Arsenal’s Aubameyang scores first cross-region esports event

Galaxy Racer is launching a new competition, the Galaxy Racer Aubameyang Cup from 1 August 2021, which sees Fortnite Duos teams from across the Middle East and Europe collide online for the first time.

Named after Arsenal and Gabon star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his brother William-Fils – both renowned fans of the popular battle royale game – the Galaxy Racer Aubameyang Cup is the first-ever cross-regional online event for Fortnite. The competition will pit 150 teams from the Middle East and Europe against one another over four consecutive days, with one day of qualifying rounds for each region, with the top teams going through to the Grand Finals on 3 and 4 August.

Where competitive cross-region online tournaments have been unheard of due to network latency between servers, the Grand Finals will see the top 24 teams from each region battle it out over 12 games, hosted on ‘Home’ and ‘Away’ servers that mitigate ping issues to offer a fair competitive platform for players.

Results are based on total points over the 12 games in the Grand Finals, with the top ten teams sharing a €10,000 prize pool. The four-day competition will be streamed live on Galaxy Racers’ Twitch and YouTube channels, with in-stream competitions and giveaways throughout including the official Scuff Aubameyang Controller.

Launched in December 2019, Galaxy Racer has quickly become the biggest gaming and content organisation in the MENA region and is expanding across the world with a growing global reach of over 160 million followers and generating over a billion monthly views. The competitive gaming organisation manages innovative new esports tournaments while also featuring its own esports teams, content creators, merchandising and lifestyle brands and even a music label. The organisation carries rosters in all major esports titles, over 60 players from 22 nationalities and 20 of the biggest content creators in the MENA and Asia regions.

Galaxy Racer’s last major tournament, the OCE Cup, boasted the highest independent prize pool ever seen in Australia and broke records for the most-watched Fortnite Competitive Event, with over 28,000 peak concurrent views.

The Galaxy Racer Aubameyang Cup aims to not only bring the two regions closer together and provide a platform for up-and-coming Fortnite players, but looks to continue bridging the gap between esports and sports, with Arsenal and Gabon captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his half-brother William-Fils “Willy” Aubameyang swapping the football pitch for Pleasant Park. The footballing brothers will make guest appearances throughout the esports tournament, including exclusive interviews and a 2v2 matchup with Galaxy Racer’s own Fortnite pros, Milan “milan” Lopes and Maciej “Teeq” Radzio. Nyle “Nyle” Hasan who is currently ranked the #1 player in MENA will also make an appearance to offer players tips and tricks during the competition.

Paul Roy, CEO of Galaxy Racer, says: “The Galaxy Racer Aubameyang Cup will unite professional, amateur players, gaming personalities and athletes, and will be the first event of its kind to bring players from the Middle East and Europe to clash in an online tournament that is highly competitive and fair. Our ambition is to offer up-and-coming professional players a chance to show off their skills, provide opportunities for players to test those skills against players from other regions, and to create an unforgettable event for fans to watch.”

The Middle East qualifiers will be managed by SAQR Scrims, while the European qualifiers and Grand Finals will be managed and produced by esports commentator Monster D Face and his production and tournament administration company Practice Server.

Tune into from 1 to 4 August at 8PM SAST on Twitch or YouTube.