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Nike signs Twitch streamer. Disney & Epic are teaming up. 100T x Pokemon. Chipotle goes big in the fighting game community. And… esports degrees?

Before we dive in: We’re excited to welcome the newest writer to join the Private Lobby team, marketing and brand strategist for Airlock & Spacestation, Brendan Valentine!

With the addition of Brendan to the team, Private Lobby can now field a full VALORANT roster 😂 Brendan joining the team brings a new voice, perspective, and ultimately will help us put out more content for you. Welcome, Brendan! 🎉

Ok, grab your coffee, ready up, and let’s drop in 🪂
Here’s what we have for you today:

• Nike signs Twitch streamer as Kai Cenat joins Nike 💫

• Disney creating “a whole new world” with $1.5bn stake in Epic 🌎

• Gotta catch 'em all with 100Thieves new Pokemon collab⚡ 

• Getting a degree in esports: a new trend or a false start? 🎓

• Chipotle doubles down on EVO and the fighting game community 🕹️ 

💫 Nike signs Twitch streamer, Kai Cenat

After taking over the live streaming & content creation scene this past year, Kai Cenat has confirmed that he’s partnering with Nike. Details haven’t been announced but Kai hinted at “something big” alongside Nike in Las Vegas. Kai Cenat is the first streamer to partner with Nike. 👟 

Kai is one of the most watched streamers on Twitch, having over 105M+ hours watching in the past year, the most out of any English streamer on the platform. Additionally, Kai sits at 5 Million subscribers on YouTube. 📈

⚡ Quick Take

Partnering with athletes such as LeBron James or Luka Doncic (Go Mavs) has been a key strategy for Nike since the Jordan 1’s. However, one con with partnering with athletes is that they most likely only have eyes on them during their respective sports season, usually just a few months in the year.

With Kai Cenat, his “season” is 24/7 365 days a year. Kai is live nearly every day on Twitch and gives Nike access to a different, younger, and more digitally native audience that is deeply engaged as fans of Kai.

I’m interested to see what potential collabs will look like between Kai & Nike, a specialty line of shoes? Custom Nike hoodies featuring his branding? Kai x Nike in person shopping events? The possibilities are endless… 🌃

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

🌎 Disney creating “a whole new world”

Last week was set on fire by the Disney x Epic Games news: Disney will be investing $1.5 BILLION to acquire an equity stake in Epic’s metaverse… Fortnite. Per the official release, this seemed to be a companion talking point to their intent to “collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.”

Think piece after think piece rolled out across the Internet after Thursday’s earnings call, but only time will be able to tell if the 11% spike in share value was more reflective of the Eras Tour exclusive hitting Disney+ or Bob Iger keeping to his word after returning as CEO including making the company’s largest step forward into the macro gaming ecosystem with this bet on UEFN.

Without being too long-winded, the key thing(s) to note here are that this is very different from “just” releasing an officially sanctioned game-within-a-game like LEGO Fortnite. It’s also distinctly different than working with devs to create immersive branded experiences like GSQ’s recent Mastercard cause-forward obby or PRIME Red v. Blue. Lastly, it’s far and above more involved than Fortnite’s extremely common in-game live-service/seasonal IP collaborations. We did a quick search and various Disney franchises and characters have shown up in ~50 in-game releases over the course of the life cycle of the game.

They were careful to state that in addition to the interoperability of these types of appearances, “the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.” 

👀 Our POV

For this issue in particular, I want to restate that the opinions of ours in this newsletter are separate from that of our employers’ regardless of the overlap in subject matter.

However, the team has put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into establishing Moonlight Studios over at GSQ and the in-game solutions that we provide are also a big bet on the cutting edge manner of UEFN. We were validated and excited by the Big Bang moment in Fortnite that introduced Rocket Racing and LEGO Fortnite… as they were further blurring the lines between where the Battle Royale core of the game began and ended as it cozies up to the insane (and constantly expanding) possibilities in Fortnite Creative.

In whatever way this materializes, the Disney x Epic Games news is truly the next evolutionary step in not only what Fortnite is but in illustration of the phrase “gaming is culture.” Between Minecraft, Roblox, builder modes in games like Stumble Guys, GTA RP, etc. the very definition of what gaming is, as an industry and a channel, is going through a metamorphosis before our eyes. It is a remarkably perfect time to invest time and resources into finding your place and purpose in this revolution… before it’s left you behind without your teams even becoming aware the train was leaving the station. 🚉
 
- Brandon Painter (Private Lobby)

💯 Gotta Catch 'Em All

This past week 100 Thieves & Pokémon released their official merchandise collaboration. Selling a wide variety of merch from a $1,000 varsity jacket, hoodies, vest, shirts, and even pants, all following the 100 Thieves x Pokémon theme.

The collab received mixed reviews from the community, some citing their displeasure with the “basic design”. Nadeshot took to X posting a video addressing these concerns and inviting fans to take a look at the full lookbook with all of the items instead of a few posts being made about the T-shirts.

The collection still saw success, selling out of T-shirts minutes after dropping. As of Monday, there are only a few hoodies & jackets available in limited sizes. 👕

👀 Our POV

Personally, I’m not the biggest Pokémon fan but this is the perfect collab for the 100 Thieves audience, and gaming fans in general. A lot of my friends who enjoy gaming also seem to enjoy Pokémon, as well.

As for the design, I’m personally a fan of the minimalist designs they featured. Knowing how 100 Thieves makes their merch to be worn daily, I would find it hard for the casual 100T/Pokémon fan to want a shirt that is super flashy and has Pokémon all over it for casual out-and-about wear.

I am looking forward to seeing who else 100 Thieves can partner up with or if any organizations will try a collaboration on this level. 👀

- Justin Palacios (Private Lobby)

🎓 Getting a degree in esports?

Esports Insider recently released an article detailing a new Higher National Diploma (HND) program at the University of Salford for Esports Business Management. The article describes an HND as “a qualification that combines academic study with practical, hands-on elements to ensure students have a well-rounded knowledge of a subject that allows them to place in industry post-study.”

The article quickly stirred up a storm of discourse from esports professionals, sharing their opinion. While there were a variety of takes, many felt that an esports degree is a risky choice that doesn’t guarantee the opportunity or success it may seem to.

The University of Salford’s 2-year Esports Business Management Degree is a noble move to give students a path to their dream job in esports. Similar to other undergraduate business degrees, Salford is exposing students to numerous parts of esports in order to create generalists that can apply skills to their niche of interest. Year 1 of the program features courses like Esports Game Development Foundations, Esports Ecosystems, Esports Broadcast Technology, and Ethics and Integrity in Esports. Year 2 doubles down on areas like broadcast and tournaments while also teaching students about planning and pitching.

📜 A Degree vs A Sport

As the esports industry grows and student interest rises, schools are increasingly exploring means to support them. Many schools have enabled student-led gaming clubs or created a proper esports program where students of any discipline can compete on behalf of the school.

What Salford and some others is different. Salford is looking to bake esports into their curriculum and degree offering. While schools can pursue both paths, treating esports like a degree and treating it like a club/sport create vastly different results.

Many schools want to produce the world’s next great esports business professionals and see these academic programs as a potential path forward. Esports clubs or competitive programs can still achieve that goal but tend to lean more into competitive esports and producing talent that will go on to compete at a high level.

👀 Our POV

I appreciate what schools like Salford are trying to do, but the esports industry isn’t in a place where these degrees will be as beneficial as they hope. I won’t turn my nose up at more schools attempting to support esports but it feels misguided to have students pay for an esports business degree these days with how limited opportunities are.

Grant Rousseau, Global Director of Esports and EU Operations Team Falcons had this to say: “The point is…there’s so so few jobs for esports in the UK, regardless of the ‘quality’ of these so-called degrees being offered. We are giving false hope to these students who are paying thousands in the belief that it leads to opportunity.”

My take: I’m of the opinion that students would benefit from pursuing a degree that isn’t specific to esports but builds skills you can apply to esports. For example, I majored in Strategic Communication and minored in Psychology. My education has been wildly useful in my esports career but doesn’t pigeonhole me in a way that an esports degree would. Now, more than ever, esports needs skilled people who can create value for the industry, with or without a degree. If you’re a student or a parent of a student interested in esports, find a degree and skillset you can use regardless but get involved in clubs, plan events, and find your network! The collegiate esports scene can be so useful in building your experience and network, regardless of your degree.
 
- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

🕹️ Chipotle doubles down on EVO & FGC

If you haven’t been following EVO or the FGC (Fighting Game Community), you might not know that Chipotle’s been leading the charge on supporting this ever-important community. Last week, EVO ran their 2024 Announcement Show, revealing Chipotle’s return as a presenting partner for 2024. The opening skit was even filmed in a Chipotle! Chipotle will offer a variety of activities, giveaways, and extra prizing like entree cards during EVO as a part of its partnership.

This marks the second year of Chipotle’s partnership with EVO and their continued support indicates confidence in the scene.

In August 2023, Scott Robinson, Sr. Manager, Brand Marketing at Chipotle told SBJ’s Kevin Hitt why they’re diving into gaming, noting…

📈 Quick Numbers

EVO 2023 saw a huge jump in peak viewership, partially thanks to the release of Street Fighter 6. EVO occurred shortly after the game came out and it drew a serious crowd.

• EVO 2019: 245,624 Peak Concurrent Viewers

• EVO 2022: 250, 730 Peak Concurrent Viewers ⬆️

• EVO 2023: 442,302 Peak Concurrent Viewers ⬆️

👀 Our POV

The Fighting Game Community is an important part of esports that can be left out of the conversation at times. The tight-knit, passionate community around FGC is a unique experience that all esports fans should give a chance to if they haven’t yet. Mortal Kombat has maintained solid popularity in the west while other games like Tekken are much more popular in eastern regions such as Pakistan and Korea. The “FGC” in totality has a relatively global presence and it continues to grow as it attracts more North American fans.

It’d be wise for esports organizations and fans alike to keep a close eye on the FGC. We’ve seen Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 release recently to massive praise with Riot Games’ “Project L” looming on the horizon as the next FGC heavy-hitter. It’s likely that popularity will continue to increase with anticipation and see a significant boom when Riot’s game does finally release. Part of what makes the FGC unique is that while its combos are complex, the watching experience is relatively noob-friendly. Few other games can be so easily understood by non-gamers or even gamers who haven’t played fighting games. The future of the FGC is bright and we’d all be wise to pick up a few moves.
 
- Brendan Valentine (Private Lobby)

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Disclaimer: our views are ours and in no way represent those of our employers.