This category is open to any advertiser who has been successfully using esports as the focus of its advertising campaigns to drive product uplift, service increase and brand awareness. Judges will be looking for the campaign, which seamlessly fits into an esports tournament, experience or event and enhances the user or audience experience and delivers ROI for the brand.

This category is open to any tournament organiser, games publisher and brand for creating clever, innovative and immersive fan experiences at esports tournaments and events around the world Judges will be looking for the quality of the fan activation, the level of interaction throughout the duration of the tournament, audience feedback across social media. This could include everything from an APP to enhance audience experience and goodie bags to special challenges and AR/AI shows.

This category is open to any esports organisation who is implementing initiatives to increase inclusivity within the sector. The judges will be looking for evidence from those companies whose inclusion programmes have led to more female, disabled and ethnic competitive gamers becoming involved in esports and helped break down traditional male dominated barriers in the industry.

This category is open to the team responsible for delivering the best experience for an esports event at its venue. Judges will be looking at how the venue team went above and beyond to ensure everyone from the publisher to the event organiser and the av company to the guests had the best possible experience and event. The jury will be looking at the attitude, skills and experience employed by the team to make the event a success.

This category is open to any apparel/merchandise team within an esports team, brand and specific esports apparel producers and sellers who are responsible for generating partnerships, selling and creating merchandise for the team. Judges will be looking at the volume of merch sold over the qualifying period, looking out for unique items that have been big hits with buyers, key partnerships with brands and beating merch targets.

This category is open to any individual, fund, company or family office who have successfully invested in an esports business. This could be anything from an AV company to a purpose built esports venue and from a team to an events organiser. The judges will be looking for the investor, who has not just provided capital, but given access to their network, providing key business growth advice and allowed the company taking investment to run it without being hands on.

This category is open to any city around the world who is transforming itself into an esports hub through a number of initiatives including digital infrastructure, supporting and creating esports specific venues, encouraging esports teams to reside in the city and running a grassroots programme to provide a pathway into competitive gaming.

This category is open to the esports division/team within a games publisher. The judges will be looking at business performance during the qualifying period based on the growth and success of its esports programme and what it delivers for the overall company. This can be measured by an increase in the number of esports players competing with its games, its social media and content programme and its application programmes, the size and reach of the esports league based around the publishers title and the number of fans who watch these leagues and competitions involving its titles.

This category is open to all esports tournament organisers who have created the best experiential activation and experience at an event around the world. This can include everything from the production and av set up to the seating arrangement to allow greater spectator interaction with the tournament and spectacle of the event itself.

This category is open to any content team within an esports team, brand, games publisher or esports tournament organiser who are responsible for curating, amplifying and distributing content about their business to the wider industry. The jury will be looking at originality and innovation of content solutions, the successful use of archived content, how the content strategy has helped increase engagement with key suppliers and partners and has helped the business grow. They will be paying special attention to who is communicating the most successfully to the esports audience.

This category is open to any events team within an esports organisation, which is responsible for creating a set of events, programmes or initiatives across the year to help drive greater awareness and amplification of the business and education on the benefits of esports for potential partners and sponsors. Judges will be looking for innovation, engagement and the ROI delivered from the programme of events.

This category is open to any social media team within an esports team, brand, games publisher or esports tournament organiser who are responsible for running the business’ social media footprint. Judges will be looking for evidence of how the team’s social media profiles are engaging with the right audience and in the right conversations, driving awareness, resonation through a variety of initiatives and delivering on the KPI’s determined by the overall esports team objectives. They will be paying special attention to who is communicating the most successfully to the esports audience.

This category is open to esports event organisers and publishers who have created the wow factor when producing their tournaments for the sector’s fans. The jury will be looking for the most innovative and immersive event experience for its audience. They will pay special attention to the production values, audience and client feedback and the uniqueness of the event set from its AV set up to the stage design and audience experience.

This category is open to any esports organisation who has created a ground-breaking partnership, which has helped propel the business’ revenue or standing within the industry. Judges will be looking at how the partnership originated, it’s value to the business and the innovation and uniqueness of the activation. The jury will also look at what it delivered for the company in terms of engagement, amplification and monetary value.

This category is open to any esports organiser who has created the smoothest and most revered experience for players at tournaments around the world. Judges will be looking at the player experience from the moment they are confirmed to participate in a tournament until after its completion. This will include everything from welcome packs, to gaming experience, client customer service and goodie bags received after the event. The jury will be looking for the event, which made its players feel like a-list sports stars or celebrities.

These categories are open to venues around the world who have successfully hosted esports events around the globe. The jury will be looking at how suitable the venue was for esports from its infrastructure to its team and from its location to its connectivity. The judges will be looking for client endorsement, guest reviews and supplier feedback on the experience of using the venue and its facilities. The judges will be comparing venues within each of the regions and within their specific capacity size.

This category is open to anyone within a company servicing or within the esports industry who has less than two years working experience, but is already turning potential into purpose by delivering exceptional results, transforming a business, driving growth, curating innovative content, developing key contacts in the industry and showing future leadership potential. The jury will be looking for all of the above.