Blockchain-based chiliZ to Invest $10 Million into Battle Royale Esports and Partner with Dr DisRespect

‘Blockchain-based’ chiliZ platform has announced a major investment into battle royale esports, pledging $10 million to partner with small or established esports organizations looking to develop Fortnite or PUBG teams.

With the recent announcement of Epic Games massive $100,000,000 prize pool fund for Fortnite Battle Royale esports tournaments, there has predictably been an increased interest from sponsors and investors in the growing BR genre.

Games like H1Z1: King of the Kill, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and the most recently Fortnite Battle Royale, have dominated the consoles and PC’s of millions of gamers – both to play and to watch.

chiliZ is a platform which claims to base itself on the system of ‘Socios’ – “belief in the intrinsic power of creating ‘fan controlled’ & ultimately even ‘fan funded’ organizations in sports and esports.”

They give the example of Real Madrid, the most valuable team in any sport globally, which is based on the the same model, which is collectively owned by 90,000+ ‘socios’.

And chiliZ want to transpose this model into the world of esports, starting with the burgeoning Battle Royale genre.

chiliZ will either invest in small esports organisations, enabling them to enter the ‘Battle Royale’ world, or will partner with larger organisations to empower their fans to build a new and unique experience.

We will provide funding and our fan-engagement/fan-monetisation platform to esports organisations who are looking to enter the competitive ‘Battle Royale’ gaming landscape. Our goal is to kick-start a new vision of how organisations can connect with fans for a more inclusive approach to esports.

We are delighted with the feedback chiliZ has received from leading executives from some of the largest and most well-known esports organisations.”

They claim that this model will solve two of what they deem to be the biggest problems in esports – “lack of fan engagement and lack of funding.”

chiliZ is the ultimate fan engagement tool, through which teams can also secure essential funding. In exchange for that funding, teams have to allow fans to make certain management decisions.

For example, fans can vote on a roster, decide which opponent a player may face, choose which game they’ll play or even which skins the team ‘wear’. It’s like fantasy football but with real-world results.

As an organization, chiliZ operates as a subsidary of Malta based company Mediarex Group – “a global sports and entertainment organization”.

They claim to have ‘recently secured’ $27 million in “private placement through its blockchain-related token sale” and have partnered with popular Twitch streamer Dr DisRespect and other streamers to support their ‘global vision’.