April Knights, Inc. hosted the " cogme cup EXTRA in RED° TOKYO T OWER" on February 17, 2023 at RED° TOKYO TOWER, and Saiga NAK was there! The first half of this article will report on the presentations by companies and local governments that are utilizing e-sports, and the second half will report on the cogme cup company competition!
cogme cup EXTRA in RED° TOKYO TOWER
cogme cup EXTRA in RED° TOKYO TOWER" is a combined event of e-sports business networking and Apex Legends tournament.
- Part 1: Cross-industrial exchange
- Part 2: Announcements from the organizer
- Part 3: Presentations by speakers
- Part 4: cogme cup Extra
The event consisted of four parts.
Presentations by companies and local governments
From 6:10 p.m. to 7:10 p.m., three companies and local governments (JCOM, Osaka Delivery, and Gunma Prefecture) gave presentations on their efforts to utilize e-sports.
Saiga NAKRED° TOKYO TOWER has a café & bar attached to the building, and everyone is relaxing and enjoying stylish drinks in a very nice atmosphere. From February 10 (Fri.) to February 26 (Sun.), 2023, a Macross 40th anniversary collaboration menu is being offered.
About Corporate eSports / JCOM Corporation
First, Mr. Tokuhara from JCOM Corporation.
It all started when we established the "JCOM eSports Club" to compete in the Tokyo Game Show 2018 PUBG Corporate Tournament. Shinichirou and Impulse Itakura provided live commentary at the PUBG Corporate Tournament, and they found it to be a very enjoyable experience. We then held an in-house tournament using PUBG MOBILE in March 2019, and due to its great popularity, we held the second tournament six months later in September 2019. The second event involved outside companies and PUBG JAPAN and had 100 participants.
The JCOM eSports Club has now expanded to 50 members. It has been broadcasting e-sports related programs utilizing JCOM's strengths and holding e-sports events at Isetan and LaLaport.
Saiga NAKIn the future, they plan to move forward with in-house tokens operated by DAO. The goal is to create a virtuous cycle in which the implementation of projects such as e-sports tournaments will lead to individual recognition, which in turn will promote further movement.
About e-sports recruitment / Osaka Delivery Co.
Next is Mr. Kida of Osaka Delivery Co.
Osaka Delivery Co. is a logistics work company that manages and sorts products in a warehouse. The company is facing a severe shortage of human resources, but what prompted it to enter the e-sports business was a comment from one of its talented employees: "My dream is to create a professional gaming team in the future.
Mr. Kida was concerned that the employee might quit, so he considered establishing an e-sports department, but he decided that "a company like ours doesn't have the punch to do such a thing," and proposed that he devote one day a week (8 hours) of his working time to gaming. Osaka Delivery Co., Ltd. itself sponsored the establishment of the e-Sports Department. The report on the days devoted to gaming would read, " Today I beat ~ people. Next time I'll make sure I shoot them in the head.
The company's efforts became a topic of conversation as " Osaka Delivery Co., Ltd. entered into e-sports " and was picked up by the media, including newspapers. The company's efforts have naturally increased its exposure, and the e-sports weapon has also had a positive impact on recruitment.
In recent years, more and more high school e-sports clubs and e-sports vocational schools have been founded, but only a small percentage of them become active as professional e-sports players. Osaka Delivery Co., Ltd. concluded that it would like to work as a receptacle for students who aspire to become e-sports players.
About e-sports and regional revitalization / Gunma Prefecture
The last speaker was Mr. Saito from Gunma Prefecture's e-sports and New Contents Creation Division.
Gunma Prefecture has e-sports...
- High ability to attract visitors
- Appealing to a younger demographic
- Differences in age, gender, physical ability, etc.
- Online participation is possible
We focused on these four characteristics. We have found a solution to regional issues here.
Gunma Prefecture has also launched various measures to utilize e-sports for regional development from the perspective of "people, town, and work".
In 2020, the "1st U19 eSports Championship" will be held for the first time at G-Messe Gunma. In 2021 and 2022, the event will be held for three consecutive years, and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nishimura visited the venue for the "U19 eSports Championship 2022. Some professional e-sports players have been born from this tournament.
In February 2021, the world's first e-sports event will be held at the World Heritage Site of Tomioka Silk Silk Mill. e-sports event demonstration project at the World Heritage Site Tomioka Silk Mill as the first attempt. The event was held for the purpose of studying and verifying issues when utilizing local tourism resources and PR methods unique to e-sports. An e-sports exhibition match was held with the participation of the mayor of Tomioka City, the Tomioka City Tourism Association, and others, a team competition in Tomioka City, and an opinion exchange meeting among the participants.
In October 2022, the Gunma Prefectural Government Showa Building will play Puyo Puyo eSports and Makai Mura on its walls, an all too novel initiative.
Saiga NAKGunma Prefecture has also strengthened other initiatives such as the e-sports league for working adults, the Gunma Prefectural Government e-sports club, and support for the holding of independent e-sports events. On Saturday, February 18, 2023, the "Gunma eSports Awards" were held at Viento Takasaki for Gunma Prefecture residents by Gunma Prefecture residents.
cogme cup company competition!
Apex Legends company competition was held as the closing program of "cogme cup EXTRA in RED° TOKYO TOWER"! The live commentary will be provided by @abara(@abaranche) and Oyakodonosuke (@_Lantum).
The top ranked teams from the past cogme cups were present at the event.
- Bewith Co.
- ProVision Inc.
- Outsourcing Technology Inc.
- T-Gaia Corporation
- Fujitsu Limited
- Rakuten Group, Inc.
- PwC Consulting Godo Kaisha
- iFreak Mobile, Inc.
...8 teams will be competing offline! In addition, online teams are
- Linked Brain Inc.
- HIHITI Corporation
- Toppan Printing Co.
- Daiwa Lease Co.
- Osaka Delivery Co.
- Digital Forn Corporation
- Arakawa Ward Office x Unimat Life Corporation
- Gunma Prefectural Government
- AXEL MARK INC.
- M&C Corporation
- JCOM Corporation
- Next Holdings Corporation x Bewith Co.
...with 12 teams participating and a total of 20 teams aiming for first place in Apex Legends!
The unique offline atmosphere is different from the usual playing environment you are used to. It will be interesting to see if they can perform as well as usual.
Season 16 of Apex Legends just started on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. The environment is as different as ever, with weapon adjustments and a new element called Class Perk added to characters (Legends). The season's meta has not been solidified, so it will be a test of groundwork more than knowledge.
In the first match, fighting broke out early in part because of the lack of a fixed drop-off point for each team. After that, each team was watching the situation carefully.
The final phase of the first game was a three-way battle between "Next Holdings Corporation x Bewith Corporation," "Bewith Corporation," and "Osaka Delivery Corporation. Bewith, Inc. won the championship with their aggressive attack using grenades! Amazing for an offline competitor!
The second match. For the time being, there were no initial battles, but the number of players was steadily decreasing as the safe zone shrunk.
The champion of the second match was "Fujitsu Corporation," another offline participant. oni_chocolate had an amazing 13 kills and over 3,500 damage! The entire team had more than 20 kills, making them the favorite to win the tournament.
The fateful third match. Oyakodonosuke, the commentator, commented, "Everyone's AIMs are so sharp.
The winner of the third game was "T-Gaia Corporation," who overcame the difficult final stage on the unobstructed slope to become the champion of the third game! Everyone is smiling beautifully.
When it was all said and done, the first place in each game went to the offline teams. They showed their solid skills!
The final results after taking into account the number of kills and ranking of each match are as follows! Fujitsu Limited came in first, Bewith Corporation came in second, and Gunma Prefectural Government came in third!
Fujitsu eSports has grown to over 500 members. We are looking forward to playing more as an e-sports club, including Apex Legends, so please give us your support. This time we played in the cogme cup EXTRA, but when the next cogme cup is held, we would like to aim for the championship there as well, so please play with us!
This concludes the entire program! The "cogme cup EXTRA in RED° TOKYO TOWER," which was all about e-sports, came to a successful conclusion. This event was a valuable opportunity to hear from companies and municipalities that are actually using e-sports. The entire venue was glued to the monitors during the Apex Legends tournament at the end of the event.
As was introduced in the presentation, e-sports can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of age, gender, or physical ability. In addition, online participation is also possible, so there are high expectations for synergistic effects with various regions and cultures. This event reminded us of the appeal of such e-sports! You can check out the video of Part 4 of the Apex Legends tournament on the YouTube channel " April Knights Channel ".