-     Engine Media's game studio Eden Games launches next World's Fastest Gamer qualifier

-     Aspiring racers compete on Gear.Club for the chance to earn a spot in the season three finals

-     Gamers to race Gear.Club version of World's Fastest Gamer season two winner James Baldwin's McLaren 720s

SILVERSTONE, England, July 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With World's Fastest Gamer season two winner James Baldwin about to make his professional racing debut next week, aspiring racers looking to follow in his footsteps will get their next chance from today thanks Gear.Club on mobile devices.

Baldwin will  race a McLaren 720s GT3 in the British GT Championship for the first time next week with Jenson Team Rocket RJN – the team co-owned by ex-Formula 1 World Champion, Jenson Button.

Last October, the British gamer beat out nine other finalists in the Engine Media-created event to earn a real-world race drive valued at more than US$1 million.

Now, Engine Media's game studio Eden Games is launching the second round of qualifying for season three of World's Fastest Gamer today on Gear.Club – the massive mobile racing experience available on both Apple iOS and Android platforms.

To celebrate Baldwin's upcoming debut, entrants will also get the chance to race a virtual version of the gamer's McLaren to try to qualify for the season three finals. The second qualifying session for the competition runs from today through to August 16.

The opening Gear.Club qualifier held earlier this year was a massive success with thousands of gamers trying to race their way into the finals to showcase their skills.

In the opening round of qualifiers, gamers drove the equivalent of seven return trips to the moon – an incredible 5.4 million miles. A total of 424,680 qualifying laps were completed to try to earn this coveted life-changing prize.

"We very excited about James' impending debut as the World's Fastest Gamer winner, but equally looking forward to seeing the intense competition on Gear.Club as gamers take their shot to try to follow in his footsteps," Engine Media co-CEO and World's Fastest Gamer creator, Darren Cox said.

"With James about to go racing in British GT, we thought it was the perfect time to select the McLaren 720s as the car of choice for the next qualifier and put it in the game with the same livery.

"We're very much looking forward to seeing where our next finalist will come from."

A total of 10 finalists will eventually compete in the World's Fastest Gamer season three finals. Details on the remaining qualifying events will be announced soon. Information on the timing and location of the World's Fastest Gamer season three finals have been delayed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

"Last year we took the gamers on a 10-day 'driver's dream' tour of California testing the racers both online and on track," Cox said.

"We have a number of concepts for the World's Fastest Gamer season three finals, but these have been delayed due to the current global restrictions on travel. When we can finally bring the ten finalists together, we certainly believe it will be well worth the wait – we have some incredible opportunities looming on the drawing board."

World's Fastest Gamer aims to bring together the best of the best from the gaming world – regardless of whether they play on PC, console, or mobile.

Potential finalists can download Gear.Club from the Apple iOS store by clicking here or for Android on the Google Play store here.

Baldwin will join fellow British racer Michael O'Brien for the opening round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship at Oulton Park on August 1-2. The British gamer's battle to earn the World's Fastest Gamer crown was recently showcased in the six-part World's Fastest Gamer season two documentary series shown on the ESPN network in the US.

US residents can still watch season two of the gamer-to-racer competition on the ESPN app.

World's Fastest Gamer is one of a number of ground-breaking esports programs created and run by the soon to be renamed Engine Media (from Torque Esports). Torque confirmed in May that it had completed its acquisition of Frankly Inc. (TSX-V: TLK) (OTCQX: FRNKF) ("Frankly"), and WinView, Inc. ("WinView") – to create Engine Media – the new brand at the forefront of esports, gaming, news streaming and sports gaming across multiple media platforms.

To date, the combined companies have clients comprised of more than 1,200 television, print, and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery / Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek, and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft; and have connectivity into hundreds of millions of homes around the world through their content, distribution, and platform.

About Engine Media Holdings, Inc.

Engine Media is focused on accelerating new, live, immersive esports and interactive gaming experiences for consumers through its partnerships with traditional and emerging media companies. The company was formed through the combination of Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc., and WinView, Inc. and trades publicly under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLF).  Engine Media will generate revenue through a combination of: direct-to-consumer and subscription fees; streaming technology and data SaaS-based offerings; programmatic advertising and sponsorships; as well as intellectual property licensing fees.  To date, the combined companies have clients comprised of more than 1,200 television, print and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery / Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take2Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft; and have connectivity into hundreds of millions of homes around the world through their content, distribution and technology.

About Torque Esports
Torque Esports whose brands and businesses include UMG, Stream Hatchet, Eden Games, IDEAS + CARS, The-Race.com, WTF1 and Allinsports visit: www.torqueesport.com

About Frankly Media
Frankly and its wholly-owned subsidiary Frankly Media, LLC, provides a complete suite of solutions for streaming, VOD and advertising visit: www.franklymedia.com

About WinView
WinView is a Silicon Valley-based company, pioneering second-screen interactive TV which is pioneering mobile gaming and interactive second screen viewing through its ownership and licensing of intellectual property foundational patents visit:  www.winview.tv

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Torque's filing of a listing application with NASDAQ and its plans to file a Form 40-F with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and any regulatory or other approvals required in connection therewith, Torque's expectations for growth in its operations and business and Torque's plans for submission of resolutions for shareholder approval. In respect of the forward-looking information contained herein, Torque has provided such statements and information in reliance on certain assumptions that management believed to be reasonable at the time, including assumptions as to obtaining required regulatory approvals. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements stated herein to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks.  Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this news release.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Torque does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE Engine Media Holdings, Inc.