Franklin, IN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/21/2019 --On the first of March, GYO launched its first global esports combine which ran for a period of ten days and was held in over 350 LAN gaming centers. After several weeks of combine data analysis, over 120 scholarship and team offers have been sent to players around the world, with more offers expected to be sent this month. The goal of the combine was to help players get discovered and provide players with a skill baseline and play analysis profile in order to improve their play. Moving forward, future combines will involve more direct recruiting at the scholastic levels of play, based on the success of the first.

The GYO Esports Data Analytics Platform, which hosted the Combine, analyzes player performance and predicts future play potential so players can better develop their skills and get recruited for scholarships or professional opportunities. The platform, which produces stats akin to baseball sabermetrics, is particularly beneficial to college recruiters seeking to build their burgeoning esports program.

Nearly 140 US colleges are offering around $15 million per year in scholarships for esports students, much like traditional athletics scholarship recipients. Robert Morris University in the Chicagoland area was the first college in the U.S. to offer video gaming scholarships and students there now can earn up to $19,000 a year in gaming scholarships. GYO helps assist players in achieving these scholarships by providing them access to information about applying and by sending their gameplay data to scouts and recruiters who can then invite them to apply.

Among the schools who analyzed the results of the first Combine was Belmont Abbey College. Belmont Abbey College is a small, private, traditional Catholic, liberal arts college located in Belmont, North Carolina. They will begin competing in their inaugural competitive season this Fall. Still actively recruiting, with Fall '19 scholarships still available in League of Legends, Rocket League, Fifa, Madden, and NBA2k, Head Esports Coach, Nathan Berggrun, is "quite pleased" with the GYO service. "The GYO Dashboard has allowed me to easily assess abilities and skills while also directly communicating with eligible eathletes. I believe GYO and their combines will be instrumental in building the Belmont Abbey Esports Program."

The volume of initial offers was surprising for Harena Data, given the lateness of the Combine in the traditional collegiate recruiting calendar. "We were pleasantly surprised by the large amounts of scholarships being offered," says Shawn Smith President of Harena Data Inc. "As an initial event we were not really expecting so much activity, but obviously we have hit a chord and are excited to see the demand when all schools are recruiting at full strength during the Fall of 2019."

The GYO platform takes raw data and statistics from players in-game and processes them using machine learning and artificial intelligence systems. Using these data points, GYO analyzes individual play performance by observing patterns of strong play. This allows GYO to identify positive characteristics of individual play even when final results may not tell the whole story. This has major impact on the granting of scholarships as more competition enters the market and colleges begin competing for the top skilled players around the world.

About Harena Data, Inc
Harena Data is a Delaware corporation with registered headquarters located in Franklin, Indiana. Founded in 2017, the company has developed a machine learning and artificial intelligence data platform for the esports industry, which launched at the beginning of 2019. The principals of Harena Data have a strong background in esports, event management, motion picture production, and telecommunications.