch.tv/esluk.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
