SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Mobile eSports developer Skillz, has announced the addition of its new live events platform. This will ensure that any users can organise mobile video game tournaments and competitions, and moreover, they can live stream them to any device.
The implications of this are that charities, restaurants, bars, non-profits and virtual venues can host their own eSports competitions, either for cash prizes or for free, and they can choose from a pool of over 500 mobile games. The organisers will also be able to enable password only access to allow the creation of invite only games.
Based in San Francisco and Boston, Skillz has hosted over 40 million mobile eSports tournaments for users in over 180 countries. Founded in 2012, at present cash prizes of around $1m (£639,000) are paid out over the platform every two weeks. The announcement of this live events platform came at the recent Wedbush/Intel E3 Networking Event in LA.
Skillz CEO, Andrew Paradise, said: “”With the live events platform, Skillz can transform any physical or virtual venue into a competitive arcade.”
He continued: “This is exciting for gamers looking for new ways to compete and for venues interested in engaging their patrons. This technology is also incredibly powerful for game developers interested in tapping into a physical distribution network of bars and restaurants to drive new downloads and increase engagement and retention among existing players.”
Skillz have reportedly received a significant amount of applications from restaurants, bars and Twitch streamers who are interested in hosting their own bespoke events. Beta partner applications are currently being considered, and any interested parties should contact [email protected].
