UK and Spanish esports organisation GiantX (GX) have this morning announced the acquisition of iTero Gaming, a UK start-up specialising in AI esports coaching for competitive gamers.
With a focus on League of Legends, GiantX said the multi-million deal ‘represents the company’s ongoing commitment to the global esports community through delivering precise, individualised coaching for gamers looking to enhance their competitive performance via tailored training and strategic insights’.
iTero Gaming launched its League of Legends coaching app in September 2022, amassing over 10,000 installs. The app now has nearly 250,000 installs in less than two years, using AI to pinpoint player weaknesses and optimise pre-game setup.
The founder of iTero Gaming, Jack Joseph Williams (pictured above), has also become the esports organisation’s new Head of Gaming Technology following the acquisition.
He is a former financial analyst at HSBC, who channelled his passion for AI into developing predictive models for esports competition outcomes in his spare time. This endeavour evolved into iTero Gaming, where he began offering decision-making tools for League of Legends players.
“I believe and have always believed that data and AI have the potential to seriously disrupt the status quo of esports, whether that’s finding undervalued players or identifying strategies outside of the standard meta.”
Jack Williams, iTero Gaming
Analysing millions of games every patch, the AI app assesses which champions from a player’s pool would excel in team drafts, and suggests enemy bans, optimal runes and item builds. During matches, it also offers real-time tools such as objective timers to support players striving for a competitive edge in destroying the enemy nexus. The app also offers access to over 500 account statistics for review.
Tim Reichert, Co-CEO of GiantX, said: “We are thrilled to announce our acquisition of iTero Gaming to help elevate player performance to new heights! This marks a pivotal moment in GiantX’s ongoing commitment to innovation and excellence in esports, empowering players worldwide to achieve their competitive best. We are excited to harness this new technology to optimise our team’s training during practice to unlock the full potential of our pro players and the global gaming community.”
Jose Diaz, Co-CEO of GiantX, added: “We are excited to welcome AI pioneer Jack J to the GiantX team. This acquisition represents a significant milestone in advancing AI in the gaming industry. The potential to enhance gameplay and provide tailored insights is enormous, and I can’t wait to see the positive impact it will have on the gaming community.”
Jack J, Founder of iTero Gaming, commented: “I’m excited to be joining the GiantX team. Excel Esports were the first esports team I became a fan of and I’ve followed their journey over the last few years. I believe and have always believed that data and AI have the potential to seriously disrupt the status quo of esports, whether that’s finding undervalued players or identifying strategies outside of the standard meta. I think esports is ready for the future and I’m really looking forward to what comes next working alongside GiantX.”
GiantX were formed last year after London-based Excel Esports and Malaga-based Giants Esports merged. The org have their headquarters in London and Malaga, alongside a performance centre in Berlin.
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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.
