Krafton, the parent company of PUBG Corporation and Bluehole, has announced a partnership with Microsoft. 

The deal will see South Korea-based Krafton deploy its products, including PUBG Corp’s global hit battle royale titles PUBG and PUBG Mobile, using Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing service. 

Announcing the partnership, Krafton said it will be “working with Microsoft to introduce a verification process to ensure that storage of personally identifiable information of its players follows all appropriate requirements in the territories where Krafton and its subsidiaries operated gaming services.” 

The partnership could play a pivotal role in getting PUBG Mobile legalised in India, where it was one of the most popular titles until the government banned it in September, amid escalating tensions with China – Chinese conglomerate Tencent owned publishing rights to the title at the time. 

Since the ban, Krafton has attempted to distance PUBG Mobile from China, with Tencent relinquishing rights to the title, and the company looking for Indian partners – and apparently talking with both Reliance Jio and Airtel. 

As reported last week, Krafton Inc. is currently preparing for what could be a record listing on the Korea Exchange (KRX), having appointed Mirae Asset Daewoo to lead the IPO, which is scheduled for 2021. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The speed with which Krafton has made changes, as it attempts to get its full offerings available in India again, reflects the commercial significance of the market for the company. With PUBG Mobile no longer being exposed to Chinese infrastructure, it’s going to be difficult for the Indian government to justify a continued ban on the grounds already given, though the fact Krafton is 13.2% owned by Tencent may still cause some politicians to argue against lifting it. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Immortals Gaming Club (IGC) has secured $26M USD in a Series B funding round led by the family office of Meg Whitman.

Former CEO of eBay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and streaming platform Quibi, Whitman is an existing investor in IGC, and also sits on the organisation’s board. IGC says it will use the new capital to continue growing its Immortals team brand, along with its Brazil-based MIBR brand, and Gamers Club CS:GO competitive matchmaking platform. 

Discussing developments CEO of Immortals Gaming Club, Ari Segal, said:

“IGC is focused on investing aggressively in growth in competitive gaming, inclusive of our platform, non-team assets such as Gamers Club, and our core team brands Immortals and MIBR. 

“We’ve enjoyed strong growth in our non-team asset portfolio and are excited to leverage a strong balance sheet and focus our energy, time, capital, and other resources on these aspects of the business, as well as current and future esports team assets that authentically serve and deliver for gaming communities around the world.”

While lead investor, Meg Whitman, added:

“This Series B-1 round represents our board and investor group’s ongoing excitement about the opportunities available in this dynamic, diverse, and fast-growing market.”

IGC has also confirmed it has sold its franchise in Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty League to 100 Thieves, for an undisclosed amount. IGC originally purchased the spot ahead of this year’s inaugural season – through which it competed as the OpTic Gaming Los Angeles brand. 

Despite the sale of its CoD franchise slot, IGC still has several franchise spots in its portfolio, including Overwatch League’s Los Angeles Valiant, and a spot in Riot Games’ League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). IGC also competes in Riot Game’s Valorant.

AYO.NEWS says:

The sale of its CoD League spot, while also landing another sizable investment, suggests an increasingly business driven mindset at IGC – something we’re seeing across more esports organizations as the pressures of converting growing popularity into commercial viability increase. And, given the big ticket cost of franchise spots, letting them go when they’re underperforming is probably a smart move, raising considerable capital that can be targeted on more promising ventures. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

British Formula 1 driver Lando Norris has launched esports and content creation organisation, Team Quadrant. 

Norris, who drives for McLaren, already has more than 600K followers on his Twitch channel, and is the second F1 driver to launch their own team, after Frenchman Romain Grosjean launched R8G eSports. 

In an interview with BBC Sports, Norris revealed he’s been planning to launch his own organisation for some time, and though it will focus on sim racing, it will also expand into other categories of esports and games. 

Team Quadrant has signed sim racing content creators Aarav “Aarava” Amin, and Steve “Super GT” Alvarez Brown, and gaming content creators Niran “FNG” Yesufu, and “RiaBish”, to expand its online presence, with a view to entering esports in the near future. 

🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘 #QUADRANT pic.twitter.com/qsbXUQ3ouw

— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) November 6, 2020

AYO.NEWS says:

Given the huge boost in popularity sim racing, especially F1, has enjoyed during the COVID-19 crisis, it seems like the perfect time for Norris, and other drivers, to establish themselves in the gaming and esports world. 

Staying with F1, AYO.NEWS’ very own Simona Pinterova recently caught up with Julian Tan, Head of Digital Business Initiatives & Esports at Formula1, to find out how the iconic racing organisation has expanded its esports offering this year, and what the future has in store. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

UK-based social publisher GameByte has entered e-commerce with the launch of The GameByte shop. 

According to GameByte, it is now the only social publisher in the world to fully own every step of the consumer journey, and its new shop will stock over 1,000 products including video games,  next-gen consoles, and gaming accessories. 

Using a proprietary e-commerce platform, GameByte says it will provide media buyers with total transparency and insight. 

GameByte is owned by global social agency and publishing house, Social Chain, and on 6 November 2020, its audience stood at over 6 million gamers, with more than 25 million views on its Facebook videos each month. 

Commenting on the news head of GameByte, Rich White, said:

“This isn’t just the next generation of GameByte, it’s the next gen of games media. Though it’s never been done before, we’re in the perfect position to launch a gaming e-commerce platform. We know our audience inside-out.”

While Social Chain’s business development director, Sam Barrett, added:

“We’re already a trusted source of gaming news and entertainment. Now with our proprietary e-commerce platform, we can provide a seamless purchase journey for both our community and for the world’s leading gaming companies, by owning every step involved to help them reach their customers.”

Until now, four-year-old GameByte’s growth has been powered by creating fan-centric original content and coverage for major gaming brands like Frontier and Logitech. However, the GameByte brand itself will now become a client too, marketing its own products. 

The GameByte Shop will also be used as ad inventory for clients, media buyers, and affiliates, enabling them to tap into the global gaming market, which is estimated to stand at some 2.6 billion active gamers, and looks set to increase by 5% in 2021 to 2.725 billion. 

AYO.NEWS says:

With so many cut-price e-commerce competitors out there, some of which enjoy incredible economies of scale, this is nothing if not a bold move by GameByte, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Will the brand loyalty of entertainment and news consumers translate into retail purchases? Time will tell…

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

Video game publisher Electronic Arts has reported $185M, and Take-Two Interactive $99M, profit for the second quarter.

EA: changes to release dates drag on period

In the second quarter of its fiscal year 2021, which ended 30 September, Electronic Arts (EA) generated $1.15B USD in net revenue, down 15% year-on-year. The period saw a 30.7% fall in net bookings (total net revenues added to the change in deferred net revenues for online and mobile game fees), falling to $910M.

Despite dropping by 45% , the majority of net bookings, some $513M, was contributed by EA’s console products, though both PC and mobile grew by 4% each, adding $225M and $172M respectively. 

According to EA, the drop in revenue is attributable to the decision to move the launch of Madden NFL 21 back, and move FIFA 21 from Q2 to Q3 – resulting in an estimated $525M of net bookings to shift from Q2 to Q3 and Q4 of fiscal year 2021. 

Despite the subdued results, EA noted that the FIFA player base has hit almost 35M globally, while Madden has seen a 30% year-on-year increase in players, and Apex Legends grew 20% year-on-year, and is on track to contribute more than $500M in revenue for the fiscal year – making it EA’s next billion-dollar franchise. 

Staying with Electronic Arts, earlier today we reported that EA Sports has renewed its partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL), and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA), allowing it to continue developing its EA SPORTS NHL 21 game.

Take-Two: revenue down, but in-game purchases drive profit up

Take-Two Interactive Software, developer of popular basketball sim NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K20, also saw revenue drop in its FY 2020 Q2, down 2% year-on-year to $841M.

Despite this, revenues from in-game purchases, virtual currency, and add-on content actually surged by 56%, contributing a significant 59% of total net revenues, and the company ended the second quarter with a net profit of $99.3M, up a healthy 38.3% year-on-year.

In addition to its basketball titles, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the WWE series, also contributed strongly to revenue. 

Staying with Take-Two’s offering, earlier today we reported that USA Basketball is entering esports for the first time, creating an E-National Team ahead of the FIBA Esports Open II, which will be played on T2’s NBA 2K21 title. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.

North American organisation DarkZero Esports has named Tommy Padula as new Head of Partnerships. 

Padula is joining DarkZero from MGM Resorts, where he was Manager of Corporate Partnerships at its Sports and Entertainment Division. However, after suffering a car accident, and MGM announcing mass layoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he made the decision to move to esports. 

In his new role, Padula will looking to build partnerships, as well as overseeing existing ones like the recently announced deal with UK-based esports apparel company Raven. 

Commenting on joining DarkZero, Padula said:

“As soon as I recovered I was looking for a new opportunity but with Covid, suddenly a lot of my network was also looking for work. DarkZero’s search for a Head of Partnerships was a perfect opportunity for me because it combined my passions for entertainment, gaming and sports.

“I believe that there is an opportunity to partner with properties on The Strip and build a lasting relationship with some of the global brands housed in Las Vegas. Vegas is the world capital of sports and entertainment and a home for incredible and unique brands. Esports is a global entertainment platform making it a natural fit for this city.”

While CEO of DarkZero Esports, Zach Matula, added:

“Tommy brings with him years of experience working with the world’s largest and most prestigious brands. He will now lead the effort at DarkZero to build meaningful relationships with our growing list of partners in Las Vegas and the esports industry.”

Though based in Houston, Texas, in September DarkZero revealed its new 8,000 sq ft gaming house in Las Vegas, giving its players a base in Sin City. The organisation currently fields a roster in Rainbow Six Siege. 

AYO.NEWS says:

The flow of talent from the traditional gaming and sports worlds to esports seems to be increasing with each month that goes by. And, with COVID-19 still hanging around, and cities like Las Vegas struggling to adapt to new realities, esports offer rare opportunities for growth and optimism. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

All original content featured on this site is © Pentagon Digital Limited, 2020.