Pepper Esports has announced that it will fast track the release of its proprietary tournament platform as a result of the stay-at-home orders resulting from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The platform will be free to use during the crisis and will allow tournament organizers that have been forced to cancel in-person esports events to hold their events online.

“During this difficult time, many dedicated esports venues have had to close, and planned esports events have been canceled, however, the number of players gaming has seen a sharp increase,” said Pepper CEO Guy Halford-Thompson. “Our partners in the esports space are now looking to move their tournaments online and we are pleased to be able to provide them with a solution.”

The Vancouver-based company says that the key differentiating point of its patent-pending platform is “computer vision and AI technology” that’s capable of producing live scoring in real time. The platform also features live leaderboards and automatic player-tracking.

The Pepper website says the platform can “integrate directly into discord (sic) and other tools.” Pepper’s launcher also allows tournament organizers to engage directly with players. In addition, Pepper’s online registration and payment processing systems facilitate the collection of entry fees.

Pepper Teams up with The Gaming Stadium

To promote their platform, Pepper has partnered with The Gaming Stadium (TGS), an esports stadium based in Richmond, BC. TGS claims to be the first stadium of its kind in Canada. Once it re-opens, the stadium will continue to run tournaments online using Pepper’s infrastructure and use the platform for in-person events.

Pepper isn’t the only esports tournament platform to see increased interest in the wake of stay-at-home orders resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. Torque Esports saw a spike in website visits in the past few weeks and a sharp increase in daily logged-in users. In addition, Steam has been breaking records for the number of people who are using the platform.

Gamma Law is a San Francisco-based firm supporting select clients in cutting-edge business sectors. We provide our clients with the support required to succeed in complex and dynamic business environments, push the boundaries of innovation, and achieve their business objectives, both in the U.S. and internationally. Contact us today to discuss your business needs.