Last year India banned PUBG Mobile, now it seems neighbouring Bangladesh may be about to upstage that by banning both PUBG Mobile and Free Fire. 

While India banned the hugely popular PUBG Mobile because of its links to China, it seems the Bangladeshi government is concerned about the addictive effects of it, and rival battle royale title Free Fire, on young people. 

According to AFK Gaming, which references local publication Daily Manab Zamin, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Home Affairs have all called for the games to be banned. Apparently, bans have also been discussed by a Parliamentary Standing Committee, and the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users Association. 

Emphasising how concerned the Bangladeshi government is about the effects of the battle royale games on youngsters, it has said it will also try to eliminate the option of getting around any ban by using a VPN. 

The news comes shortly after Free Fire publisher Garena launched a dedicated server in the country to cope with demand.

AYO.NEWS says:

This is a tough one. While Krafton managed to address Indian concerns by distancing itself from Tencent and investing in a dedicated Indian spin-off, Battlegrounds Mobile India, it’s difficult to see how publishers could do anything to mitigate a ban driven by addiction concerns. 

Of course, although losing access to Bangladesh, with its population 163 million, would be painful for both Krafton and Garena, the bigger fear will be that any Bangladeshi ban inspires more countries to follow suit.

Super League Gaming, has extended its partnership with esports talent agency and media company, Rumble Gaming.

The deal will see  some of the agency’s biggest creators collaborate with top-tier brands from across the globe through Super League’s breakthrough, in-stream Sponsored Live Break viewing experience.

Sponsored Live Breaks provide creators who use the Mobcrush live streaming software with a way to entertain their audience even when they have to step away from their device while broadcasting live. 

Through Mobcrush’s artificial intelligence gameplay clipping capabilities, streamers are able to share recaps of the most exciting moments from the segment of their broadcast just completed. A highlights reel full of instant replays is built and delivered in real-time, and available to be sponsored by top tier brands seeking verifiable ways to reach a critical audience of gamers across major digital video platforms.

Zack Pearlstein, Vice President of Talent and Legal Affairs at Rumble Gaming, commented: “The importance of the esports and gaming audience for Rumble continues to grow, making this new partnership with Super League a signature example of our commitment to supporting the needs of the Rumble team members. Sponsored Live Breaks provides a scalable mechanism to connect our talent with world class brands and generate consistent revenue while also helping to create more balance in their daily streaming routine.”

Mike Wann, CEO of Mobcrush, added: “Burnout is a reality for streamers, which is why we developed Sponsored Live Breaks. Our AI solution allows creators to catch their breath during multiple consecutive hours of streaming and still broadcast their best content to their loyal fans, with brands then able to connect authentically to those viewers at moments in the stream that really matter.”

Staying with Super League Gaming, in April the company announced several new content distribution partnerships, significantly expanding its audience reach. 

Cloud gaming platform Antstream Arcade has launched in Australia, following significant growth in the UK and US markets. 

Antstream Arcade offers a library of more than 1,000 iconic retro video games on its streaming platform, including classics like Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Mortal Kombat.

Players can enjoy the games on virtually any device, including TVs, laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones, using any 3G, 4G, 5G, wired, or Wifi connection, with no need to download games. 

Antstream Arcade’s Australian debut coincides with the launch of the Atari VCS in the country  – a modern video computer system that blends the best of PCs and consoles. Antstream Arcade is preloaded onto the VCS, giving Aussie players an expansive retro gaming experience. 

Players will also be able to enjoy challenge modes, tournaments, and international leaderboards, giving a distinctly contemporary social aspect to classic games. 

Steve Cottam, CEO of Antstream, said: “Australia is a country underserved by the emerging cloud gaming market. We aim to change that by giving Australian gamers the chance to enjoy over 1000 iconic games for free thanks to our cloud gaming platform. Antstream is the first truly device agnostic game streaming service in the world, and the first to offer its library of games to players for free via an ad-funded model and premium ad-free subscription service – allowing us to bring our library of classics and forgotten gems to the widest audience possible.”

Antstream Arcade’s library features games from over 55 publishing partners across the games industry, including the likes of Bandai Namco, Taito, Disney/LucasArts, Atari and Warner Media to name a few. 

AYO.NEWS says:

From retro arcade games to contemporary titles, cloud streaming technology is rapidly removing compatibility and accessibility issues from the field of video gaming. Just last week we reported that mobile cloud company now.gg has launched a new platform for developers, aimed at improving accessibility, shareability, and monetisation – with the company saying it is on the way to “bringing mobile gaming to the next billion.”

ReKTGlobal-owned esports organisation Rogue has renewed its partnership with South Korean auto manufacturer Kia. 

The creative content collaboration began in 2020 with international music stars Steve Aoki, Nicky Romero, and Imagine Dragons, and will now continue with a digital-first campaign supporting Kia’s new “Movement that inspires” brand narrative. 

Anna Baumann, EVP of Esports at ReKTGlobal said: “We are thrilled to showcase our unique esports brand in a joint campaign with Kia. We both believe in innovation and inspiration as the driving force to be the best. We cannot wait to dive deeper into the stories of our esports athletes, which we hope will inspire all esports enthusiasts.”

Michael Choo, Kia’s Head of Brand Experience, added: “Rogue has already proven that they go above and beyond when it comes to creating exceptional and highly engaging content with authentic brand integration, and we look forward to surprising and entertaining esports fans once again in 2021.”

World Cricket Championship (WCC) has passed the 155M download mark, and added Tamil commentary. 

Former team India player and IPL commentator, Abhinav Mukund, will provide commentary for the Tamil userbase, joining Matthew Hayden and Aakash Chopra who provide English and Hindi commentary respectively. 

WCC has rocketed in popularity in India, racking up 15M downloads since January alone, with the COVID-19 crisis ravaging the country helping drive demand. The game has featured in prominent esports tournaments, including Redbull M.E.O., Skyesports, and LXG WCC. 

Next Wave Multimedia CEO and co-founder, P.R. Rajendran, said: “With the introduction of professional commentators into the game, the aim is to bring users as close as possible to the actual game of cricket. With the recent suspension of live sports, we would be glad for WCC to bring respite to the cricket fans confined in their homes.”

Abhinav Mukund added: “WCC as a game provides a very lifelike cricketing experience. Apart from a range of varied controls that the game brings already has, now, commentary in Tamil will only add to the game’s list of growing features, ushering a much more realistic experience, while giving the regional audience a chance to connect more.”

The World Cricket Championship series was created by Chennai-based Next Wave Multimedia Pvt. Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies Ltd. 

In February, Next Wave Multimedia, announced it was partnering with in-game advertising platform Anzu, to integrate in-game ads into the series.

Genki, a new tool for internet content creators to generate revenue without having to ask fans for money, has opened registrations for the beta testing phase. 

Created by the inSTREAMLY team, Genki is a loyalty program that allows creators to earn commission from the purchases their fans make in thousands of shops affiliated with the Genki service. 

Fans can install the Genki browser extension, and then choose which creator they want to appreciate. Then, they simply do their normal shopping at any of over 30,000 shops, and the chosen creator will get 1-5% commission from their purchases – meaning fans don’t have to spend additional money, and creators get much needed revenue. 

According to the company, an average content creator using Genki could monetise around 20% of their total audience, with a yearly income per registered fan of around $20 USD. This compared to “a popular subscription and patronage platform” that estimates 1-3% of a creator’s audience can be monetised, with a total yearly income per fan averaging $21. 

Wiktoria Wójcik, co-founder of inSTREAMLY, explained: “No other platform out there provides similar benefits for both fans and creators alike. Current model of subscriptions and donations built in popular platforms is oversaturated and favoring only the top creators. 

“Individual fans are only able to support at most a few creators at a time and often, the majority of them are not able to pay for the subscription, though they want to appreciate the creator. On the other hand, a significant number of creators do not like to ask for the money directly. Genki’s groundbreaking approach allows the creators to monetise a broader audience with a very low entry barrier.”

inSTREAMLY’s other project, a platform connecting streamers of all sizes with top brand sponsorships, is now used by over 15,000 streamers and 70 brands worldwide.

Genki Beta will be open for all creators during the first month, after which it will switch to an invite only mode. You can find out more about Genki, and register as a creator or fan, here. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Effective monetisation is a constant headache for all but the most popular few percent of content creators, so we’re sure there’ll be a lot of interest in Genki. The question is whether Genki can keep friction to a minimum with the sign-up and admin process, and crucially, can it attract and keep the right merchants in the program?