Digital Trends: “Xbox will once again partner with the Special Olympics for its second annual Gaming for Inclusion Esports event. It will take place on September 10 and 17.”

“In 2021, Xbox partnered up with Special Olympics to create the Gaming for Inclusion Esports tournament. This first event was the culmination of nearly a decade of Xbox and Special Olympics working together to empower differently abled athletes to compete and commentate on games. It partnered athletes and celebrity partners in competitions featuring games such as Rocket League, Madden NFL 22, and Forza Motorsport 7. In 2021, the event saw Jayson Tatum, Jamaal Charles, and many WWE Superstars compete alongside Special Olympics athletes.”

“Gaming for Inclusion 2022 will once again feature Special Olympics athletes and Unified partners in online competitions in Rocket League, as well as doing commentary and interviews. This year’s celebrity supporters include the return of Jamaal Charles, TikTok influencer vaultboy, and a host of WWE Superstars on September 17.”

“In a blog post, Jeff Hansen, general manager of Strategic Brand Partnerships at Xbox, said: ‘Microsoft is committed to supporting Special Olympics in their mission to be a movement led by athletes and raise awareness for people with intellectual disabilities across areas such as sports and leadership.’”

PC Gamer: “Esports aren’t just for shooters, MOBAs, and real-time strategy games. As we’ve seen over the past several years, just about anything can be an esport, from Farming Simulator League to Geoguessr competitions to Wikipedia speedruns. If it’s a program that runs on a computer, no matter what it is, someone will find a way to make it competitive. So of course there are Microsoft Excel esports.”

“As reported by TechRadar(opens in new tab), this past weekend Excel esports got a lot of new fans when ESPN aired a replay of the Excel All-Star Battle that took place back in May. The event was organized by the Financial Modeling World Cup, “a leading financial modeling competition for everyone interested in finance,” and was shown as part of ESPN’s “The Ocho” on August 4, a 24-hour celebration of weird sports that included corgi racing, axe throwing, and stone skipping.”

“Over three rounds, the competitors were given extremely complicated tasks to accomplish on their spreadsheets with a 30-minute time limit. Half the contestants were eliminated in each round. Appropriately enough, each round is a “case study” problem involving a different game of some sort. In round one, the eight cyber athletes are challenged to create a slot-machine game with eight different symbols and a complicated point scoring system. Round two is a yacht regatta game with a complex wind-speed and directional simulation, and round three is a platformer with six different levels. Yes, these games are all being created in spreadsheets. Somehow.”

Esports: “It’s been a week since the the Indian Government banned Battlegrounds Mobile in the country. The game was taken off the Apple Store and Google Playstore, with developer Krafon receiving prior notice. While this isn’t the first time a PUBG game has been banned in India, this time was a tad different.”

“The major bi-product of this situation is that the lined-up BGMI tournaments in the country were forced to be delayed to a future date. The ban did affect live streaming as many streamers needed to shift to a new game.”

“If the Indian government continues with this pattern, the worst-case situation can easily occur. India can see a major dip in investment within the domain. Gaming organizations can decide to region lock their games out of India and in turn utterly destroy grassroots esports.”

SI: “FaZe Clan, one of the biggest brands in esports, went public Wednesday. The company is now trading on Nasdaq under the new ticker symbols “FAZE” and “FAZEW.””

“The move comes following a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp. After planning for a $1 billion deal in October, it is now valued at $725 million. The move marks a historic step forward for companies in the “creator economy.””

IGN: “Sony Interactive Entertainment is acquiring Repeat.gg, an esports technology platform as its amibitions in the space continue to grow.”

“Repeat.gg is one of biggest esports tournament platforms in the world and it helps users compete for cash prizes across online games. Furthermore, it organizes asynchronous esports tournaments that allow players to compete in games even if they aren’t online at the same time.”

“We will have access to more resources, game titles and technology, which will allow us to grow the team to push Repeat in directions that we had never thought would be possible,” Repeat.gg’s Jeff Shull wrote. “This will allow us to grow Repeat significantly over the next couple of years with plenty of new features, continuing our mission to become synonymous with esports by creating a home where everyone has a chance to compete and win.”

“At PlayStation, our vision for esports has always been about breaking down barriers for gamers to compete at all levels,” Steven Roberts, vice president of global competitive gaming at Sony Interactive Entertainment, said to GamesIndustry.biz. “Together with the talented Repeat.gg team, we’re excited to explore more ways for players to engage in competitive gaming and expand the breadth of our esports offerings. This is just the start of our journey and we look forward to sharing more updates with our community in the future.”

Venture Beat: “Picking up on a global trend, Loco has launched Loco Legends, which it bills as India’s first non-fungible token platform for esports.”

“Loco said it is dedicated to democratizing gaming entertainment in the country, and it said its platform will allow users to own and trade esports collectible assets, helping them turbocharge their fandom and experience the thrill of stepping into the shoes of esports scouts.”

“The first asset on Loco Legends will be NFT esports cards. This offering combines NFTs and free-to-play esports fantasy gaming. Users can purchase NFT trading cards allowing them to buy and sell cards amongst each other and also participate in free-to-play fantasy pools. By collecting, owning, and trading these limited edition digital collectibles, Loco is designing a unique fan experience, where users can truly get closer to their heroes, build real world connections, and enhance their watching experience.”

“The NFTs will be limited in number and unique to each owner. Loco is the first to build a large-scale consumer platform of this sort in India that is embracing NFTs and web3.”