[ad_1]
Credit: Microsoft MSN
Microsoft bought Smash.gg, a five-year-old eSports platform company, for an undisclosed amount. Smash.gg announced the purchase on its website on December 2.
Smash.gg aims to “empower eSports communities,” according to its slogan. The company was founded in 2015 by a team of amateur gamers and fans active in the esports community. Smash.gg says it currently supports over 6,000 active event planners across a wide range of games.
On its homepage, Smash.gg officials acknowledge the Microsoft purchase with the following statement: “Since we started in 2015, our goal has been to create active esports scenes around the games people enjoy playing. Today we are excited to take the next step on this journey by joining Microsoft to help us strengthen our existing relationships and explore new opportunities. Smash.gg will continue to be an esports platform in self-service available to tournament organizers from all gaming communities. “
Learn more about what Smash does on the Smash.gg site:
“We provide support and registration functionality for both online and live events, ranging from LAN events of 16 people to online tournaments with thousands of participants.
Our software is free for everyone. We often work with sponsors and game developers looking to connect with their gaming communities and are always happy to share our ideas. ”
Sources close to Microsoft confirmed that Microsoft acquired Smash.gg, but had no say in the terms of the deal. the MSN eSports Twitter account also confirmed the deal with this Tweet: “Great news everyone! @smashggis is joining us at Microsoft. The same tournament hosting features. The same amazing team. Even more support and opportunities. Get ready to play!”
Earlier this year, Microsoft ended up shutting down Mixer, its game streaming platform it was trying to build as an alternative to Amazon’s Twitch and Google’s YouTube service. Mixer was the name Microsoft gave to the Beam technology it bought in 2016.
From what I hear, the Smash.gg deal is more about web content for MSN than Xbox. MSN covers sports and entertainment news as some of its main categories. There is also a sub-category on MSN for eSports news. So I’m assuming this is to provide MSN with first-party sports content?
(Thanks to Brad Sams on Twitter for the original heads-up on the acquisition of Smash.gg.)
[ad_2]
Source link