The following was sent to Inven Global as a press release.

The Esports Awards, the most prestigious night in the esports calendar known for celebrating industry excellence, hosted their first spotlight show tonight. Detailing eight new awards and revealing the brand new Ambassador Programme, the spotlight show was the first of six events that will provide updates on the 2020 format and an opportunity to hear from industry leaders and talent starting with Esports Awards Winner, Craig ‘Miniladd’ Thompson, who won 2019 Content Creator of the Year. The first show, hosted by esports caster legend Chris Puckett, also revealed new panel members, dates for upcoming events and kicked off the milestone year with 2020 signifying the fifth anniversary of the awards and the start of a full year of celebration. Nominations for voting are live. 

The Esports Awards is an annual ceremony that aims to recognise excellence, create legacy and honours figures from all areas of the industry. Last year the awards headed to North America for the first time at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas and saw a record breaking 7 million people tune in and over 3.6 million votes counted.

A series of prominent names were honoured including two time award winner Dr Disrespect, 100 Thieves CEO Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag and Fortnite sensation Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf.

Alongside the official ceremony, the Esports Awards offers Spotlight Shows throughout the year aimed to provide the community with the latest awards updates, insights from the biggest esports stars and highlight those making waves in the industry. 

Tonight's first spotlight show kicked off the fifth year of the awards and revealed changes to the awards category format. After feedback from the community, the Esports Awards has listened and has adapted its accolades to celebrate even further across the industry. For 2020, the Esports Awards has introduced a new grouping of award categories across Community, Industry, Pro & On Air Talent and Creative, and eight new awards:

• Esports mobile game of the year 
• Esports mobile player of the year 
• Esports collegiate award 
• Esports content team of the year
• Esports content series of the year 
• Esports caster of the year (play by play)
• Esports caster of the year (Colour)
• Esports analyst of the year 

2020 will also see the launch of The Esports Awards Ambassador Programme which is designed to give back to those who help bring the esports community together and who have supported the awards. The programme officially recognises individuals for the role they are playing. The first wave of members were revealed and included two time Esports Awards Winner and Fortnite legend Kyle ‘Bugha’ Giersdorf and Head of Creators for G2 Esports and a hugely talented on air host, best known for her role in the Borderlands series, Britanni Johnson. 

In addition, 2020 welcomes 11 new panel members including the Director of mobile gaming at Complexity, Matt Ruttledge, StarCraft II expert Enrique ‘Horuss’ Palimino, and Director of Product and Experience for BLAST, Nicolas Estrup. From analysts to ex-pros and CEO’s the panel is one of the most experienced bodies inside the esports industry.