（ESLGaming Opens New Broadcast Studios in Australia）
SouthKorean video game holding company KRAFTON, Inc. has revealed thestructure of its PUBG esports ecosystem for 2021. The upcomingseason, which starts with PUBG Global Invitational.S this week, willconsist of four global PUBG esports events throughout the year. AfterPGI.S concludes, the game developer will hold the fourth and fiftheditions of its PUBG Continental Series (PCS) in June and September.Similar to last year, both PCS events will be online regionaltournaments taking place across Europe, Asia, Asia-Pacific, and theAmericas, which now includes North America and LATAM. The season willculminate with the PUBG Global Championship (PGC) in November.
ElectronicArts and content creator Lululuvely (real name unknown) havepartnered for an Apex Legends competition with a total prize pool of$100K USD. Lululuvely, who is referred to by some as the 「Queen ofApex Legends」 for her competitive skills in the game, and an NRGEsports content creator, will host and commentate during「Lululuvely’s Throwdown Tournament brought to you by ApexLegends」 on Thursday and Friday across two tournaments where 20teams comprised of three players will compete for a part of a totalprize pool of $100K. A special 30-45 minute competition will also beheld between team captains before each tournament on both days. Theevent kicks off Feb. 4, at 1 p.m. PST and will be streamed live onTwitch.
Esportsorganiser and production company ESL and advisory and investment firmGuinevere Capital have unveiled the League of Legends CircuitOceania, a new eight-team League of Legends competition. The newtournament becomes the premier League of Legends esports event in theOceanic region after Riot Games pulled the plug on the Oceanic ProLeague last year. Starting on February 23rd, Oceania’s League ofLegends players will compete in a new format for the region. Over thecourse of eight weeks and 19 playdays, eight teams will compete in adouble round-robin format.
TheUniversity Esports Masters, a pan-European collegiate competition,has announced major changes to its 2021 season. The competition’sLeague of Legends event, set to commence in April, will feature anexpanded competitive format in order to include a European League,allowing for more countries and regions to participate. A total of 30teams across 14 European nations are expected to compete, with a€15,000 prize pool on the line. Following the European League, thecompetition will culminate with the UEMasters Finals in July.
Blizzardhas revealed what to expect from the schedule of this year’sspecial online version of BlizzCon, taking place on Feb. 19 and 20.The online-only event, dubbed BlizzConline, will be broadcast on theBlizzCon website and begin on Feb. 19 at 4pm CT with 「an openingsegment that includes a first look at some of the latest game contentthe development teams have been working on.」
Esportstournament organiser PGL has announced it will host the SingaporeDOTA 2 Major, the first Major of the 2021 DOTA Pro Circuit season.The offline event, scheduled to take place between March 27th andApril 4th, will be the first Major to occur since January 2020. TheSingapore Major will be organized alongside ONE Championship’sesports subsidiary ONE Esports and the Singapore Tourism Board. ONEEsports was set to hold the Singapore Major in 2020 before it wascalled off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Russianesports tournament organiser Epic Esports Events has announced thelaunch of the third season of Dota 2’s EPIC League. The league willfeature 16 teams from Europe and the CIS region competing for a shareof $100,000 in prize money. The group stage of the event will takeplace from March 2nd-13th while the first division playoffs willbegin on March 14th and conclude on March 21st. Season three of EPICLeague will be one of the first online tournaments to take placebefore the ONE Esports Singapore Major, the first Major of the 2021Dota Pro Circuit season.
RiotGames has announced the Teamfight Tactics: Fates Championship, thelatest official tournament for its auto battler title. Regionalqualifiers for the competition have already begun, with the FatesChampionship commencing on April 7th. In total, 24 players willcompete in a new Swiss-play format for a share of the $250,000 prizepool. The Fates Championship’s new three-day Swiss format willcontinually shift team positions, according to rank, and prevents anyteam from being eliminated over a single lost match.
Esportsorganiser and production company ESL and advisory and investment firmGuinevere Capital have unveiled the League of Legends CircuitOceania, a new eight-team League of Legends competition. The newtournament becomes the premier League of Legends esports event in theOceanic region after Riot Games pulled the plug on the Oceanic ProLeague last year. Starting on February 23rd, Oceania’s League ofLegends players will compete in a new format for the region. Over thecourse of eight weeks and 19 playdays, eight teams will compete in adouble round-robin format. At the conclusion of the regular season,the bottom three teams will be eliminated, with the five remainingadvancing through to a double elimination playoff system, where theywill fight for the title of inaugural LCO champions and a place atthe Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).
ESLGaming and Switzerland telecom Swisscom will continue theirpartnership for the fifth season of the Swisscom Hero League. Theleague will feature competition for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,League of Legends, and mobile title Clash Royale. The CS:GO portionof the league will also serve as a regional qualifier for the ESLNational Championship global playoffs as part of the ESL Pro Tour.
RiotGames Southeast Asia announced the League of Legends: Wild RiftSoutheast Asia Icon Series: Preseason, a five weekend-long regionaltournament for its newly released competitive mobile multiplayeronline battle arena - League of Legends: Wild Rift. The sevenlocation-specific tournament circuits, where teams will be competingfor the title of local champion, will showcase the greatness andskill of Wild Rift players and teams across Southeast Asia. Afterpreseason, players in the region have a chance to compete in the WildRift Southeast Asia Icon Series: Summer season, a eight week-longcompetition where any team may join to compete to be the best intheir region and go onto our pan-regional tournaments to compete tobe the first regional champions. The Wild Rift Southeast Asia IconSeries: Preseason will kick off on February 26th, and featuresthree-day long weekend tournaments in the Philippines, Vietnam,Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Philippines-basedEsports organization Mineski is organizing a competitive circuit forRiot Games』 new mobile title League of Legends: Wild Rift. Thecompetition will be divided into two seasons with a uniquedistribution model for its P10M ($208.2K) prize pool. Throughout theseason, teams will accrue points which are redeemable at the end ofthe season for a single Philippines peso each. A season will have atotal of 5M points available, meaning the full year will offer P10Min prizing. Additionally, Mineski has partnered with Riot ahead ofits own series to host a pre-season event for the Wild Rift IconSeries, a broader competitive circuit serving the Southeast Asianregion.
TwitchRivals announced its next big online esports competition on Friday,the Valorant Series 1, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6:00 p.m.EDT. The Twitch Rivals Valorant Series 1 will feature 40 differentcontent creators facing off in Valorant matches. The content creatorswill have to form teams of five players each, making eight teams intotal. The tournament will take place on three separate dates, withthe group stage on Feb. 24, the Quarterfinals on March 3 and thefinals on March 10.
FordMotor Company is joining Psyonix Studios for a series of competitionsin the Rocket League scene. Ford will be featured in-game through apackage of skins and also presenting the Ford + Rocket LeagueFreestyle Invitational, a new tournament that will feature eight ofthe top freestyle players selected by Psyonix.
TheMotoGP eSport Championship is set to return in 2021, with an expandedformat and new challenges designed to 『test the ability of gamersfrom around the world』. The season will commence on March 18th withthe Pro Draft. Players will compete through four Online Challenges tomove onto the competition’s next phase, the Pro Draft Selection. Intotal 25 names will qualify for the next stage, this includes the top22 players from the Online Challenges alongside the three winners oflast year’s Rising Stars Series. The Global Series will look tomove the competition from online to on-site in May, with playerscompeting for the Championship crown and a range of prizes.
Esportstournament organiser BLAST has unveiled an expanded qualifying seriesthat will provide more teams with the opportunity to enter into theBLAST Premier Spring Showdown. The expansion comes as part of theorganiser’s ambition to offer 『a Counter-Strike tournament seriesthat provides opportunities for countless regions and organisations』.Qualifiers for the Spring Showdown will be open to over 1500 teamsacross a total of 20 countries. Five places in the tournament will bemade available in the qualifiers, alongside a $25,000 『participationfee』 for each team up to invest in the development of theirrespective organisations.
BookmakerPinnacle has partnered with online payment provider Trustly and RelogMedia to launch The Pinnacle Cup, a $100,000 CS:GO esports event. Thetournament, said to feature a range of top-tier CS:GO teams, is setto take place in March, with the grand final scheduled to commence onthe first weekend of April. The Pinnacle Cup victor will receive$80,000 from the prize pool with the remaining $20,000 going tosecond place. Relog Media has been unveiled as the production partnerfor the event. In addition, Trustly will collaborate with Pinnacle tocreate various content pieces and interviews with players and talentto further enhance the esports fans』 experience.
NewZealand-based esports tournament organiser and broadcasting mediacompany LetsPlay.Live has partnered with Riot Games to become thebroadcast partner for 2021’s VALORANT competitive season inOceania. Oceanic VALORANT players in the region will be able tocompete for an opportunity to play at the international level. Thetournament, beginning in February will have three stages with eachone of them featuring a Regional Final. This will eventuallyculminate in the Oceania Championship. Each stage features a $10,000AUD prize pool, which will be split between the top eight teams,Moreover, the Oceania Championship will have an additional $20,000AUD prize pool. The opening segment will surely feature whateverBlizzard’s teams are working on, including new looks at Overwatch2, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo IV, Diablo Immortal, andmore.
Guangdong-based Chinese multinational electronics company TCL Technology GroupCorporation has signed a sponsorship deal with TJ Sports for China’stop League of Legends competition, League of Legends Pro League.Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Britishevent organiser epic.LAN has extended its partnership with hardwareretailer Overclockers UK to as remain the headline sponsor for its2021 events. The partnership will focus on content and live showsfeaturing members of the Overclock UK team during the online epic.WANevents. Once it is deemed safe to hold live events, Overclock UK willreturn to having a physical presence at the LAN hall. The partnershipalso brings the return of gaming chair brand noblechairs as theofficial chair partner for epic.LAN.
Audiodevice company EPOS has announced the expansion of its partnershipwith Counter-Strike: Global Offensive esports league BLAST Premierfor the 2021 season. The new agreement will see EPOS collaborate withBLAST Premier to highlight how 『audio holds the power to unleashthe gaming experience』. According to the release, this will be donethrough a series of broadcast segments and player activations.
Globaltalent and entertainment agency UTA has announced the signing ofNorth American esports organisation FaZe Clan to its roster orclientele. According to the press release, UTA will look to 『amplify』FaZe Clan’s efforts as the organisation expands its content intoscripted, unscripted, podcasting, and live streaming, alongsidedeveloping brand partnerships. It has been revealed that FaZe Clanwill continue to maintain its in-house teams, which spans acrosscontent development and production, talent management, legaloperations, and brand partnerships, whilst being represented by UTA.
Grabyour axe, strap on the glider, and get ready to harvest. Fortnite isback. Thursday at 3 p.m. PST the finals of the Streamer Bowl IIFortnite competition are set to take place with teams playing for a$1M USD prize pool to give to charity. But the fun doesn’t stopthere. On Sunday, Feb. 14, Turner Sports B/R Gaming will debut astar-studded special presentation of the Twitch Rivals Streamer BowlII Featuring Fortnite at Midnight EST, with a rebroadcast at MidnightPT on TBS. This special two-hour broadcast Fortnite event willshowcase the 「best of the best」 from the Twitch Rivals streamfrom Feb. 4, featuring 30 three-person teams of top NFL playersincluding Christian McCaffrey, Kyler Murray, and Saquon Barkley.Those NFL players will partner with some of the best Fortnite playersin the world along with content creators and others, competing for ashare of the $1M charity prize pool.
RiotGames has announced several broadcast partnerships for the 2021VALORANT competitive season. German production company Freaks 4UGaming has joined forces with Riot to organise and broadcast the 2021VALORANT competitive season in Europe, the Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS), and Turkey. The partnership between Freaks4U Gaming and Riot builds upon an existing League of Legendscollaboration in the German-speaking market. Entertainment agencySPORTFIVE complements the partnership as a comprehensive marketingpartner for the Challengers, Challenger Finals, and Last ChanceQualifiers stages of the VALORANT Champions Tour in theaforementioned regions. As well as producing the main broadcasts ineach territory, Freaks 4U Gaming will also localise broadcasts inGerman and French. Riot Games also announced today it has partneredwith ProGaming Italia for the promotion of VALORANT in Italy, whichincludes exclusive Italian-language production rights of allinternational competitions.
Ligade Videojuegos Profesional has been named the official Spanishlanguage channel for the VALORANT Champions Tour. In a deal struckwith VALORANT publisher and developer Riot Games, LVP will providelive coverage of the Champion’s Tour in Spanish throughout 2021.Spanish streams covering all three tiers of competition in theChampion’s Tour began on February 4th.
U.S.esports organization FlyQuest will broadcast the Spring 2021 seasonof the League of Legends Championship Series in Spanish. Working withthe LCS as part of the league’s co-streaming program, FlyQuest willnot only stream its matches, but all matches of the season on itsTwitch channel. FlyQuest VP of Content Ricky Gonzalez spoke to TheEsports Observer regarding this move by the organization to supportthe Spanish-speaking audience:
Eventorganiser and production company ESL Gaming has extended itspartnership with prepaid payment service paysafecard. As a result ofthe new partnership, planned activations featuring paysafecard areset to take place at IEM Katowice 2021, the National Championships inboth Germany and Poland, ESL Mobile Europe, and MENA.
Callof Duty League has landed USAA as a new partner, filling its officialinsurance category heading into the season and finding a militarytie-in in the process. Terms were not revealed for the deal asidefrom it being multiyear. USAA becomes the official insurance partner,presenting partner of the CDL pre-show program, and presentingpartner of a new CDL Military Appreciation Week that will take placelater this year.
Britishbroadcaster BBC has announced a partnership with EA SPORTS that willsee the FIFA 21 Global Series European Regional Qualifiers be airedon its platforms. The European Regional Qualifiers and Playoffs willbe shown on the BBC iPlayer, plus BBC Sport’s website and app. Thecompetition will also still be available to watch on EA SPORTS FIFA’sTwitch and YouTube channels. BBC iPlayer will provide live coverageof each match, broadcasting up to eight hours of FIFA esports contentper day. FIFA 21’s Global Series programming will also be availableon BBC iPlayer for 30 days following the live broadcasts.
Esportstournament organiser BLAST has renewed its partnership withskin-trading platform CS.MONEY for a third year. The expanded dealwill see CS.MONEY be granted access to additional branded contentopportunities, alongside a variety of giveaways for viewers of BLASTPremier’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournaments. WithCS.MONEY returning as a partner, this is BLAST’s third renewal forthe 2021 season.
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive teams across Spain and Portugal will have a chanceto qualify for the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown when the Unity Cupkicks off on Feb. 27. Organized by LVP, a subsidiary of MEDIAPRO, theSpanish multimedia and communications group, the event will consistof two qualifiers that will see teams attempt to take home a prize of$4.8K USD (€4K Euro) and advance in an attempt to qualify for aspot in a BLAST Premier Series event. The Unity Cup is a BLASTPremier Qualifier and will be facilitated by conducting twoqualifying tournaments that are open to all teams in Spain. The firstqualifier will take place throughout March. The second will have somedates in the fall.
TheCounter-Strike Professional Players』 Association and EPIC RiskManagement have agreed to become global Gambling Awareness Partners,according to a release. EPIC Risk Management and CSPPA will work toprovide 『impactful and proven awareness, education, andrisk-management programmes』 to CSPPA members through a series ofsessions. As global Gambling Awareness Partners, both parties willlaunch a series of research projects focusing on gambling awarenessin esports.
Financialinstitution Santander has become the official bank and partner ofLiga Brasileira de Free Fire, offering promotions for Garena FreeFire fans. The partnership between LBFF and Santander will offer fanssweepstakes for Diamonds, the in-game currency for cosmetic productsin Garena Free Fire. For Igor Puga, Director of Brand and Marketingfrom Santander Brasil, the bank will use financial solutions toapproach a younger demographic.
UKgaming and esports event organiser epic.LAN has announced apartnership with peripherals firm Logitech G. According to therelease, the partnership will look to bring 『a range ofimprovements』 to epic.LAN’s casual and competitive players duringits online and offline events in 2021. This includes the event’sesports competitions having increased prize pools for the entireyear. epic.LAN’s 2021 esports tournaments include the likes ofCS:GO, Rainbow Six Siege, Starcraft 2, and VALORANT, which debuted atepic31 Online last year.
UK-basedgaming and esports event organiser epic.LAN has announced a one-yearpartnership with North American technology company Intel. As a resultof the agreement, Intel will headline epic.LAN’s VALORANT esportstournaments in 2021, with the organiser’s epic32 competition havingan increased prize pool of £2,000 minimum. The prize pool could riseup to £4,300 depending on the number of teams competing in epic32’sVALORANT tournament. In addition, casual gamers will also have theopportunity to take part in the 『Intel Community Championship』.
OnThursday, Danish esports organisation Astralis Group announced astrategic partnership with Tivoli Gardens to open a gaming facilityand merchandise store in the amusement park. Astralis Flagship Store,set to be opened in June, is expected to be a visible and integratedpart of Tivoli’s events. The facility will consist of more than 130gaming set-ups, a number of VIP rooms, and an Astralis merchandisestore.
Collegiateesports operator CSL Esports has announced a new partnership withSeventySix Capital Sports Advisory that will see the companiesdevelop new partnership and sponsorship opportunities for CSL’smajor collegiate esports league and new education-based programming.CSL Esports and Seventy Six Capital will create co-branded salesmaterials, share resources and contacts, and work together on clientpresentations.
Indianesports and mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League announcedthat it has raised $500,000 as part of its Employee Investment Plan.MPL launched the investment plan, which allows employees to becomeshareholders of the company, in December last year. Existingemployees could acquire stock in MPL by investing anywhere between$2,300 and $23,000. According to the release, over 10 per cent of MPLemployees participated in the plan.
Esportsinfrastructure company Nerd Street Gamers (NSG) has raised $11.5m(£8.48m) in additional funding, with the round led by venturecapital firm Founders Fund. According to the release, the additionalfunds will be used to accelerate the company’s growth. Despite theclosure of NSG’s Localhost facilities due to the coronaviruspandemic, the company still achieved growth thanks to the firm’sdigital offerings which ranged from Nerd Street+, the company’ssubscription service, to hosting a number of online tournaments.
In-gameadvertising platform Anzu has raised $9m in its latest round offunding, with the likes of BITKRAFT Ventures and Sony Innovation Fundbecoming investors. The capital raised will be used to expand thecompany’s commercial growth alongside funding sales and marketinginitiatives to assist in moving it forward on a global scale. Thefunding round was co-led by BITKRAFT Ventures and HBSE Ventures.Other participants in the funding round include marketing servicesorganisation WPP, The Chicago Cubs, and Alumni Ventures Group,alongside the Sony Innovation Fund. Riot Games co-founder MarcMerrill and the publishers former Co-CEO Dylan Collins were alsorevealed as investors.
ActivisionBlizzard reported record full-year and fourth quarter results todaythanks in large part to a banner year for the Call of Duty franchise.Call of Duty nearly doubled its net bookings in 2020 thanks to thefirst full year of Call of Duty Mobile, the March debut of thefree-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone, and traditional Call of Dutypremium releases like Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War thatcollectively saw unit sales up 40% for the year. Company-wide,Activision Blizzard posted full-year net revenues up 25% to $8.09billion, while net bookings were up 44% to $8.42 billion. Net profitsrose 46% to $2.2 billion. Given Call of Duty's performance, it's nosurprise that the Activision division showed the strongest growth forthe company, with full year net revenues up 77% to $3.9 billion. Itsfull year operating income jumped 120% to $1.87 billion, which meansActivision's profits were nearly as high as Blizzard's sales.
GuangzhouQuwan Network Technology, developer of Chinese chat service TT Voice,announced that it has raised a $100M USD Series B financing round ledby venture capital firm Matrix Partners China with additionalparticipation of investment fund Orchid Asia and others. TT Voice isconsidered the Chinese equivalent of U.S.-based multi-function chatapp, Discord. In December of 2020, Discord raised a $100M Series Hinvestment led by its existing investor Greenoaks Capital, valuatingthe company at $7B.
任天堂於日前發布了2021財年Q3財務報表，其中透露了旗下主機和遊戲的最新銷量。截至2020年12月31日，任天堂共銷售了7987萬臺NintendoSwitch 以及超過5億份遊戲，打破了3DS的記錄。具體而言，《馬力歐賽車8豪華版》作為最受歡迎的遊戲總銷量達到了3341萬份，《集合啦！動物森友會》則以3188萬份緊追其後。在此期間，主機銷量達到2410萬臺(其中NintendoSwitch Lite 售出1353萬臺，已超過WiiU終身銷量），同比增長35.8％。遊戲銷量達到1.761億份，同比增長43.0％。在遊戲銷量中，數字銷售佔所有銷售的40.9％，同比增長12.3％。與2019年相比，數字遊戲消費也同比大幅增長了104.9％。
SquareEnix is on course for a year of growth, with a solid first halfoffsetting losses in its main games division during the most recentquarter. For the nine months ended December 31, 2020, the Japanesepublisher reported net sales were up 34% year-on-year to ¥253.6billion ($2.4 billion). Operating income is up 48% to ¥41 billion($389.6 million), while ordinary income rose 38% to ¥38.9 billion($369.7 million). Looking at the firm's Q3 specifically -- October toDecember 2020 -- the publisher's HD games division saw net sales rise124% year-on-year. Net sales of Square Enix's key console and PCtitles rose from ¥8.4 billion ($79.8 million) to ¥18.8 billion($178.6 million). Operating income for the division is downyear-on-year to a loss of around ¥4 billion ($38 million), but thisis an improvement on the loss of roughly ¥6 billion ($57 million)recorded in the previous quarter. In addition to growth in digitalback catalogue sales, Square Enix attributes this to the release ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake and Marvel's Avengers -- although thepublisher has previously acknowledged the game did not meetexpectations.
ElectronicArts is a step closer to being the new owner of British racing gamesdeveloper and publisher Codemasters following today's vote by thelatter's shareholders. During a general meeting, shareholders wereasked whether to vote for or against the company becoming awholly-owned subsidiary of EA, following the publisher's offer of adeal that has been valued at $1.2 billion. According to a regulatorynotice released to investors, 63 of Codemasters' 76 shareholdersvoted in favour -- and since those shareholders represent 99% of thedeveloper's shares, the decision has been labelled as unanimous.There will be a court hearing to sanction the acquisition on February16, with the following day due to the last day of dealings forCodemasters shares. All dealings will be suspended from February 18onwards.
Videogame developer Take-Two Interactive Software reported its financialresults for its fiscal year 2021 third quarter. The company generatednet revenues of $861M USD for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down 7.4%compared to $930M in last year’s fiscal third quarter. WhileTake-Two’s total revenues slightly declined year-over-year,recurrent consumer spending generated through revenue streams such asvirtual currency, add-on content, and in-game purchases, increased by57% and accounted for 62% of Take-Two’s total net revenues. Thedeveloper’s basketball simulation games NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K20 wereamongst the largest revenue contributors during the fiscal yearalongside titles such as Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2,and the WWE series. In total, Take-Two ended its fiscal year Q3 FY2021 on a net profit of $182M, up 11.4% compared to $164M in the sameperiod last year.
Ubisoft'sbiggest lineup of new releases has produced its biggest quarter ever.The publisher today reported its financial results for the holidayquarter, prompting CEO Yves Guillemot to call it "the strongestquarter in Ubisoft history by far." For the third fiscal quarter(the three months ended December 31), Ubisoft reported net bookingsof just over €1 billion ($1.21 billion), up 120% year-over-yearthanks to a packed slate featuring the cross-generation debuts ofWatch Dogs: Legion, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Immortals FenyxRising, and Just Dance 2021. Last year's third quarter was headlinedby the release of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and Just Dance2020. Valhalla was said to be the biggest launch in franchisehistory, not in unit sales -- that still belongs to Assassin's Creed3 with 12 million sold in its first few months -- but in terms ofoverall bookings and engagement. Just Dance also enjoyed a strongquarter, with Just Dance 2021 becoming the series' best-selling entryin six years, while even back-catalog sales in the franchise saw "amore than 200% surge."
BandaiNamco saw gains in revenue and profits in the third quarter, raisingits full-year forecast as a result. In the three-month period endingDecember 31, 2020, the Japanese publisher earned ¥206 billion inrevenue ($1.97 billion), up 12% over the same quarter last year. Itearned a net profit of ¥18.9 billion ($181 million), a relativelyminor 3% increase year-on-year. The company's Network andEntertainment unit was the top earner in Q3 last year, but it lostthat position despite a 12% rise in revenue to ¥88.2 billion ($843million). Bandai Namco's Toys and Hobby unit surged even further,rising 26% to hit ¥92.1 billion ($880 million) in revenue for thequarter.
Netmarblehas reported its financial results for 2020, showing solid growth insales but a considerably larger boost to the bottom line. For thefull year, Netmarble reported revenues up 14% year-over-year to KRW2.49 trillion, with net income nearly doubling to KRW 339 billion.For the fourth quarter alone, Netmarble revenues were up 12%year-over-year to KRW 642 billion with net income going from justover break-even to KRW 103 billion. Marvel: Contest of Champions wasits biggest single game for the quarter, bringing in 15% of revenues.That was followed closely by The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross(12%), Seven Knights 2 (12%), and Lineage Revolution (8%).
2020was a record year for Zynga in all kinds of ways. The Words WithFriends publisher today reported financial results, revealing itbrought in the highest revenues in company history, along with thedeepest losses since it went public a decade ago. For 2020, Zyngareported revenues of $1.97 billion, up 49% from 2019, which wasalready a record for the company. Bookings were also up 45%year-over-year to $2.27 billion. However, the company posted a netloss of $429.4 million, exceeding the $404 million shortfall ofZynga's previous worst year for losses, 2011. Part of the explanationfor those record numbers lies with the company's spate ofacquisitions in recent years.
ElectronicArts, the North American interactive entertainment company, says ithas acquired Glu Mobile Inc., a global developer and publisher ofmobile games, for $2.1B USD in enterprise value. The provisions ofthis acquisition will see Glu stockholders receive $12.50 in cash pershare which amounts to a 36% premium in Glu’s closing share priceon Feb. 5, 2021. Immediately upon closing (expected to be June,2021), the acquisition will be added to EA’s total net bookings.Glu Mobile, founded in 2001, is a mobile game developer known for aportfolio of popular genres of mobile games, including sports, RPG,lifestyle, casual, and mid-core games, most notable of those beingKim Kardashian: Hollywood, Design Home, Covet Fashion, and MLB TapSports Baseball. The company houses a team of more than 500 mobilegame developers with a focus toward EA titles looking to enter intoor expand their mobile player bases.
OmakenSports has acquired Danish esports organisation Heroic for anundisclosed amount. The companies aim to create a 『Nordicpowerhouse in esports』, according to a release. Omaken Sports wasfounded in 2020 by Norwegian content creator Joachim 「Noobwork」Haraldsen. Noobwork recently oversaw the raise of €15m to 『buyinto esports』 through the acquisition of Heroic. Both Heroic andOmaken will now operate under the Heroic brand.
Brazilianorganisation Final Level has raised $8.5m BRL in an investment roundled by Brazilian fund Atmos Capital, Outfield Capital and Britishorganisation 1st11. With a select club of influencers specialising indifferent games, Final Level already has more than 60 millionsubscribers on its own social networks and has around 500 millionmonthly views on its videos on Youtube. The organisation is not justonly in the content-creation space — Final Level is also the ownerof Gamelanders, one of the top-tier VALORANT『s organisations inBrazil. The team is also the winner of VALORANT’s First StrikeBrazil and is in the upper bracket for VALORANT Champions Tour –Phase 2.
Oceanicesports organisation Dire Wolves has announced the acquisition ofAvant Gaming. Avant Gaming’s teams will merge with Dire Wolves aspart of the purchase, meaning that the organisation will enter intoCS:GO this year. Financial details of the acquisition have not beendisclosed. Over the last 12 months, Dire Wolves has expanded itsesports opportunities outside of League of Legends by branching outinto other titles such as FIFA, Overwatch, and Apex Legends.
Australiangaming and esports company ICON Esports, the parent of Australianesports organization The Chiefs Esports Club, announced that it hassecured a $2.15M AUD ($1.66M USD) financing round from Australianpayment processor SQID Technologies to expand its sales and businessdevelopment activity and to support growth. The transaction valuedICON Esports at $4.3M ($3.32M). Canadian Securities Exchange-listedSQID Technologies acquired a 50% equity interest in ICON Esportsthrough the financing round. Consequently, ICON Esports』 board ofdirectors was reconstituted to comprise two nominees of SQID.
Entertainmentand technology company ESE Entertainment Inc. has announced it hasentered into a share purchase agreement with World Phoning GroupInc., Encore Telecom Inc., and their two subsidiaries collectivelyknown as WPG. The agreement will see ESE acquire a 51 percent stakein the business in a bid to further develop its esports offerings.Once the deal has been completed, ESE Entertainment is likely tobecome one of the largest esports infrastructure companies in theworld thanks to the continued acquisition of new clients andexpanding its presence in a number of regions.
Gaming-focusedsocial networking platform eFuse has secured a $6M USD investmentfrom a collection of professional sports stars, influencers, andinvestors, led by Ohio Innovation Fund. While a representative foreFuse declined to comment on specific individual investments, theydid tell The Esports Observer that commitments from some pro sportsplayers involved in the round were 「significant.」 Those investorsinclude Philadelphia 76ers point guard Seth Curry, Cleveland Brownscornerback Denzel Ward, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, New England Patriots defensive end Chase Winovich, and ClevelandBrowns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., among others. eFuse will usethe new funding to launch new products, expand its eRena events, useracquisition, make key hires, and more to drive growth, according to arelease.
TencentInteractive Entertainment Group (IGE) and Universal Parks &Resorts announced that the two companies have signed a long-termpartnership for the upcoming Universal Beijing Resort.Tencent-related esports titles, Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, QQSpeed, as well as several of its game titles will be featured at theresort’s 2022 seasonal event. In addition, based on the long-termpartnership, the two will continue to select more of Tencent’s IPsfor seasonal activities. It’s not clear if the event will featureesports competitions or just characters from esports titles.
有網友發現米哈遊公司出品的手機遊戲《原神》正式在小米應用商店上架，GameLook隨後檢查了各大手機商店的情況，《原神》上架小米屬實，而除小米之外，華為、OPPO、VIVO以及各網際網路商店尚未接入《原神》。據GameLook了解，此次《原神》接入小米應用商店的分成比為7：3，米哈遊可獲得遊戲70%的收入分成，目前遊戲版本為最新的1.3版。自今日小米接入《原神》後，《原神》成為國內首款發布時未接入商店、之後與商店談成7：3分成比再度接入渠道的手遊產品，開了國內遊戲業先河。
Amazon'svideo game division has been struggling to get off the ground, and areport from Bloomberg indicates just how much has been spent tryingto make it happen. Two sources familiar with Amazon's budget toldBloomberg that the tech giant is spending "nearly $500 million ayear" operating the video game division. This number does notinclude Twitch, the streaming service that Amazon bought in 2014, norits cloud streaming service Amazon Luna. The Bloomberg report detailsissues within Amazon including lack of incentives, struggles with itsLumberyard engine, and an internal "bro culture" wherewomen were not afforded the same opportunities as their malecounterparts, according to interviews with over 30 current and formerAmazon employees. Amazon's struggles to launch a game includecancelling a number of projects, including fantasy sports gameBreakaway and, recently, the hero shooter Crucible.
美國當地時間2月1日，Kotaku報導稱，谷歌將關閉位於位於蒙特婁和洛杉磯的兩家工作室。一位接近Stadia的知情人士表示，本輪關閉將影響超過150名開發者。當天谷歌副總裁菲爾·哈裡森也在官方博客中證實這一消息。他聲稱，除卻已確定排期的遊戲外，谷歌不會進一步投資內部團隊SG＆E（StadiaGames andEntertainment）工作室。官方對這一決定作出的解釋是，從0到1開發遊戲需要花費大量時間及金錢。因此，轉向深耕Stadia雲遊戲技術及深化合作夥伴間的關係。
2月9日消息，今日2021年首批進口遊戲審批信息正式公示，共計33款遊戲獲版號。在今日獲批遊戲名單中驚喜的出現了：騰訊《英雄聯盟》手遊，以及網易研發的《暗黑破壞神：不朽》《寶可夢大探險》這3款重磅遊戲，意味著這3款重磅遊戲國服上線進入了倒計時。除此之外還有網易《星戰前夜：無燼星河》手遊，騰訊Swich遊戲《超級馬力歐派對》手遊《艾蘭島》，西山居《最終幻想：勇氣啟示錄幻影戰爭》手遊出現在名單中。
暴雪線上嘉年華在線舉行。《暴雪街機合集》公布，包含《失落的維京人》《搖滾賽車》與《黑色荊棘》三款暴雪早年開發的經典遊戲，登陸PC/NS/PS4/X1平臺。守望先鋒新地圖曝光：包括全新的機動推進模式地圖羅馬以及未來地球中的紐約市。《魔獸世界暗影國度》第一個大型內容更新「統御之鏈」，預計將在今年晚些時候上線。燃燒的遠徵懷舊服公布：所有擁有《魔獸世界》遊戲時間的玩家皆可直接遊玩，無需額外付費。預計今年晚些時候正式上線。《爐石傳說》公布了2021年的第一個擴展包「貧瘠之地的錘鍊」。《暗黑破壞神4》最新職業「遊俠」公布：遊俠是一種迅捷而致命的高機動性職業，還擁有無可匹敵的全面能力。遊俠玩家可以選擇多變的戰鬥方式，隨心所欲地襲擊敵人或者布設陷阱，並且可以使用毒素、暗影魔法和特化技巧來提升戰鬥力。《暗黑破壞神2》宣布重製，包括了本體和毀滅之王資料片。遊戲將登陸PC，XboxSeries X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation5, PlayStation4,以及Switch主機。PC技術測試即將開啟，玩家可以前往官網進行報名。
Frenchgame developer Ubisoft has postponed the Six Invitational 2021 afterthe French Prime Minister announced that France’s borders will beclosed to all citizens outside of Europe. The developer aimed tocommence Raindow Six Siege’s event live in Paris on February 9th. Anew date for the event is expected to be revealed in the comingweeks.
Gaminghardware company ASUS Republic of Gamers has launched an esportsacademy programme specifically tailored for the 『next generation』of gamers in India. According to the firm’s website, allparticipants above the age of 16 are able to register for ROGAcademy. Moreover, the first programme will look at developingCounter-Strike: Global Offensive players in the region. Anyregistered players will go into a selection process which includestests, interviews and tournaments in order to 『find the mostsuitable candidates』. Those chosen to be part of the programme willbe equipped with ASUS ROG products and will have access toprofessional support from the academy’s coaches and experts.
Oneof the investments by the Brazilian communications company Globo inthe esports scene is Player 1, a match-making platform that enablesthe access of amateurs to the competitive gaming world. One of theesports featured on the platform is the official opening of the ProEvolution Soccer 2021 circuit in Brazil, licensed by Konami andenabling the creation of eGol, a league managed by LnK Gaming, ajoint company formed by the union of Globo and the group DC Set, thatwill now provide players for the esports teams of some of the mainBrazilian soccer clubs. More than 20 games are available on theplatform, all counting with publishers』 licenses, including Leagueof Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Free Fire, PES, FIFA,Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Rocket League.
Procter& Gamble-owned haircare brand Head & Shoulders is workingwith a variety of established and up-and-coming Twitch contentcreators to promote a new line of hair care products during the monthof February. Financial terms of the campaign were not disclosed. Thecampaign kicked off in December of 2020, focused solely on 2019Fortnite World solos winner Kyle 「Bugha」 Giersdorf, and featureda 「day in the life」 commercial showing how the popular Twitchstreamer gets ready for a typical day of streaming.
ESLGaming Australia has announced the development of three newpurpose-built broadcast studio spaces in Sydney. The studios willenable both remote broadcasts and in-studio shows to facilitateglobal productions including ESL Pro League and ESL One events. Thestudios will begin by broadcasting all matches of the upcoming ESLANZ Champs regional league.
ActivisionBlizzard and Fanatics have mutually agreed to end the Esports part oftheir partnership, but a broader business relationship between thevideo game maker and merchandising giant will remain, according topeople familiar with the matter. Activision Blizzard and Fanaticshave yet to comment on the matter. One of the sources said that teamscan now all launch their own individual stores.
Onlinefighting game Brawlhalla has rolled out the official details for itssixth year of esports competition, increasing its total 2021 seasonprize pool to $1M USD – up from $500K in previous years. The prizepool will be rolled out across four seasonal championships, atournament Pro Series, and the Brawlhalla World Championship inNovember.
Gamingand esports media network VENN has unveiled its new programming, withthe firm revealing plans to expand its network strategy during 2021.According to the release, the network will broadcast more originalprogramming alongside a range of esports tournaments. One of two newesports-focused programmes arriving in 2021 for VENN is League ofLegends esports talk show Facecheck. Former LCS player Christian『IWDominate』 Rivera will host the show alongside ex-LCK Englishcaster Nick 『LS』 De Cesare.
Koreanesports company THE MATCH LAB has developed and launched a new LeagueOf Legends training website titled CHECKT. The website, which hasofficially entered beta this month, is available in Korean andEnglish. According to the release, MATCH LAB’s goal with CHECKT isto provide in-depth League Of Legends data to help players improvetheir skills during games. The website uses its knowledge and datafrom top-division Korean players and general gamers to build adatabase focused on showing where players can develop.
DanMcHugh, esports product manager for Overwatch, announced via a poston Reddit that the Overwatch Contenders in South America will not becontinued. The decision was made after Activision Blizzard that thecompetition was not performing at the expected level; to developtalent for the Overwatch League as part of the 「Path to Pro」program. With this, Activision Blizzard will rely on third-partytournaments in South America, as it will also be done with thePacific region, to qualify teams once the international tournamentsreturn.
TheCall of Duty League has decided to delay some of this weekend’smatches due to internet and power outages affecting southern statessuch as Texas due to the severe weather that has recently hit thearea. Freezing temperatures in cities such as Austin, Dallas, and SanAntonio, has caused millions to go without power and water in thestate where infrastructure of the power and water lines have beendisrupted. Sources close to the league have told The Esports Observerthat matches will most likely be scheduled for the following week.
MinnesotaRøkkr’s parent company WISE Ventures Esports has rebranded toVersion1, with the firm also announcing the signing of a VALORANTroster. The rebrand comes as the organisation looks to execute plansfor continued growth and to diversify its content offerings. TheVALORANT roster will compete in the first season of the ChampionsTour under the Version1 banner, alongside its Rocket League team thatwas unveiled in August 2020 following the launch of the brand.
London-basedcreative company Gravity Road has announced the launch of its gamingand esports marketing practice, which is to be primarily operatedfrom the firm’s headquarters in New York. According to the release,the move builds on the company’s experience of 『deliveringsuccessful work for brands through gaming, esports and entertainmentvehicles』. Further details of the initiative are yet to bedisclosed. In addition to the launch of its new practice, GravityRoad has made a strategic investment in gaming venture fund GriffinGaming Partners, through its holding company You & Mr Jones.
Esportsinfrastructure company Vindex has hired Pablo Arizmendi-Kalb as thenew chief operating officer of Belong Gaming Arenas. In his new role,Arizmendi-Kalb will take the reins of 「multi-unit retailoperations」 as part of Belong’s expansion to hundreds oflocations throughout the United States. Prior to joining the Vindexfamily, Arizmendi-Kalb spent two years as president at Florida-basedmedical cannabis company Curaleaf. Prior to that, he spent 18 yearsat Starbucks in various roles, three years at the Coca-Cola Companyas its Latin America marketing director, five years as a brandmanager at Nestlé USA, and one year at Microsoft as its LatinaAmerica sales and marketing manager.
Afterfive years at Activision Blizzard serving as director of product &platform strategy for esports, and most recently as the seniordirector of product for Call of Duty esports, video game industryveteran Kasey Kramer has left the company to work at Vindex-ownedBelong Gaming. Kramer made the announcement via social media, notingthat he is building out his team at the company and looking to hiremore people. Kramer did not disclose specifically what he』ll bedoing at Belong.
RiotGames has hired Ryan Crosby as its new head of marketing and consumerproducts. Prior to joining Riot, Crosby worked in various marketingand public relations roles at Netflix, Hulu, Activision, Microsoft’sXbox division, and En Masse Entertainment. Crosby joins ShaunaSpenley, another former Netflix executive who was hired in Decemberby Riot to drive its new entertainment division. He』ll work withinthat same division, helping develop and market consumer, music,animation, and film and television products for Riot IPs includingLeague of Legends, Valorant, and Wild Rift.
TheInternational Olympic Committee executive board has released its「2020+5」 agenda, detailing a list of recommendations for theorganization’s continued efforts to evolve alongside anever-changing, increasingly digital global culture. Among theserecommendations is the following: 「encourage the development ofvirtual sport and further engage with video gaming communities.」The IOC has in the past held summits and discussions with esportsstakeholders to explore the potential of including esports in itsgames, but has repeatedly pushed back on that notion.
$13.2billion was invested in games development, publishing and technology,according to the latest DDM's Games Investment Review. It was alreadya record year with its last report, when the games industry broughtin $9.9 billion in nine months, beating the previous best of nearly$8 million. These only include completed investments, so Microsoft's$7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda/Zenimax, EA's $1.2 billion buyof Codemasters and Embracer's latest spending spree is not included.2020 saw 400 investment deals, beating the previous highest of 300.There were 220 mergers and acquisitions (first time it exceeded 200)and 10 public offerings (including Q3's IPO of Unity). In total,investment and M&A activity totalled 600 deals, a rise of 38%over the year before. During the fourth quarter, 100 investments weremade totalling $2.2 billion (up 19% in terms of number of deals and3% in value), driven primarily by investment in console, PC andmobile games (ahead of esports and tech). One of the main Q4 driverswas Embracer Group's $649 million IPO equity raise in October, whileScopely's $340 million Series E financing accounted for more than 15%of the revenue alone.
SensorTower商店情報數據顯示，Supercell《荒野亂鬥》自上線以來，在全球AppStore和GooglePlay累計收入已突破10億美元。這是繼《部落衝突》、《皇室戰爭》和《卡通農場》之後，，Supercell旗下又一款總收入達到10億美元裡程碑的產品。2020年，《荒野亂鬥》全球吸金近5.26億美元，成為Supercell旗下收入排名第2的遊戲，僅次於《部落衝突》，後者全年收入達到6.81億美元。不過，由於去年6月在中國市場成功上線，《荒野亂鬥》收入較2019年增長27.5%，成為Supercell旗下收入增長最快的遊戲。2020年6月是該遊戲收入最高的月份，全球收入達到8940萬美元，比5月增長了90%。當月中國iOS玩家貢獻了4700萬美元，佔52.6%。
AppAnnie 重磅發布中國廠商出海收入30強和中國廠商出海下載30強。遊戲仍然是中國公司海外收入的最大來源。在各項收入高增長遊戲品類中，角色扮演RPG遊戲收入增長最為顯著，益智休閒、策略、博彩類遊戲收入增長率緊隨其後。其中以《劍與遠徵》和《原神》為代表的RPG角色扮演類別收入增長最快。FunPlus在全球發行商52強的位次前進7名，且穩居中國廠商出海收入榜榜首。《劍與遠徵》和《萬國覺醒》在海外多國市場持續發力，帶動莉莉絲上升至第二位。米哈遊憑藉自研自發的《原神》上榜即爆款的現象級的爆發，不僅新晉出海收入30強，且直接躍居第9名。
SensorTower數據顯示，2020年共37款中國手遊在海外市場的收入超過1億美元，而2019年僅25款達成這一裡程碑。出海收入TOP30手遊產品在AppStore和GooglePlay的總收入達到92.4億美元，較2019年63億美元增長了47%。2020年10月，米哈遊《原神》移動版在海外市場的收入達到1.6億美元，刷新手遊出海單月收入記錄。2019年出海月收入最高記錄，由騰訊《PUBGMobile》在當年7月創下，為9000萬美元。隨著出海進程的深化，中國手遊在歐美、日韓市場的收入大幅提升。過去一年，Top30手遊在日本市場共吸金28億美元，同比增長81%；日本超越美國，成為中國手遊廠商最熱門的出海市場。來自美國市場的收入退居第2，但中國手遊在歐美核心市場(美、德、英、加)均保持50%左右的增速。
Consumerspending in the US for PC gaming hardware and accessories reached$4.5 billion in 2020. That's a 62% increase compared to 2019, andmore than double the total sales of 2017, NPD said in its latestreport. Digital PC games content also grew 19% in 2020, reaching $7.5billion in revenue. PC gaming accessories overall grew 81%year-on-year, while hardware grew 57%. NPD also pointed to itsEvolution of Entertainment report, which highlighted that 40% of USconsumers played PC games in 2020 -- a 4% rise compared to 2019.People who were already playing PC games before also played 14% morein 2020.
ActivisionBlizzard Media, in collaboration with market research consultancyAlter Agents and software-as-a-service neuroscience companyImmersion, has conducted research on the emotional impact ofadvertising and sponsorship on esports viewers compared withaudiences of traditional sports. The study found that duringsponsorship ads, the immersion (measured as the attention andemotional response of the viewer) was more sustained for esportsviewers. The study has not yet been released in its entirety.
Somekey findings from the study, according to the release:
Esports is better at keeping viewer attention during sponsorship ads, resulting in higher performance on critical brand metrics.
Esports viewers are more accepting of advertisements than traditional-sports fans, showing a higher immersion score, defined as 「attention plus emotional response」.
Brand favourability and brand perception are higher for esports experiences compared to traditional sports.
SensorTower商店情報平臺顯示，2021年1月中國手遊發行商在全球AppStore 和GooglePlay的收入排名。榜單中30個手遊發行商1月全球吸金超過23億美元，比去年1月增長47.3%，佔本期全球手遊總收入28.8%。1月米哈遊《原神》海外移動端收入達到1.14億美元。隨著2020全球總決賽開啟，騰訊《和平精英》和《PUBGMobile》全球收入環比激增51%，加上《使命召喚》手遊成功登陸中國市場，騰訊遊戲1月收入環比增長18%，是繼去年3月以來收入增長最快的月份。其中，隨著1月19日第17賽季開啟，騰訊《PUBGMobile》海外收入環比增長31%，同比增長34%，再次突破1億美元。1月初，IGG《王國紀元》推出GoldPass戰鬥通行證，還有以月為單位的KingdomLabors系列活動，其海外收入隨之翻倍，創上市五年來的最高記錄。憑藉《明日方舟》和《雀魂》在海外卓越的市場表現，悠星網絡本期收入環比增長100%，同比增長177%，創歷史新高。在日本市場，悠星網絡位列1月手遊發行商收入榜第11名。MagicTavern消除手遊新作《ProjectMakeover》收入在12月的基礎上增長71%至4400萬美元，躋身榜單第8名。每年1月1日是日本手遊收入最高的時間，今年元旦亦不例外。當天日本手遊玩家氪金超過3億美元，比去年增長了87%，創歷史新高。深耕日本市場的《荒野行動》同樣迎來收入峰值，當天在日本吸金超過1000萬美元。