#worldconnected Initiative welcomes support from leading publishers powering the convening platform of the world’s esports ecosystem.
The Global Esports Federation marks a breakthrough milestone at the 2020 Global Esports Summit in Hainan, China, yesterday, with the launch of the #worldconnected Initiative in partnership with Tencent Esports. This initiative serves as the global platform to facilitate greater dialogue within the esports community, bridging the connection between esports, virtual and traditional sports, and is supported by leading global publishers – Tencent, Riot Games, Supercell and Smilegate.
The Global Esports Federation and Tencent Esports jointly launched the #worldconnected Initiative, supported by leading global publishers – Riot Games, Supercell and Smilegate. (Credit: Global Esports Federation)
(L-R: Representatives from Smilegate; Tencent; Mars Hou, Tencent Games Vice President and Tencent Esports General Manager; Anne Kelly Aikman, GEF Senior Advisor and Member of Brand, Marketing, Commercial & Communications Commission; Wei Jizhong, GEF Vice President; Edward Cheng, Tencent and GEF Vice President; Representatives from Riot Games; Supercell; Tencent.)
Representatives from the GEF, Tencent, and participating publishers were present at the 2020 Global Esports Summit to demonstrate their support for the #worldconnected Initiative. This initiative will further strengthen the GEF’s convening efforts of various esports stakeholders with GEF’s Member Federations – assembling the athletes, players, the world’s publishers, developers, industry partners and sporting organizations – together on one inclusive platform.
“Today, I am proud to announce the launch of the #worldconnected Initiative, in partnership with Tencent Esports. We invite the world’s esports community – the world’s publishers, developers, athletes and players, as well as the broader international sporting community – to come together and play a part in shaping the future of esports,”
said Chris Chan, President, Global Esports Federation, addressing the audience from Singapore. “We stand eager and ready to collaborate with the world’s esports and sporting communities. I invite you to join the conversation – where esports and sport shine bright on the world stage – and together harness the might and power of technology and innovation for good and a truly world connected.”
Since its inception in December 2019, the GEF has achieved unprecedented progress despite these challenging times, including several landmark partnerships – with the Commonwealth Games Federation, the Olympic Council of Asia with its 45 National Olympic Committees, the Olympic Committees of South America (ODESUR); the oldest organization of the United Nation’s system – the International Telecommunications Union (ITU); as well as strategic partnerships with Tokyo-based Dentsu Inc., Singapore-based Refract Technologies and Madrid-based Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft. The GEF has also confirmed more than 60 Member Federations and six International Federations to date.
“The Global Esports Federation values and acknowledges the importance of publishers to the organization. Today marks a breakthrough achievement for the GEF following extensive dialogue sessions where we listened and learned from the publishers and the community which they serve. We proudly welcome the support from Tencent, Riot Games, Supercell and Smilegate for the newly launched #worldconnected Initiative,”
said Paul J. Foster, Chief Operating Officer, Global Esports Federation.“We are confident that through this initiative, we are able to strengthen the dialogue and engagement between key stakeholders in the esports community on our quest to promote the credibility, legitimacy, and prestige of esports.”
The #worldconnected Initiative provides access to foster greater interface among relevant stakeholders to jointly develop avenues to advance the opportunities for esports.