What an amazing year it has been! Put down your controllers, take off your headphones, sit back and marvel at Gamr’s achievements in the last one year.
In building the biggest esports brand in Africa, Gamr set a standard core value and brand identity. This initiative allowed everyone irrespective of age, location and gender to “Game Differently” by Playing, Connecting and Earning.
To ensure anyone can play (link to blog), Gamr set out to organise events that create a healthy boost to the already existing, but marginalised gaming ecosystem in the African continent.
NFF Partnership
Gamr reached an agreement with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to function as its technical support partner as the Nigerian Esports Federation (NEF) will be featuring in the FIFA approved FIFAe Nations Cup competition.
The FIFAe Nations Cup is the pinnacle event for esports players to represent their countries on a global stage.
This competition involves players competing for their country at the regional level and then, qualifying as one of the 24 nations that will participate in the finals.
In partnership with the NEF, the initial campaign will feature a comprehensive grassroots programme for the emergence of player representatives that will represent the country in the online qualifiers in April 2023.
The FIFAe Nations Cup competition represents a great opportunity for the Nigerian FIFA esports players to showcase their talent and Gamr, being the leading authority on all things esports is going to be there offering expert support the whole way through.
Our Community
2022 has been nothing short of excitement, learnings and community building for Gamr. In 2022, we have built a community of 187,000 gamers across 12 games including FIFA, CODM, PUBG, Apex legend, Freefire etc ,
Gamr App
We launched an app that caters to the needs of the average African gamer and esports player, with amazing features that make the Gamr experience more inclusive and immersive. Key benefits include:
- Ease of access: The app enables gamers easy access to tournament’s from across the world right from their phone.
- Instant Payouts: We introduced a first of it kind instant payouts for esports as gamers get access to their winnings through the gamr wallet.
- Community Engagement: special gaming moments can now be shared on the gamr app directly to the community of 187,000 as we launched our feeds.
Gamr Events
We have put our name and the African continent on the global esports map and we’ve made a lot of meaningful partnerships in the process. This year also marked our “moon landing” and firmly placed us as the leading esports brand in Africa, marking the beginning of an amazing journey with boundless possibilities.
In business as well as in esports, partnerships are an integral and proven way to reach heights you couldn’t have on your own. Gamr recognized this and as such put in equal efforts into forming pivotal and mutually beneficial partnerships over the course of the past year.
The global esports market is valued at around $2bn as of 2022 and it continues to grow exponentially. Gamr, through its play, connect and earn mantra, is on a double-edged mission — bring esports to Africa (whose esports value is currently at $186m), and then place Africa among the leading continents on the esports stage.
This is no easy task, but with the combination of great partnerships and intentional foreign exposure, Gamr has been able to set in motion actionable efforts in actualizing it. Below are a few of the highlights that truly placed us on the global esports stage.
GamrX
Gamr hit the ground running on our mission to create a healthy and competitive esports community in the African continent. To do this, we successfully organised Africa’s largest gaming festival — one that saw people from all over Africa come together in the first and biggest LAN gaming event.
Gamr Initiatives/Activations
Below are the ways Gamr has set out to make tangible and lasting change in the esports space through its well curated community and influence.
- Grassroots Activations – organizing and partnering with the people in the suburban and rural areas to bring esports to the grassroots.
- NUGA University Initiatives — educating the young adults about the esports message by engaging the existing gamer crowd in tertiary institutions across the country and organizing esports tourneys to engage the active ones and sensitize the ones who aren’t involved yet.
- Women in esports — Gamr recognizes the inequality in the world, more so in the esports world and has taken steps to ensure they help restore a balance. We hope to achieve this by partnering with and sponsoring active female gamers and sensitizing and supporting those who have interest but no access.
- Parents Education — we have been able to isolate the place of parents in the esports player’s growth and have also set up the “Parents Education Initiative” to help inform more parents about the lucrative career in esports and how they can support their kids and help them grow.
- Pro Gamr Initiatives — these are events and initiatives that are set up primarily to promote the Gamr message of “Play, Connect and Earn”.
Gamr Partnerships
Partnerships are a good way to forge forward together, and great partnerships are a GREAT way to build a strong and healthy future. Below are the partnerships Gamr has made over the last year of 2022;
- Redbull
- Logitech
- Nivea
- Intel
- Nuga
Gamr Milestones
As part of theBlack Founders Fund initiative that recognizes budding and brilliant black-owned startups, Gamr was selected among 60 other firms.
This not only gave credence to our cause, it showed that the global tech space recognized the work we have put in and our potential to accomplish so much more.
Gamr supports
Appreciate everyone gamers, content creators, community members, stakeholders and team members
Gamr “2023” Year
Going into the new year off the back of our successes of this previous year, we intend to surpass them and bring more to the forefront.
We intend to follow up the biggest LAN gaming festival in Africa, GamrX with an even bolder event, set to rival what we did the last one.
Paris Games Week
Gamr was centre stage at this year’s Paris Games Week in Paris, France. The event features gamers, esports brands and esports enthusiasts from different parts of the world. It is a trade fair for gaming, and Gamr did not disappoint — bringing gaming skill and even a bit of fun and dancing as well.
Gamr, along with our select esports player talents, shook up the event and left an indelible mark that will not soon be forgotten.
Esports Business Summit
The esports business brings together the brightest and best minds in the esports industry to share their wisdom. It offers a chance for esports brands, players and investors alike to form new workable strategies that are proven to work.
As the leading expert for esports on the African continent, Gamr was also invited to be on the panels and speak. On hand to represent Gamr were CEO, Eniola Edun, COO Seyi Fakoya and Head of Partnerships, Damilola Pedro. The trio did well to share with the world, tested and expert opinions for our own journey in the esports space.
The theme of the summit was building communities and Gamr knows this all too well, as we have been putting in work in this regard tirelessly, leading to us amassing over 80,000 active Gamrs in under one year.
Global Esports Tournament
Our mission first and foremost is to get Africa on the global esports map, and in line with this, it is important that partnerships with african-based esports firms as well. The african adage says “To go fast, go alone, but to go far, go together”.
This speaks volumes to our decision to be the jersey sponsors for the Ghana esports team, literally being with them every step and every stage of their journey to Istanbul for the Global Esports tourney.
Intel Masters
Our goal is not limited to firms alone, but also to the budding community of esports players in the African continent, this means that Gamr also supports and will continue to support esports players and teams to reach heights they couldn’t previously reach.
The intel masters tournament is a series of esports league sanctioned events that range from all the popular and not so popular esports games on display. It involves players and teams from all across the globe. This year, the team flying the Nigerian and Gamr flag highest were the Outlaws.
Red Bull MEO
The red bull MEO is the biggest global streaming event and features games and gamers from all over the global esports ecosystem. It is held in different countries and for each country, there are contestants and winners as well.
Gamr in collaboration with Red Bull has facilitated the possibility of the competition to hit the ground running in grand style for 5 seasons now.
GamesBeat Summit Next 2022
The GamesBeat Summit Next is yet another grand stage for the esports community to come together to network, share ideas and create workable strategies that greatly improve their individual and collective endeavours.
And among such elite minds in the esports industry, Gamr has become very at home, being invited to take part in it.
Gamers Change Lives Podcast
Women in esports is a theme that is very near and dear to us at Gamr, we believe wholly in equality, equity and proper representation. So when Gamr CEO, Eniola Edun was invited to speak on the Gamers Change Lives Podcast, we could not pass up the opportunity.
Speaking from the United States, alongside Chantal-Denise Ortega, a female leader in the esports space as well, Eniola Edun expressly shared the difficulties in fitting into the esports space as a woman and how Gamr is working towards making that a thing of the past.
December marks the end of the year and also the promise of a new one after. It is important though, that as we look to the future, we remember the past to better improve on our previous efforts. We look forward to doing more to spread the message of esports and building a stronger brand with our wonderful community. Here’s wishing you Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year.
