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GameSquare sells Complexity for $10.4M. Enthusiast puts up huge numbers. WcDonald’s comes to Fortnite. Rainbow Six sets massive viewership record, and BLAST finds profitability!

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Here’s what we have for you today:

• GameSquare sells Complexity for $10.4M to founder Jason Lake 💸  

• McDonald’s WcDonald’s finds home in gaming with UEFN 🍟

• Enthusiast & U.GG reach over 2.1M downloads with strategy shift 📊  

• Rainbow Six sets record viewership with São Paulo, Brazil Event 📈

• Esports operator BLAST finds profitability amidst esports winter 💥 

💸 GameSquare sells Complexity for $10.4M

In a deal that went into effect at midnight Thursday, Jason Lake (alongside his firm Global Esports Properties) and GameSquare signed a “Membership Interest Purchase Agreement” dated March 1, 2024 for just over $10MM.

There were questions around what would happen on the competitive front as GSQ brought FaZe into the fold, knowing that these two orgs fielded some teams in overlapping titles, but this announcement puts the concern to rest as this is a key piece of asset optimization strategy that is associated with GSQ’s still-pending pending acquisition of FaZe Holdings. The sale follows a 175%+ increase in revenues for COL under GSQ ownership over 2021 and 2022.

Another great moment occured just a few days later when Complexity managed to qualify for the Copenhagen Counter-Strike Major, after which Jason Lake shared an emotional message to Complexity fans.

👀 Our POV

This is a win for all parties. For the last year now, we’ve talked about how we are in a period of market maturation and consolidation. Unfortunately, that has included the demise of several esports orgs that have been relevant at various points over the last two decades. Complexity, being one of a few Tier 1 orgs that has had a 20 year lifecycle to-date, is a pillar in the community. This arrangement allows Complexity to continue making their own destiny and competing at the highest levels… representing NA in a variety of titles. 

While, as GSQ CEO Justin Kenna said, it is bittersweet to see these individuals go in a different direction? It allows the two groups to continue developing their own unique vision for the future. Personally, I’m pumped to see what Jason does now that he’s back at the helm.

- Brandon Painter (Private Lobby)

🍟 McDonald’s Isekai experience WcDonald’s finds home in gaming

By now, you've probably seen the incredible work that Wieden + Kennedy and Publicis Groupe/Starcom introduced to the world at the beginning of the week for McDonald's. Rooted in a 39 year-old insight that anime and manga franchises for years have flipped the "M" over to a "W," creating WcDonald's, to dance around trademark issues... the brand rolled out the next chapter of their "share the pen" cultural creative.

Instead of being sticklers, they partnered with the legendary animators at Studio Pierrot (Bleach, Naruto) and Japanese manga artist Acky Bright to lean 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 into a space where they have appeared organically for decades. Over the next 4 weeks, they will be releasing mini episodes and short mangas representative of the largest genres in the anime world -- action, romance, fantasy and mecha. This content play, alongside a striking shift in vis ID and a vibrant new sauce on the menu as well as interactive packaging and dynamic in-app promotion, transports consumers to this brand new universe.

The teams across the board worked tirelessly to translate all of the details in this brand new universe into a stress-free restaurant tycoon custom game in Fortnite. From replicas of the promotional packaging, to featuring Sprite on soda machines, to including a jukebox that players can control that will play themes from each of the anime shorts… this branded UEFN experience is a love note accenting the campaign.

👀 Our POV

While the WcDonald’s Tycoon (map code ​​4926-8853-4883) is one of the most immersive, bespoke environments to hit the Fortnite platform… the real magic is in how completely vertically integrated the map is within the WcDonald’s brand campaign.

The WcDonald's experience has a "Secret Room" that can be unlocked via purchase through the McDonald's app. While Epic prevents anything being paywalled in this kind of manner, meaning that any player can try and crack the word puzzle that serves as a barrier before players can get into this museum-like area containing artifacts from the full campaign (plus a nice little XP boost), the teams found an authentic way to incentivize purchase in the app that falls within proper guidelines. If a patron orders the 10 piece WcNugget’s and Spicy Chili sauce on mobile, consumers are prompted to watch an animated short inside of the app. Upon completion, buyers are given a sneak peek of what the following week’s anime episode is going to be like plus it delivers a code that can be input down in WcDonald’s Station thus unlocking the room in Fortnite.

I know I’m biased, but how cool is that?!
 
- Brandon Painter (Private Lobby)

📊 Enthusiast & U.GG reach over 2.1M downloads

Gaming & esports organization Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. announced it has reached over 2.1 million downloads of its desktop app, U.GG.

U.GG is an app that helps players of games such as League of Legends and VALORANT track their performance and benchmarks, understand the best in-game options they should take at any given moment, and scout their opponents with detailed strength’s and weaknesses based off of detailed in-game stats.

⚡ Quick Highlights 

• Over 2.1 million downloads total

• Over 575,000 downloads since June 2023

• 43.3% increase in active users from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024

• 8x increase in monetization per user for Q4

J.B. Elliott, EVP Strategy of Enthusiast Gaming, praised the U.GG team for creating a desktop app that enhances the gaming experience with valuable data and insights, leading to strong user engagement. Enthusiast anticipates further user conversion, leading to increased monetization opportunities that will allow the team to pursue targeted expansions.

👀 Our POV

575K downloads in half a year is impressive and it’s really great to see Enthusiast having success amid all of the layoffs and consolidation across the industry.

The 43.3% increase in active users for U.GG is also super impressive and should be great news for Enthusiast’s investors. Diversifying their gaming & esports assets with media has been a key strategy for Enthusiast and the growth of U.GG shows more success with diversification for the org.

My take: U.GG, like Buff.game are incredible tools with massive player bases that is super targeted to gamers while they’re deeply engaged. Both of these tools are entirely opt-in and used by gamers with intention and purpose as they attempt to scout their opponents and improve their performance. This presents a massive opportunity for brands to tap into this audience.

- Zach Eller (Private Lobby)

📈 Rainbow Six sets record viewership

Is Rainbow Six back? 👀

Ubisoft closed out February with one of the most watched events of the year - The Six Invitational 2024, hosted in São Paulo, Brazil.

The annual tournament featured 20 teams from around the globe battling it out for a $3,000,000 prize pool. Brazil’s very own, w7m esports, took the majority share of the prize pool beating out FaZe Clan in the grand finals.

This year Ubisoft incorporated co-streaming inviting over 180 channels to stream alongside the event - feature names such as Jynxzi & Gaules. With the combined viewership, Rainbow Six set a new record for peak viewership, peaking at 520k viewers during the grand final matchup. Beating out the previous record of 316K set at the Six Invitational 2018.

The 2024 Six Invitational moves Rainbow Six to Rainbow Six to 15th on the “Most Popular Games of All Time”

1. League of Legends — 6,402,760 PV  (2023 World Championship);

2. Free Fire — 5,415,990 PV (Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore);

3. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang — 5,067,107 PV (M5 World Championship);

4. PUBG Mobile — 3,801,998 PV (PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0);

5. Counter-Strike — 2,748,434 PV (PGL Major Stockholm 2021);

6. Dota 2 — 2,741,514 PV (The International 10);

7. Fortnite — 2,334,826 PV (Fortnite World Cup 2019 Finals);

8. VALORANT — 1,505,804 PV (VALORANT Champions 2022);

9. Arena of Valor — 974,624 PV (Arena of Valor Premier League 2023);

10. Minecraft — 913,496 PV (MC Championship #15);

11. PUBG: Battlegrounds — 757,875 PV (PUBG Global Invitational 2018);

12. Apex Legends — 704,937 PV (Crazy Raccoon Cup #10);

13. Monster Strike — 545,118 PV (Monster Strike Grand Prix 2023 Japan);

14. Battlegrounds Mobile India — 537,849 PV (Launch Party BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA);

15. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege — 521,349 PV (Six Invitational 2024);

👀 Our POV

Two key takeaways from this event: the power of co-streaming & importance of location.

Co-streaming from Jynxzi & Gaules significantly helped push the peak of the tournament. With just Jynxzi & Gaules alone, they peaked at 220k during the grand finals. Not only does it help boost viewership but it helps expose their audience to the game & competitive scene - especially for Gaules who typically watches CS2 but loves to support the Brazilian esports scene.

Location is a big point to note here as well. Typically the Six Invitational has been in Montreal, Canada, where Ubisoft is based. However this year they shifted the tournament the Brazil, where a majority of the Six Invitational players are from. Instead of trying to get fans to go to Ubisoft, Ubisoft went directly to the home of their players. Seeing all the clips of how loud & rowdy the crowd was on X got me to tune in just to see what the environment was like. 🤯

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

💥 BLAST finds profitability amidst esports winter

The words “profitability”, “stability”, and “diversification” have been on the tips of everyone’s tongues when discussing a way through this “esports winter.” It just so happens that these exact words are BLAST’s path towards their recent announcement of being profitable. Alexander Lee of Digiday spoke with Blast Chief Business Officer Leo Matlock, who outlined how BLAST is blazing the trail for other event companies. Being a Denmark-based company, BLAST will make its financial report public later for inquisitive readers.

BLAST operates Fortnite Competitive, R6 Esports, Rocket League Esports, and Counter-Strike products worldwide. Their latest addition was Rocket League after signing a deal with Epic Games to take stewardship of the esports program they built in-house. While BLAST has a strong reputation, many decisions made around the league have alienated fans and ultimately left the Rocket League community disappointed. While profitability is a success we should all celebrate, it isn’t free of scrutiny around how third-party esports operators integrate into the fan experience.

🛠️ Why It’s Working

BLAST, much like anyone looking to grow in esports right now, has cleverly diversified. Taking contracts in numerous games allows them the stability that all companies desperately need to continue operating in esports. 

Diversification isn’t just some buzzword; it is the liferaft of many esports companies. Everyone has concluded that numerous revenue streams are crucial to combat the volatility of esports and are moving in that direction. Other examples include The Spacestation, Gamesquare, and OverActive Media.

👀 Our POV

As someone who works in events and production at Airlock, I can appreciate the monumental task of achieving profitability. I’ve long respected BLAST’s production capabilities and ability to create a great show. They’ve done a fantastic job with Rainbow 6: Siege, and I’m eager to see how they fare with Rocket League. That said, I wouldn’t take this news as an indicator that BLAST’s model is the path to success in esports. They may be profitable, but they have struggled, at times, to connect with the communities they are serving properly.

BLAST is one of two major event players alongside ESL/FACEIT Group that operate at the highest scale. We’ve seen significant consolidation through acquisitions in the event operator space that have created a major gap. The largest players, like those noted above, operate large-scale league contracts and run fairly unopposed, while smaller groups take care of things with less scale and overhead. This consolidation leaves room for smaller, more nimble production companies to gain market share. I’m eager to see how BLAST’s business progresses while keeping an eye on groups like Mogul Moves who’re pushinc creative boundaries and focusing on creator-led initiatives.

- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

💼 Job Board

• Designer: Missions for Rockstar Games (Carlsbad, CA)

• UEFN generalist for LEGO (Denmark)

• Partner Success Manager for Fnatic (London)

• Partner Marketing Manager for Fnatic (London)

• Community Manager for SteelSeries (Chicago, IL)

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