Zug, Switzerland/Berlin, Germany – Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, has signed a strategic partnership with Freaks 4U Gaming, the world’s leading full-service marketing agency in esports and gaming and serial creator of esports communities, for Agent’s Range, the new platform for German-speaking fans of top esports shooter title VALORANT.
The new community will feature high quality editorial and video content and host various tournaments throughout the year. The partnership between Freaks 4U Gaming and Infront focusses on the commercialisation of the platform through upcoming tournaments and broadcasts.
VALORANT is a tactical free-to-play shooting game for PC and is one of the most-popular esports titles on Twitch with 81% of players falling into the 18-34 demographic.
Freaks 4U Gaming has already successfully published esports platforms including 99Damage for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Summoner’s Inn for League of Legends, both the largest gaming and esports communities in the German-speaking market for their respective games.
As part of the launch Agent’s Range will host its first tournament, “Kingdom Calling”, on 6 November 2020 live on its Twitch channel. Samsung, AMD and Red Bull will sponsor the first tournament which will feature several well-known teams and influencers. It will be followed by additional community tournaments in December 2020.
Agent’s Range will also serve as the official and exclusive German broadcast partner for “First Strike 2020”, the first VALORANT esports tournament hosted by the game’s developer Riot Games. From 6-8 November Agent’s Range will also broadcast esports event organiser BLAST’s VALORANT tournament with German commentary and analysis.
The strategic partnership between Infront and Freaks 4U Gaming ensures perfect integration for advertisers, sponsors and partners to join Agent’s Range as it aims to become the largest and most significant VALORANT esports platform in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Marco Niemann, Freaks 4U Gaming’s Vice President Commercial, said: “With Agent’s Range we are going to build the go-to-platform for VALORANT fans in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, offering brands a unique opportunity to get involved in one of the most hyped games in esports in recent years. With Infront we have found the perfect partner to commercialise our vision and look forward to creating high-quality and beneficial brand integrations for our partners.”
André Fläckel, Infront's Head of Gaming & Esports, said: “Joining forces with Freaks 4U Gaming is the next logical step to accelerate our ambitions in esports. The interest in VALORANT is rapidly increasing, both from a player and viewership perspective. Building Agent’s Range together with Freaks 4U Gaming from scratch is a huge opportunity and will open various fantastic avenues for Infront and its clients. Welcoming partners like Samsung, Red Bull and AMD as part of our launch tournament is even more exciting and shows we are heading in the right direction.”
Marco Sautner, Managing Director, Infront Germany, said: “We are thrilled to be involved with an uprising esports title VALORANT alongside Freaks 4U Gaming, a trusted partner in the esports industry. We see a strong appetite from brands for esports and the need to educate brands to find the right platforms for their needs is still evident. It is our goal to provide sponsors with high-quality advertising opportunities in esports.”
Freaks 4U Gaming GmbH is a 360 ° marketing and communication agency specializing in the target group of competitive gamers. The company, founded in March 2011, employs more than 200 people at its headquarters in Berlin and in its branches in Cologne (Germany), Ivry-sur-Seine (France), Taipei (Taiwan) and Niš (Serbia). In addition to its agency business, the company is a serial creator of some of the most successful national esports communities and one of the largest esports content creators worldwide. www.freaks4u.com