Prominent British esports journalist Richard Lewis has joined content creation firm ESP Gaming as director of talent for the World Showdown of Esports (WSOE).
The WSOE is a new multi-genre esports tournament series featuring fight card-style matches that ‘focus on the drama and spectacle of head-to-head competition between the world’s best players’ from a range of games.
Taking its inspiration from boxing and mixed martial arts, the WSOE will crown champions in several competitive divisions and promises to feature innovative prizing, with production elements ‘designed to reward aggressive gameplay and foster rivalries’.
As director of talent, Richard will oversee the on-air personalities for WSOE streaming and live events. He previously worked as a host at ELEAGUE and also has vast experience as an esports analyst.
“We look forward to re-imagining and growing the sport of competitive gaming and crowning our first WSOE Champion this autumn”
Richard Lewis
“With the WSOE, we’re completely flipping the script on the traditional esports tournament format in a way that has never been done in competitive gaming,” he said.
“The WSOE’s unique format allows us to create the matches that competitors and fans want to see and that the competitors want to engage in. We look forward to re-imagining and growing the sport of competitive gaming and crowning our first WSOE Champion this autumn.”
The first event in the series, WSOE 1, will take place this autumn at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas where the first ever WSOE Champion will be crowned. Future events will take place here at the 10,000+ sq ft facility.
And a special live event, The PUBG Pan-Continental, is being broadcast live on Twitch this weekend (July 14th to 15th) from the PokerGO Studio in partnership with esports tournament organiser Auzom.
There will be special guests and players from FaZe Clan, Team Vitality, OpTic Gaming and others, and the tournament will see 16 teams of four players compete for $100,000 in cash prizes.
Some of the talent for that event include British hosts Richard Simms and Frankie Ward (who recently won Presenter of the Year at the UK Esports Awards, and used her speech to rally the industry to make esports inclusive for all):
Take a look at our fantastic talents that will be bringing you all of the action in this weekend’s @PUBG Pan-Continental! Joining them in the studio will be @ESPgaming‘s own @RLewisReports and @HeyMunchables! ? #WSOE #PUBGPC pic.twitter.com/5URbZHIF7T
— WSOE (@WSOE) July 13, 2018
There’s more info over at ESPGaming.com.
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.
