Riot Games, Ubisoft, Pysonix and more to speak at the ESI Digital Winter online esports conference

UK-based B2B esports events company Esports Insider has revealed the first wave of speakers for next week’s ESI Digital Winter.

The online conference and networking event will feature thought leaders from PUBG Mobile, Complexity, Ubisoft, Team Vitality, Singtel, DreamHack, Psyonix, Riot Games, Gen G and more.

The digital event will bring together more than 75 industry leaders and innovators in esports from November 18th to 19th, to discuss, debate and celebrate hot topics facing the esports industry.  

The ESI Digital Winter agenda centers on brands’ involvement in esports, betting, investment, ecommerce and revenue generation.

Sessions include:

Wednesday November 18th 2020

• Ubisoft and Rainbow Six Siege’s esports scene – Building a global competitive structure
  • Confirmed speakers: Jérémy Somville – EMEA Senior Esports Brand Manager – Ubisoft, Michele Attisani – CBO and Co-Founder – FACEIT & Che Chou – Senior Director, Esports – Ubisoft
    
• PUBG MOBILE- Be The Tier1
  • Confirmed speakers: James Yang – Director of  PUBG MOBILE Global Esports 
    
• ESI Brand Masterclass – Riot Games x SPORTFIVE
  • Alban Dechelotte – Head of Partnerships & Business Development – Riot Games EMEA
  • Eike Gyllensvärd – Executive Vice President Global Esports Partnerships – SPORTFIVE
    
• Rocket League Esports – A New Era
  • Confirmed speakers: Murty Shaw – Esports Program Specialist – Psyonix, Michael Van Driel – Chief Product Officer – DreamHack, Atle S. Stehouwer – Founder and CEO – Team Singularity, Brett Lautenbach – President – NRG 
    
• Esports Betting in 2021 – What’s On The Cards?
  • Confirmed speakers: Steven Salz – CEO – Rivalry, Marek Suchar – Head of Partnerships – Oddin, Dr. Brett Abarbanel – Director of Research, International Gaming Institute – University of Nevada
    
• ESI Hall of Fame – Inductees #2 and #3 Reveal
  • Hosted by Jason Lake – CEO – Complexity Gaming

Thursday 19th November 2020

• ESI Brands Masterclass: A 2020 Overview
  • Confirmed speakers: Skyler Johnson – Founder – CTRL & Debs Scott-Bowden – Account Director – CSM 
    
• Payment processing in esports: ecommerce opportunities and prize money problems
  • Confirmed speakers: Spike Laurie – Head of Sales, Marketing and Business Development – Prize Payments
    
• Esports teams, revenue generation and diversification
  • Confirmed speakers: Kevin Chou – Co-Founder and CEO – Rally, Nicolas Maurer – CEO – Team Vitality, Robyn St.Germain – Executive Director of Sales & Global Partnerships – Beasley Esports, Daniel Reely CEO and President – REELY Corp., Zachary Rozga – CEO – THECE
    
• ESI Brand Masterclass – Telcos and Esports 
  • Tim Guhl – VP of Sales – Singtel
    
• How has esports betting developed in the USA in 2020?
  • Moritz Maurer – CEO – GRID
    
• The watchability of RTS as an esport – by Frost Giant Studios
  • Tim Morten – Production Director & CEO – Frost Giant Studios, Ryan Schutter – Lead UX Designer – Frost Giant Studios, Jesse Brophy – Art Director – Frost Giant Studios

The Clutch, a live pitch investment competition with the aim of helping esports-related start-up companies will also return. It will take place on Thursday November 19th, supported by Deloitte and Nations Ventures.

The judges for this are:

• Christian Christoefl – Investment Banking Vice President – Deloitte
• Patrick Mahoney – Co-Founder – Nations Ventures
• Heba Al Masri – Managing Director – Qatar Sports Tech
• Malte Barth – Founding General Partner – BITKRAFT Ventures

In its third year, ESI Hall of Fame, in association with Singtel, will conclude the first day of ESI Digital Winter with a virtual celebration, recognising and awarding three inspiring individuals who continue to contribute and shape the esports industry. 

Esports Insider and the Esports Awards have partnered to create Esports Assemble, a mix of business-focused content and networking opportunities.

It starts with ESI Digital Winter on November 18th and 19th, and also includes the Esports Awards Expo on November 20th and 21st, plus the Esports Awards ceremony on the evening of November 21st. 

Tickets are available now at ESI Digital Winter and start at £75 (+VAT), with discounts available for group passes. You can also check out the full agenda here.

Dom Sacco

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.