Our weekly digest is back! In the torrent of Esports news, here are the ones which clearly stand out.
Do you recognize me?
The IeSF is alive and kicking. The Federation main goal remains the same: bring Esports in the Olympics. Their latest goal? Establish an Athlete’s Commission.
Following France, Russia, Italy and Denmark recognized Esports. 21 nations around the globe have now officially embraced Esports. It’s still less than the 45 IeSF members, but it’s growing.
That’s a lot of gems
Chinese giant Tencent just bought Finnish wunderkid Supercell. Big numbers ahead. Paying 8.6 billion dollars for 84.3% shares stake values the Clash of Clans / Royale at a staggering 10,2 billion dollars valuation.
But this is a strategic investment, as online games accounts for more than 50% of Tencent’s $15 billion revenue last year ($8.5B). Tencent also own League of Legends maker Riot and has parts in Activision Blizzard, Crossfire and Epic Games. Yes, we’re looking at the biggest Esports player here.
It’s in the game
Tencent doesn’t own EA parts, tho. But the American publisher is clearly late to the Esports party and finally unveiled its strategy. From industry veteran Peter Moore’s own mouth, the key word is “Engagement”. Which means leagues and cash prize. Best-seller Madden 17 will thus get its CS:GO-like circuit with a mix of Majors and independant tournaments. But only offers $1M global prize, when a single CS:GO Major offers the same – plus the stickers revenue. Not in the big league yet EA, not yet.
Live in the Arena
The Xbox has been the Esports console for years with games such as Halo, CoD and Street Fighter. Now that Sony has secured CoD and Street Fighter for its PS4, we were wondering how Microsoft would re-establish itself as the place to be for console Esports.
The answer is named Arena, a platform integrated into the Xbox Live allowing developers and organizer to tap into a common API. We’ve been very excited by this move and followed it closely, as Microsoft platform and ours have clear synergies. Can’t wait to see Toornament being embed into your favorite game!