Post-release 2016

On December 1, Moscow hosted Russia’s first conference dedicated to e-sports business – eSPORTconf Russia 2016.Within the event, one established the newest platform for integration of brands into eSports in the Russian Federation. The event attracted attention of major companies focusing on the industry and beginning entrepreneurs aiming to join this segment.

Mass character of event

The conference hall of Mercure Hotel was overwhelmed with people wishing to learn about such a prospective but still undeveloped in Russia business industry. As to the most prominent companies focusing of eSports, betting and investments, eSPORTconf Russia 2016 allows to meet representatives of such brands as:

• Mail.Ru Group;
• Gambit Games;
• Elements Pro Gaming;
• UCC;
• Bingo Boom betting shop;
• Leon betting shop;
• UB|GAMING betting shop;
• BetConstruct, etc.

What did speakers tell about?

14 experts spoke at eSPORTconf Russia 2016. Speakers and the audience were actively communicating during presentations and coffee break. All event attendees were able to establish useful business contacts.

The conference was opened by Digital Expert Gleb Baibayev, the specialist with more than 15 years of experience in this area.

One of the most interesting news was the statement of Anastasia Babkina (representative of eSports department at Mail.Ru) about the cooperation agreement with Valve, the organizer of the most popular eSports tournament in the world called The International.

The presentation of Sergey Velikanov (eSports director at Gamanoid) was really informative. He focused on successful eSports career building and eSports tournament holding.

Dmitry Zorkin (one of co-founders of WARP eSports chair) told about the interaction between eSports and traditional sports disciplines; Dmitry Belyaev and Vladimir Belov (heads of Elements Pro Gaming club) shared their experience of creating a successful eSports organization.

Denis Bushnev (lawyer at Baker & McKenzie) and Sarkis Darbinyan (expert in the cyberrights of RosComSvoboda project) explained legal aspects of implementing a discipline in the official register of Sports of the Russian Federation.

Konstantin Pikiner (CEO of Gambit Games) told about the role of professional sports clubs in eSports industry, and Pavel Shapkin (co-founder of UCC) told about new eSports brands and models.

Roman Protopopov (lead of Gamebox) elaborated all common pitfalls faced by tournament organizers.

Ignat Bobrovich (executive director of Game Show holding) thoroughly described eSports investment attraction.

The presentation of Artem Dalevich (head of Start Industries, producer of Internet projects) was not only informative but also startling. He told about gambling disputes, being in a dressing-gown because of losing such a dispute.

Main aspects of betting block

The betting block was opened by Mariya Lepschikova, the expert in legal services for industry companies.

Momik Hakobyan (head of betting department at BetConstruct) revealed eSports impact on betting.

Konstantin Makarov (head of Betting Boom betting shop) used important statistic and analytic data, showing the connection between gambling and eSports industry.

Alexey Tkachuk (chief editor of “Bookmakers Rating” portal) shared data about the most popular eSports disciplines in the betting sector (CS:GO, Dota2, LoL, etc.).

Results

Results of eSPORTconf Russia 2016 are quite inspiring. Large brands and small business representatives of the Russian Federation are interested in eSports industry. Smile-Expo event company organized the conference is going to keep helping Russian eSports in commercialization and entering the world market.