Vodacom rAge

VODACOM MAKES A BIG PLAY AND BACKS SA GAMING AND ESPORTS SCENE

Published: 21 August 2019

Telecoms stalwart, Vodacom, has just announced a partnership with rAge – South Africa’s longest running gaming, technology and geek culture expo which will take place from 27-29 September 2019. Vodacom’s involvement and investment into the South African gaming and esports scene will be one of the biggest to date, by any brand.

Vodacom has long been a long-standing supporter of sports in South Africa and has already made a substantial investment in driving funding and growth in local sports. This move into the South African gaming and esports scene is a natural progression for the future of the brand. 

“We have been following the South African gaming and esports scene intently over the past few years. Gaming and esports is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world and South Africa is home to many gamers with an intense passion for it. From casual gamers who enjoy indulging in their passion from the comfort of their own home or on their mobile handset allowing them to participate in their passion anywhere, anytime, to those who compete in esports at a competitive level – and everyone in between – Vodacom’s vision is to become the Gamers Network of Choice. “This partnership with rAge is just the beginning as it allows us to participate in a large entertainment market,” says Jorge Mendes, Chief Officer Vodacom Consumer Business.  As part of our long term commitment to the gaming and esports scene, Vodacom World, our Flagship Digital Mall will also play host to a variety of gaming events and experiences providing gamers with an opportunity  to experience our network speeds and capability first hand.”

Globally, gaming is big business. Out of 7.6 billion people on the planet, there are approximately 2.2 billion gamers. This includes social gaming, mobile gaming, as well as free-to-play and pay-to-play multiplayer gaming. Of these players, globally, there are about 380 million esports viewer fans – 165 million of them regular viewers and 215 million occasional viewers. While these numbers are impressive, the South African gaming and esports industry is still in its infancy and will take some time to establish these kinds of figures locally. That said, it is starting to come into its own and it is during this time that backing and support from established and trusted brands such as Vodacom is vital.

rAge has always been about the gaming. Although it has grown exponentially over the last 17 years, the event has always stuck to the core values of bringing the ultimate gaming experience and the very best of immersive geek culture straight to the audience with bigger and better gaming, gadgets, esports, cosplay, show specials and competitions.

This annual event is 100% proudly South African, which is another reason that Vodacom is the perfect partner for it. It’s about South African gamers having access to global platforms; and now that it’s backed by a South African icon, those platforms are sure to just get bigger, better and faster.

rAge has grown from an embryonic event for a small gaming community into a thriving fun-filled three-day feast of all that is gaming - catering to thousands of fans, both young and old. “This partnership with Vodacom is a significant surge forward for the gaming industry in South Africa, and particularly for rAge. It is another leap forward for the future of gaming in South Africa and I look forward to where this will eventually take us all. And now the Future is Exciting with Vodacom rAge” said Michael James, Senior Project Manager rAge.

Globally, gaming is big business. Just shy of three weeks ago, a 16 year old captured the world’s attention by winning a $3 million Dollar prize pool at the Fortnite World Cup. The finals of this tournament, held at the end of July, followed ten weeks of competition involving more than 40m competitors and a total prize pot of over US$30m. The tournament packed out the 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe stadium at Flushing Meadows, New York’s largest tennis arena. Fortnite is but one gaming title among many that is rising to prominence in an increasingly lucrative market. The crazy thing to note is that this is not even the biggest esports event in the world. 18 teams recently competed in The International – the biggest DOTA tournament in the world – in Shanghai, China. The International’s prize pool, which is entirely crowd-funded, closed off just over $33 million. 

www.rageexpo.co.za

#rAgeExpo2019 #agalaxyofgeek #escapetoplanetrAge #comeandpla y#17yearsofawesome #NAGLAN

Published in Leisure, Entertainment, Miscellaneous
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ASUS South Africa partners with Mass Mart retailer

Published: 02 November 2016

ASUS South Africa partners with Mass Mart retailer, DionWired to carry full range of Gaming Notebooks. 

Johannesburg, South Africa – A few weeks ago hardware manufacturer, ASUS announced their partnership with Mass Mart retailer, DionWired at the rAge Expo. DionWired will officially carry the entire ROG (Republic of Gamers) range of notebooks.

ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor whose focus is to bring innovative technology to the consumer. “One of the main aspects which sets ASUS apart from other hardware manufacturers is the advanced design. Consumers of notebooks require a stable battery life (which lasts and offers outstanding performance) that doesn’t sacrifice modern design. ASUS aims to provide all consumers with state-of-the-art technology while still providing great value for money. Therefor ASUS remains the first choice for many who are looking for the perfect balance between features and style”, says Yolandi Venter, Marketing Manager for SYS at ASUS South Africa.

DionWired carries the ZenBook range and now stocks the ROG Range of Notebooks just in time for Christmas season. The ROG Notebooks available at DionWired include monstrous 17inch G752 range in variants armed with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070M graphics with GTX1080Ms on the way. They also include the modestly priced yet beastly 15inch G552 range. 

Managing Director of DionWired, Nazim Cassim says that the retailer is looking to increase its gaming audience, and is offering a three-year on-site warranty on all new notebook and laptops sold across the ROG range. According to ASUS, gaming laptops now make up 2% of all laptop sales in South Africa, which may not sound like much but does account for a couple of thousand unit sold per quarter; this is double of what is was during 2015.  

ABOUT ASUS

ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling, most award-winning motherboards. A leading enterprise in the new digital era, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home and office, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets and smartphones. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 4,368 awards in 2015 and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with its Eee PC™. ASUS has more than 17,000 employees around the globe with a world-class R&D team of over 5,500 engineers. Company revenue for 2015 was approximately US$14 billion.  

ABOUT DIONWIRED

Their purpose is to simplify life by obsessively sharing the joy of technology. DionWired is the only retailer of electronics and appliances that really understands customers. By putting their needs and experience first, they use their obsession with technology to create an inspiring, multi-sensory environment and offer the consumer products and services to help simplify their lives.  DionWired is a subsidiary of the JSE listed, Massmart Holdings. Massmart is Africa’s third largest distributor of consumer goods, the leading retailer of general merchandise, liquor and home improvement equipment and supplies, and the leading wholesaler of basic foods. To visit Massmart Holdings Group website, click here – www.massmart.co.za 

NOTES TO EDITORS

ASUS South Africa

DionWired

Published in IT, New Media and Software
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