esports
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Humanity, Breadth & Institutional Sponsorship: Mike Murphy O'Reilly on the Evolving Brand Opportunities in Esports
For all its snowballing success, esports arguably has a perception problem. Say ‘esports’ to those both inside and beyond the worlds of games, brands, and marketing, and they will perhaps imagine something like a vast arena with sweeping spotlights passing over 20,000 cheering fans, as pro players in heavily branded athletics jerseys do battle in a game like League of Legends. Perhaps a commentator will be unleashing flurries of jargon as a team manager nervously paces back and forth near the [...]
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The End Isn't Nigh? A Look at the Triple-A Gaming Shares Slump
Over the past days and weeks, a number of the global games industry’s major triple-A publishers have seen share prices drop as finical results have come in. Electronic Arts (EA), which this week saw its Fortnite challenger Apex Legends enjoy a stellar launch, saw its share price fall by a peak of 19%, with Bloomberg identifying disappointing sales of the first-person shooter Battlefield V. As highlighted by Bloomberg, EA’s adjusted revenue is expected to come in at USD$1.17bn (£902m) for the quarter [...]
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Analysis: Launching Apex Legends. Fortnite's greatest contender yet?
A lot of businesses in the global game industry would like a slice of the ‘battle royale’ pie. And it’s no surprise. Fortnite is a battle royale game – sometimes called a ‘BR’ title – and we all know how well it has done. The shooter hit 200 million players in November last year. According to a source speaking to Tech Crunch, its creator Epic banked USD$3bn (£2.3bn) in revenue through 2018. But, more than all of that, the free-to-play competitive online [...]
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Google AI Triumphs Over 2 Esports Pro Gamers
Last night, the Google-owned artificial intelligence outfit DeepMind gave us a taste of the future by pitching two esports professionals against a nonhuman player built from its proprietary technology. DeepMind has already seen its AI defeat world go champion Lee Sedol, in an astounding showcase of the potential of ‘general AI’; that is, artificial intelligence programs that can not simply carry out a specific function, but that can also learn from experience, evolve abilities, and make decisions. The ancient Chinese game go, [...]
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Basketball, Multiple Screens & Post Malone: Peripherals Outfit Debuts New Ad Campaign
eSports-orientated gaming hardware outfit HyperX has launched a new ad campaign running across TV, digital, and social under the ‘We’re All Gamers’ banner. In doing so, the established specialist in high-end gaming keyboards, mice, headphones, and more, has demonstrated that for all the technological advances in securing inventory, reaching audiences, and delivering ads in-game, many of the old conventions of successful video commercials still apply. HyperX has partnered with numerous stars, is targeting high-profile televised slots like those amidst mainstream sports [...]
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South Korea Declares Game-Boosting Services Illegal
If you’re caught offering ‘boosting’ services to video game players in South Korea, you may now face a USD$17,800 (£14,000) fine, or two-years jail time. Boosting sees less-experienced users of a given game grant accomplished players access to their account for that title. The high-level player then ‘boosts’ the accessed account, deploying their skills to rapidly progress a player-character through a game. ‘Levelling up’ the player account typically opens access to higher levels of game competition, increased powers, and new weapons [...]
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Fortnite Hits 200 Million Players
Video game sensation and global cultural phenomenon Fortnite now courts the attention of 200 million players. That’s according to Bloomberg, which points out that the shooter’s user base is now approximately comparable to the populace of sizeable nations like Brazil. Put another way, it’s well over 3x the entire population of the UK. That’s impressive for a handful of reasons. Fortnite is an established success, of course. Even so, the new user numbers mark a 60% increase from the 125 million registered [...]
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Mobile eSports as a Tool to Aquire & Retain: A Primer
You don’t need to be a devoted games industry observer to have noticed something of the recent rise of eSports. Organised competitive gaming has been around along time, of course. eSports’ nascent form was forged in the earliest arcade gaming tournaments in the 1970s, where players competed to win a patch declaring their prowess; presumably to be sewn onto an oversized distressed denim jacket. By the 1990s the notion of a ‘pro-gamer’ making money from prize winnings was established, but even then [...]
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How Brands Are Benefitting from Esports – Q&A with Minute Media
Once considered TV’s last safe bastion, the world of live sports is facing disruption. Ratings have dropped, subscriptions have fallen, and digital platforms continue to take an increasing share of eyeballs. Confronted with an ageing demographic, it’s no surprise rights holders and sports teams are moving into esports to counter declining ratings and attract younger audiences. For brands, this represents an exciting opportunity – the variety of players, teams, stories, and narratives offer many opportunities to be relevant. Duncan McMonagle, SVP & [...]
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Fortnite Perfects In-Game Purchases as Yearly Revenue Hits USD$3bn
Fortnite is the break-out gaming success of the year. It has currently got 45 million users playing the game (across platforms) and has a run rate of around USD$3bn (£2.3bn) per year. The game has barely touched the sides in terms of growth; and with its Android launch next month, a huge spike in user growth is expected. The freemium gaming model perfected Fortnite’s success has been built on a freemium model. Its ‘Battle Royale’ version is free-to-play across all platforms. Players [...]
Latest posts
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Facebook Sees More Q4 Mobile App Downloads than Any Other Publisher Globally -
Humanity, Breadth & Institutional Sponsorship: Mike Murphy O'Reilly on the Evolving Brand Opportunities in Esports -
Nintendo 'Not Exactly Satisfied' with Numerous Successes -
The End Isn't Nigh? A Look at the Triple-A Gaming Shares Slump -
The Next Gaming Giants: What We Can Learn from Recent Mobile Acquisitions