The developer behind Shadowverse, Cygames, has revealed that it is now sponsoring a new esports team which will be headed up by fighting games community star Daigo Umehara.
The Japanese game developer announced yesterday that the team will include Daigo Umehara, Snake Eyez and PR Balrog. The team will take its name from Umehara’s well known moniker; Cygames Beast.
The move is the latest step by Cygames in a concerted effort to move further into esports, following the ongoing success and growth of collectible card game title Shadowverse. Shadowverse was released last year but has quickly established itself as one of the key titles in Japan’s esports scene and is generating a lot of buzz in the west too.
You can have a read of a recent ESI feature here which discusses the scale of the digital collectible card games industry, and those (Shadowverse included) that are looking to cut some of Hearthstone’s sizable slice of pie for themselves.
Now 35, Daigo ‘The Beast’ Umehara earned his first world title when he was 17. In 2010 he signed his first pro contract which made him Japan’s first pro, and in August of the same year he was awarded the Guinness World Records for achieving the “Most Consecutive Tournament Wins”. He has continued to break records throughout his career, winning the Evolution Championship Series for two consecutive years, and placing in the top 8 for five consecutive years. Hailing from Tokyo, he’s considered one of, if not the, best Street Fighter players in history.
Having him attached to this team is a big coup for Cygames, whilst Daryl ‘Snake Eyez’ Lewis and Eduardo ‘PR Balrog’ Perez are excellent additions too.
Esports Insider says: Cygames has put together an excellent Street Fighter line up with Cygames Beast, and we expect that, in time, they’ll expand into other titles beyond FGC too.