Skillshot Media, the Esports production company owned by Hi-Rez Studios, is thrilled to announce its upcoming partnership with Esports Insider (ESI) and Develop:Brighton 2019 to host an additional strand of conference dedicated to esports. As global leaders in esports media and business to business events and conferences, ESI will run a half day of esports industry focused networking, including a handful of panels and keynote talks, with a host of industry stakeholders on the bill. This will run in parallel to the already packed Develop:Brighton conference line up and will be held at Skillshot’s European HQ, a short walk from the conference base at the Brighton Metropole.

Leading Esports Service Provider To Host ESI’s Dedicated Esports Talks, Panels and Networking Event In Brighton This July

“The UK has a strong development scene with a thirst for knowledge about esports,”  said Sam Cooke, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Esports Insider. “We are thrilled this conference track enables us to share some of the key learnings we have with the Develop:Brighton audience and stimulate conversation around this exciting aspect of video games.”

“The esports scene is an incredibly vibrant area of the industry and one which Hi-Rez and Skillshot have been part of for many years. We’ve hosted thousands of competitors, paid out millions in prizing and served more than a billion esports views to date. It’s fantastic to be able to share our experience and knowledge and also create a platform for so many others to do so.” Said President of SkillShot Media and Hi-Rez co-founder, Todd Harris.

With a focus on both education and conversation, the esports sessions will include talks by leading esports developers and publishers, presentations by Skillshot on maximising opportunities and partnerships with esports, a panel specific to Esports communications and a more open style session,

Esports Chamber 101, discussing attendees’ views on what needs to change in esports.

“Over the past 14 years Develop:Brighton has always shone a light on emerging trends and developments within the industry. Esports is a topic the conference has covered a number of times so we’re delighted to offer this additional resource to Develop:Brighton delegates this year,” said Andy Lane, Managing Director at Tandem Events.

Develop:Brighton takes place 9-11th July at the Hilton Metropole in Brighton, UK. The Skillshot ESI esports Track will take place 9th July from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM at the Hi-Rez Studio offices and will be followed by an Open Bar networking opportunity until 7:30 PM. Just minutes from the main conference venue this will be open to all those registered for the develop conference.
For Develop ticket holders places for the esports sessions can be secured here: eventbrite link.
The sessions are also open to those without a Develop pass by registering here.
Additional places may be available on the day but cannot be guaranteed.

Schedule for the day:

Opening - ESI  14:00 - 14:10
Opening remarks from the Managing Director and Co-Founder of Esports Insider, Sam Cooke.
Skillshot Media Talk  14:10 - 14:45
How & why we use video content marketing and esports infrastructure to help grow SMITE to over 30 million players, with over $8M in prize money awarded to date.  Developers and publishers will take away specific learnings applicable in their own competitive multiplayer games.
Communications & PR in esports 14:50 - 15:20
The UK esports communications landscape has grown and evolved considerably over recent years, with organisations and brands recognising its importance. In this panel session we look at how PR differs in esports from other industries.
Can you force an esport? 15:40 - 16:10
Esports generally are born from a community's drive to play a game competitively. Games built without esports in mind,face challenges implementing spectator tools and replay systems retrospectively - so should devs be looking for esports from the get-go?
Why should publishers work with third party Tournament Organisers? 16:10 - 16:40
With the rise of big money franchise leagues it's easy to forget the importance of an open ecosystem and how it works so well across multiple titles. How can working with a third party Tournament Organiser benefit a game and help foster a healthy esports title?
Q&A with Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner - Meet an esports legend  16:50 - 17:20
A talk from Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner on Code Red Esports, followed by an openforce Q&A with a true esports legend.

Drinks: Open Bar   17:30 - 19:30

About Skillshot Media:
Skillshot provides a turnkey esports solution for leading competitive titles, including online and offline tournament organisation, industry-leading esports production and active community management.  Skillshot has over five years of esports experience, hosting thousands of global competitors, paying out millions in tournament prizing and serving over one billion esports views to date.

About Hi-Rez:
Based in Alpharetta, Georgia Hi-Rez is an industry leading video game publisher and developer at the forefront of the free-to-play, games-as-a-service industry. Hi-Rez’s games have been played by more than 70 million people worldwide, across PC, Xbox One X®, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.  With three games regularly among the Top 10 free-to-play games on Steam, Hi-Rez is one of the few Western developers to have successfully launched multiple, multi-platform games as a service titles to a large audience. Having won multiple awards and accolades for innovation and technology, Hi-Rez has also been recognised for its company culture, leadership and diversity as an employer.

Additional information about Hi-Rez Studios can be found at: www.hirez.com

About Esports Insider
Esports Insider is a media, agency and B2B events company, with an esports business news site and content platform.

A world leading and international esports industry news site, and the company has run more industry B2B events than any other, globally. ESI maintains a social presence across Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Launched in 2016 and based in its London office which it shares with sister company Sport Global, ESI also has a growing team based remotely around the world.