The growing Esports and competitive-gaming phenomenon is continuing to rage on in 2021 and garner significant investor interest due to the massive opportunities. With the global Esports betting market on track to reach $13 billion by 2025, it has emerged as one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, and businesses and investors alike are looking to gain a share. Esports Entertainment may have joined the space first, but mobile Esports company Skillz Inc. set the sector ablaze in December 2020 when it joined the New York Stock Exchange via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) valued at $3.5 billion. Last week, Esports Technologies began trading on the Nasdaq. Then, there’s the upcoming listing of Good Gamer Corp., a fantasy gaming and Esports technology company that just launched a Tournament Management Platform (TMP) that gives Unity Software Inc. game publishers the ability to host real-money competitions.
Good Gamer Corp., which plans to go public via an amalgamation agreement with Credent Capital Corp., has launched the beta version of its skill based real money tournament management platform in North America to expand the gaming ecosystem and give mobile game publishers the opportunity to generate additional revenue from their games at a time when ad CPM rates are declining.
Good Gamer’s platform gives Unity based iOS and Android mobile game publishers the opportunity to integrate the GoodGamer software design kit (SDK) and offer real-money competitions on their skill-based mobile casual games. It also connects gamers around the world by allowing them to responsibly compete in multiplayer tournaments and head-to-head for real-money prizes. Designed for high scalability, the Good Gamer TMP will have the ability to cater to all relevant categories of skill-based mobile casual games across all popular gaming genres, as well as niche genres.
The launch of the Good Gamer TMP comes two weeks after the company announced closing the final tranche of a non-brokered private placement for C$4 million in proceeds. At the same time, Good Gamer revealed it plans to go public on the Toronto Venture Exchange under the symbol “GOOD” after signing an amalgamation agreement with capital pool company, Credent Capital Corp.
“We’re very excited about the North American beta launch of our Esports tournament management platform and the closing of our $4 million funding round and GoodGamer’s upcoming listing on the TSX Venture Exchange,” said Good Gamer CEO Charlo Barbosa. “The online gaming industry has exponentially grown due to COVID-19 as more people stay at home and play mobile games to entertain themselves. This market is ripe for another player to enter this fast paced industry.”
Of course, this isn’t Good Gamer’s first time launching a mobile gaming product to market. Last September, the company launched the GoodGamer Daily Fantasy Sports and Esports Gaming app to the Indian market in advance of the IPL 2020 season. The platform quickly garnered 250,000 registered players in its first month and has continued to grow to almost 500,000 players since.
Massive Esports Betting Market Continues Raking in Big Investments
Esports was already on the rise and gaining popularity around the world before 2020, but the global health crisis has definitely accelerated that growth. With traditional sports seasons delayed for much of last year, gamblers and sports fans alike turned their attention towards Esports. And although the industry wasn’t immune to the effects of COVID-19, global Esports revenues still surpassed $950 million in 2020. The increased interest in Esports also created a number of new publicly traded companies, many of which entered the market with sky-high valuations and strong balance sheets.
A prime example is Skillz Inc. , an online mobile multiplayer competition platform that went public in December 2020 with a valuation of $3.5 billion. The company has since continued to prove it’s a worthy competitor in the market, recently signing a multi-year agreement with the NFL and outperforming analysts’ expectations for its Q1 2021 results.
Then, just last week, global online gambling company Esports Technologies IPO got off to a hot start. Less than a month earlier, the company, which offers real-money betting on Esports events from around the world, announced the relaunch of Gogawi.com, an immersive betting destination available in over 140 jurisdictions.
Then there’s Esports Entertainment , the only Esports-dedicated U.S. wagering platform. The company, which joined the space well before the pandemic, has continued to generate significant interest from the market. Esports Entertainment just got its own boost recently after Citron Research suggested video game retailer GameStop should buy the company.
But, the biggest winner in the Esports market could very well be cross-platform game engine developer Unity Software Inc. , which is the backbone of many of the mobile games being developed. Unity, which is also fairly new to the public markets after going public last September, recently announced full year 2020 revenues of $772.4 million, which marks a 43% increase from 2019.
The Good Gamer TMP will allow Unity game developers to add tournament functionality with its SDK.