The Fight Moves to your Fingertips with New PUBG Mobile Lineup
Pittsburgh, PA (April 11, 2019) – Out of an estimated 2.1 billion global mobile gamers, the number of PUBG Mobile players reached 200 million in December of last year. Five out of those 200 million can now call themselves Knights. Dayvon “WiFi” George, Jonathan “7” Galaviz, Tyshawn “Monarch” Jones, and Jagger “Jagger” Morales, along with coach Stuart “Ic3d” Rajkumarsingh have just signed with the Pittsburgh Knights, marking the team’s first foray into the world of mobile esports.
Traditionally, most professional esports are played on PC’s, with a few titles played on consoles. Competitive play on mobile devices is an emerging market, but not an unexpected one. Mobile gaming accounted for more than half of 2018’s global gaming market revenue. That means mobile games generated $70.3 billion last year. The market is poised for esports innovation, and developers like PUBG Corporation are enabling this growth. Last year the company, in conjunction with Tencent Games, hosted a global tournament, the PUBG Mobile Star Challenge, which boasted a $600,000 prize pool. This year, that prize pool is $2,500,000.
The new Knights lineup will be competing in the North American bracket of this tournament, called the PUBG Mobile Club Open 2019. They are also playing in the Omlet Arcade PUBG Mobile Season 2 Championships and the ESL Mobile Open, the latter of which is aptly sponsored by AT&T.
Though these players are new to the Knights, they are not new to competitive gaming. 7 played Critical Ops for Gankstars and Fortnite Mobile for Tribe. WiFi also played for Tribe as a member of their Rules of Survival roster. While playing Fortnite for Omen Elite, WiFi lead the team in a record breaking game with 46 squad kills. Monarch started his mobile gaming career playing MOBAs but then shifted to the Battle Royale genre after last year’s Star Challenge Tournament. He, 7, and WiFi eventually started their own PUBG Mobile team called BOT. At the time, Ic3d and Jagger were playing for a team called Vision Gaming. While BOT disbanded with the players moving to various top teams, they ultimately regrouped and rebranded as mhm. Jagger and Ic3d joined the team, rounding out the lineup that drew the Knights’ attention.
WiFi says he has been patiently waiting for the next big thing and the Knights are it. “I feel it was destined (for us) to be a part of the Knights”. He wants to become a champion for the “City of Champions” and humbly forsees a hall of fame in his future. Ic3d sees big things for this team as well, stating, “They’ve definitely showed they have what it takes to dominate the (PUBG Mobile) scene. With some consistency and hard work I have zero doubt they can be the best team in NA”.
Knights’ president James O’Connor is also looking forward to this new venture. “I see the potential for mobile esports to become huge,” he says. “The accessibility of mobile games is unprecedented and smartphones are serving as the first point of accgeneration of gamers. I’m excited for us enter this competitive sceess to a whole new ne and have high expectations for our PUBG Mobile lineup”.
The Knights are the official esports team of Pittsburgh. Founded in 2017, we are an organization focused on competing in the global arena of esports, while still making an impact in the local community. Our team includes some of the top Super Smash Bros. Melee ™, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUND©, SMITE©, Fortnite©, GWENTⓇ, PALADINS©, and Hearthstone© players in the world. Our goal is to create quality engagement with the local community, the online community, and the esports community at large. Please go to https://www.knights.gg for more information and the latest news on the Knights.
