Tech behemoth Microsoft has acquired self-service esports tournament platform Smash.gg. 

The news was broken by Smash.gg on Twitter, and was confirmed by MSN Esports’ social account, but financial details have not been revealed by Microsoft. 

In a statement on its website, Smash.gg said

“Since we started in 2015, our goal has been to build active esports scenes around the games people love to play. Smash.gg has been acquired by Microsoft!”

Smash.gg was launched in 2015, and in 2017 secured $11M USD funding in a Series A round. Since then it has become particularly popular for fighting game esports, though it also supports other titles like Rocket League and Hearthstone. 

Microsoft has a massive presence in video gaming through its Xbox division, and has splashed a lot of cash buying up developers. Notably, it spent $2.5B for Minecraft in 2014, and an incredible $7.5B for ZeniMax Media – maker of Fallout, Doom, and The Elder Scrolls, earlier this year. 

However, the corporation has also seen some major flops, including streaming service Beam, which it acquired in 2016 and rebranded as Mixer. Despite integrating Mixer with the Xbox console, the platform never really challenged Twitch, and was shut down earlier this year. 

AYO.NEWS says:

Given Microsoft’s vast resources and talent pool, it should be able to take anything to the next level and beyond. But, in the strange world of esports and video gaming, where a slight change in tone or temperature can alter the trajectory of any business, nothing is certain. 

‘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. 

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