Nokia to host Apex Legends charity event with Wi-Fi technology

Finnish multinational telecommunications company Nokia is hosting an Apex Legends charity event using Wi-Fi.

The company is working collaboratively with controller brand SCUF Gaming and Oversight Esports to host the event on Nokia’s Wi-Fi Beacon 10, built on the Qualcomm Networking Pro Series platforms.

The Nokia Apex Legends Invitational Tournament will take place today (May 31st) and features professional and amateur players across 20 teams.

Nokia claim that it is delivering the first-ever esports event using Wi-Fi technology. According to the press release, the competitors will use Nokia Beacon to wirelessly connect to Apex Legends and experience “near-deterministic latency and ethernet-like performance”.

For the event, participants will be given Nokia’s Beacon Wi-Fi gateway, custom SCUF controllers and a cloud gaming subscription. They will then install the gateway into their homes to access the game. The participants in the charity event will stream their perspectives on a variety of platforms including Twitch, Kick and YouTube.

The 20 teams will be broken into 10 professional and 10 amateurs from around the globe, including teams representing North American aboriginal and the LGBQT+ communities.

The event will be commentated by Jeremy ‘DisguisedToast’ Wang, YouTuber and owner of esports organisation Disguised, and Jack ‘NiceWigg’ Martin, an Apex Legends streamer and caster. Alongside the streams, the event will also feature a freestyle rap performance by Harry Mack.

After four matches the team with the most accumulated points will be crowned the winners of The Nokia Apex Legends Invitational Tournament. The players will earn $25,000 (~£19,700) for a charity of their choice.

Gino Dion, Nokia’s Head of Innovation Solutions, commented on the event: “Running an Esports event like this targeting specifically pro-players playing over Wi-Fi was long thought to be impossible. Today, we’re showing it can be done.

“Our Beacon 10 device is a game changer, giving service providers the ability to offer advanced Wi-Fi gaming, latency, and performance management features that rival other devices on the market. We’re excited to work alongside EA Sports and other gaming industry leaders such as Oversight Esports and SCUF, to deliver this industry-first tournament-style event run over Wi-Fi.”