Twitch, recently acquired by Amazon have now acquired Good Game agency, the company behind popular brands such as Evil Geniuses and Alliance. The news was announced on Twitter and through their websites.
Excerpt from Alex Garfield:
This isn’t going to be one of those post-acquisition blogs in which the fact that there’s money involved in the transaction is conveniently glossed over. There’s no doubt that being bought by Twitch means all of our employees will be taken care of very well. But at the same time, we’re talking about a group of people who’ve dedicated most - if not all - of their adult lives to esports and to growing this industry. It’s a deserving bunch. On top of that, we’ve reserved a portion of the transaction for a player pool, which means that every player currently contracted with GoodGame will receive a small portion of the company’s sale. And as an Amazon subsidiary, we’ll also be able to offer our players other additional benefits to which they didn’t previously have access.
TL;DR - it’s a good deal for everyone involved. And while I’d be lying to you guys if I said that the level of support didn’t factor into my decision, I’d be lying just as much if I told you that the support alone would’ve been enough. Don’t get me wrong, the financial security doesn’t hurt. But I didn’t put ten years of my life into this company - and this industry - only to sell my soul in public for a couple of bucks.
No word-mincing. No bullshit. That’s not what this is.
“GoodGame has an amazing reputation in the industry for its expertise in both sponsorship sales and talent support. Their passion for helping content creators and pro players achieve success has elevated the entire industry in the minds of brands worldwide,” said Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch. “GoodGame was a natural fit for Twitch because of our shared experience in creating compelling monetization opportunities for content partners and helping sponsors get the most out of their investments. We have worked with GoodGame CEO Alexander Garfield for several years, and there is a clear opportunity for him to bring his skills and experiences to many more of our partners.”
As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing. Especially with all their server and lag issues. Oh well, it's good for the players themselves I guess.
On December 10 2014 06:31 gneGne wrote: Why would Twitch as a broadcaster buy and support a specific e-sports team? Instead of producers of content like ESL etc?
I don't think it's about the team so much as it's about the brand. EG as a brand has produced a ton of content.
Considering that Twitch has been sponsoring individual players, mostly in the FGC, I'm not as surprised by this as I should be. Maybe that it was EG that they acquired, perhaps.
I wonder if the internal structure of EG will continue as it is.
On December 10 2014 06:31 gneGne wrote: Why would Twitch as a broadcaster buy and support a specific e-sports team? Instead of producers of content like ESL etc?
GoodGame use progaming teams / Jaedongs as a platform to push their clients to prospective consumers. It's very similar to what Twitch does in a way. Alex Garfield has experience with pushing big brand names to gamers and has yet to get involved in an embezzling scandal, which makes him and his enterprise a very valuable asset for a company looking to sell advertising or products to gamers. Look at it this way, we are the product and hyperx/monster/etc are the client. Admit it, you could name almost all of EG-s sponsors even if you are not a fan.
On December 10 2014 06:31 gneGne wrote: Why would Twitch as a broadcaster buy and support a specific e-sports team? Instead of producers of content like ESL etc?
GoodGame use progaming teams / Jaedongs as a platform to push their clients to prospective consumers. It's very similar to what Twitch does in a way. Alex Garfield has experience with pushing big brand names to gamers and has yet to get involved in an embezzling scandal, which makes him and his enterprise a very valuable asset for a company looking to sell advertising or products to gamers. Look at it this way, we are the product and hyperx/monster/etc are the client. Admit it, you could name almost all of EG-s sponsors even if you are not a fan.
On December 10 2014 06:31 gneGne wrote: Why would Twitch as a broadcaster buy and support a specific e-sports team? Instead of producers of content like ESL etc?
GoodGame use progaming teams / Jaedongs as a platform to push their clients to prospective consumers. It's very similar to what Twitch does in a way. Alex Garfield has experience with pushing big brand names to gamers and has yet to get involved in an embezzling scandal, which makes him and his enterprise a very valuable asset for a company looking to sell advertising or products to gamers. Look at it this way, we are the product and hyperx/monster/etc are the client. Admit it, you could name almost all of EG-s sponsors even if you are not a fan.
I just didn't think EG draws in that many viewers...but you are saying EGs sponsors will pay Twitch now? Do you really think that is effective?
I'll make a completely pointless prediction now: With this newfound financial status, we'll see EG roll out a Cardstone division in the near future (I'd say by June).
On December 10 2014 07:05 ]343[ wrote: wait, so is Alex Garfield stepping down from leading the organization then?
(maybe I should just read the full article, but it's so long...)
From what I understood, no. He's still the CEO, he's just not the majority shareholder any longer.
Yeah something like this probably. Hes still the man in charge but he might have to run some ideas past a board of directors (of sorts) to receiving funding for this or that
This is just me guessing but it doesnt sound like hes stepping down as the man behind it all just yet
Gotta love Alex Garfield. He's done so much for the industry that when he steps down from it we should name a prize, a championship or something in his behalf.
His reasons are valid as well, gotta grow somehow and the fact that he didn't sell excluvise rights to other streaming site because he though it would devalue their work, and that of his players makes it seem he has the right motive.
All the luck to then, and I do REALLY think STEAM launching competition may have expedited this deal a LOT. When someone the size of Steam and Valve wants a pie of your profits, you HAVE to do something to stay relevant.
On December 10 2014 07:36 Jotoco wrote: Gotta love Alex Garfield. He's done so much for the industry that when he steps down from it we should name a prize, a championship or something in his behalf.
His reasons are valid as well, gotta grow somehow and the fact that he didn't sell excluvise rights to other streaming site because he though it would devalue their work, and that of his players makes it seem he has the right motive.
All the luck to then, and I do REALLY think STEAM launching competition may have expedited this deal a LOT. When someone the size of Steam and Valve wants a pie of your profits, you HAVE to do something to stay relevant.
Atleast the EG group will keep streaming on twitch, for now.
On December 10 2014 07:39 Faefae wrote: Did not read the whole thread, but looks like everyone is happy with a team organising events AND owning a team^^ conflicting interests ftw !
On December 10 2014 07:39 Faefae wrote: Did not read the whole thread, but looks like everyone is happy with a team organising events AND owning a team^^ conflicting interests ftw !
Amazon buying Twitch sure hasn't made their servers better, there is still the occasional annoying stutter when there are lots of big streams going on at the same time.
On December 10 2014 07:50 Darkdwarf wrote: My Unfiltered cravings just grow bigger and bigger!
OBC get here already!
So this is getting acquired, not bought, as in Alex didn't sell GG to Twitch and is still running it, right? Unlike when Amazon bought Twitch or MS bought Mojang, the guys who owned the compaines left.
Well won garfield. What a usually sappy line at the end. I'm sure he's walking away with a tidy amount of money. What he deserves for being the most capable operator in the Esports field.
Now that EG bought Amazon, I hope their sc2 division comes back to life!
Glad this happened, but gotta admit, EG wasn't the team lacking money. Hope their putting a big suitcase filled with dollars on every GOOD player's table doesn't hurt the industry much.
On December 10 2014 08:13 Broodwurst wrote: Seems pretty awkward for a streaming/viewing network to own teams (does ESPN own teams? no idea) but whatever. GG.
In Brazil the REAL force behind football (American Soccer) is the TV Network Globo. Altough they don't "own" the teams, they are the true force behind every team. They pay 2 or 3 years of image rights to the teams in advance, and teams have to take the money so they won't go broke and have a monopoly over then, they almost literally own every big team in Brazil.
The situation here sucks, Twitch really only owns a couple teams now and we have a VERY competitive scene, so, no worries.
On December 10 2014 07:50 Darkdwarf wrote: My Unfiltered cravings just grow bigger and bigger!
OBC get here already!
So this is getting acquired, not bought, as in Alex didn't sell GG to Twitch and is still running it, right? Unlike when Amazon bought Twitch or MS bought Mojang, the guys who owned the compaines left.
Actually no difference between "bought" and "acquired" unless money was not involved in an acquisition (like, never); the differences you're noting are just specific to the deals. In this acquisition it's clear that AG's expertise and relationship with the community and sponsors was valuable along with his organization. Or he would not accept terms that did not leave him at CEO. Either way it's a good decision to keep him there.
There are definite possible issues as I brought up in the (now duplicate) thread. Twitch is a delivery platform for esports. GG is a creator of esports content (by providing competitors). Amazon is also a competitor with at least one esports sponsor (NewEgg). Furthermore, while tournaments have been sponsored by streaming sites including Twitch, no teams have had a conflict from this sector in deciding what tournaments to participate in.
The conflicts exist right on the surface; the question is how the related organizations react to this. For the most part, considering GG, Amazon, and Twitch's place in the market, it is more on them than anyone else. As long as a parent organization does not cascade bullying behavior down, it should be fine.
This was abrupt and unexpected. I am wondering if the means we can expect and "EG Channel Conglomeration" of sorts. Will we see a set of Twitch channels from EG given highly preferential treatment? Will they merge in to a super channel of sorts with special pages and unique features? I am interested in the logistics of how this will operate within the website itself.
So many questions, cannot wait for that iNcontroL video.
This is incredible for eSports as a whole, with GoodGame aligning itself with Twitch and in-turn Amazon means that eSports is going to start having a much stronger foundation and in time legitimacy.
Why is anyone assuming this will have any impact on SC2?
Yes, Jaedong will be able to attend tournaments for another year, but other than that?
It's save to assume that they would have sent Jaedong regardless, he's a legend and their last relevant SC2-player. People assuming that they will just open another SC2 team out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they want to give back to the community that helped making them big are kidding themselves.
On December 10 2014 09:15 BongChambers wrote: Means more players will be signed, more games brought in for EG and Alliance and lots more 'pros' streaming ^_^
More subs too
Yes, probably ten new players. One Dota-team, one LoL-team.
On December 10 2014 09:36 SixStrings wrote: Why is anyone assuming this will have any impact on SC2?
Yes, Jaedong will be able to attend tournaments for another year, but other than that?
It's save to assume that they would have sent Jaedong regardless, he's a legend and their last relevant SC2-player. People assuming that they will just open another SC2 team out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they want to give back to the community that helped making them big are kidding themselves.
On December 10 2014 09:15 BongChambers wrote: Means more players will be signed, more games brought in for EG and Alliance and lots more 'pros' streaming ^_^
More subs too
Yes, probably ten new players. One Dota-team, one LoL-team.
Ya, I'm not sure why everyone is being so optimistic here. EG had little interesting in Sc2 before, this doesn't change that.
And as an Amazon subsidiary, we’ll also be able to offer our players other additional benefits to which they didn’t previously have access.
Surprised no one has commented on this bit yet. If this is what it appears to be, it means players will be getting things like health insurance from Amazon, which is a HUGE step forwards for the industry.
And as an Amazon subsidiary, we’ll also be able to offer our players other additional benefits to which they didn’t previously have access.
Surprised no one has commented on this bit yet. If this is what it appears to be, it means players will be getting things like health insurance from Amazon, which is a HUGE step forwards for the industry.
Probably because not everyone reads "additional benefits" as "benefits" in the employer/employee sense (which would include health benefits). I would love for this to be the case but we don't know that it is yet.
Remember that these individuals are probably considered independent contractors.
And as an Amazon subsidiary, we’ll also be able to offer our players other additional benefits to which they didn’t previously have access.
Surprised no one has commented on this bit yet. If this is what it appears to be, it means players will be getting things like health insurance from Amazon, which is a HUGE step forwards for the industry.
Or it could just be something like free Amazon Prime memberships...
On December 10 2014 09:36 SixStrings wrote: Why is anyone assuming this will have any impact on SC2?
Yes, Jaedong will be able to attend tournaments for another year, but other than that?
It's save to assume that they would have sent Jaedong regardless, he's a legend and their last relevant SC2-player. People assuming that they will just open another SC2 team out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they want to give back to the community that helped making them big are kidding themselves.
On December 10 2014 09:15 BongChambers wrote: Means more players will be signed, more games brought in for EG and Alliance and lots more 'pros' streaming ^_^
More subs too
Yes, probably ten new players. One Dota-team, one LoL-team.
Well considering This, no LoL team. And why would they need a new Dota team?
On December 10 2014 09:36 SixStrings wrote: Why is anyone assuming this will have any impact on SC2?
Yes, Jaedong will be able to attend tournaments for another year, but other than that?
It's save to assume that they would have sent Jaedong regardless, he's a legend and their last relevant SC2-player. People assuming that they will just open another SC2 team out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they want to give back to the community that helped making them big are kidding themselves.
On December 10 2014 09:15 BongChambers wrote: Means more players will be signed, more games brought in for EG and Alliance and lots more 'pros' streaming ^_^
More subs too
Yes, probably ten new players. One Dota-team, one LoL-team.
Ya, I'm not sure why everyone is being so optimistic here. EG had little interesting in Sc2 before, this doesn't change that.
Yes this is an advertising acquisition. E-sports while a relatively small market is still growing and Amazon wants someone already in the industry that knows how to advertise to gamers just in case E-sports actually makes it big. The thing I don't like is that no numbers were released. Amazon overpaid for twitch are they now hiding the fact they overpaid for GG or was it such a small transaction (couple million) that it doesn't really matter? Won't mean much of anything for SC2 unless it magically gets popular again. All the Ad money is in LoL/Dota2.
On December 10 2014 09:36 SixStrings wrote: Why is anyone assuming this will have any impact on SC2?
Yes, Jaedong will be able to attend tournaments for another year, but other than that?
It's save to assume that they would have sent Jaedong regardless, he's a legend and their last relevant SC2-player. People assuming that they will just open another SC2 team out of the goodness of their hearts, or because they want to give back to the community that helped making them big are kidding themselves.
On December 10 2014 09:15 BongChambers wrote: Means more players will be signed, more games brought in for EG and Alliance and lots more 'pros' streaming ^_^
More subs too
Yes, probably ten new players. One Dota-team, one LoL-team.
Well considering This, no LoL team. And why would they need a new Dota team?
That just said they still have a LoL team. This is an acquisition of GG, EG and Alliance are just brands under GG. It states there that GG will continue to sponsor the LoL teams but not under EG or Alliance.
but yea they already have 2 DotA teams and 2 LoL teams so probably not interested in getting more.
On December 10 2014 09:31 wims80 wrote: A monolith getting bigger, not sure how this is supposed to be a good thing. We need twitch competitors, not a bigger monopoly
I totally agree. I really dont want twitch to sponsor tourneys and make deals with the organizers (lets be honest most studios dont have alternatives) and own big esport teams at the same time. They are way to powerful already.
congrats but dont see a benefit from this. already twitch is auto-muting any VOD-recorded streams with songs on it, etc., so these mergers and acquisitions / conglomeration of this industry will only result in more censorship
A lot of people seem to be misunderstanding what actually happened. Twitch/Amazon did not specifically buy EG. They bought the agency that owns EG (Good Game Agency) as well as Alliance and various other brands.
Well that's just my thoughts. We all know or should know...common you had to be blind in esport to not hear about it...that alex garfield tried to strong arm tournaments with his teams. For example he wanted a revenue share of Dreamhack. So in his world domination plans he got blocked.
Riot stopped him of strong arming, how could he even think this would work and Valve is also looking at it to stop him from abusing his Teams to his own benefits. So what could he possibly do, well sell all players to Twitch that has a monopoly and try to strong arm again. This time he has more power with the nr1 gaming streaming platform.
First ofc congratulations. I hope he made tons of money with this deal. But I hope he fails to strong arm tournaments so badly. For even trying he should get kicked out of the industry and people should go nuts like for idra and make sponsors even do not looking at him. But GL 2015 in strong arm tournament organisations.
@SC2 Towel, if you look right Alex does not own "officially" any of this clans because he had to resign all to be able to cheat himself multiple teams into LCS....but we all know he is the boss of them. Riot stopped him, Valve is looking into it. And well thats it in esport. Blizzard is incompetent when it comes to esport but well we will see. Blizzard does not really care anyway.
E-sports while a relatively small market is still growing and Amazon wants someone already in the industry that knows how to advertise to gamers just in case E-sports actually makes it big.
Dunno what planet you're living on dude. Esports is small relative to major sports, or small relative to Amazon's main business (most things are), but it has clearly arrived and is growing exponentially. There's no "just in case" about it at this point. Hell I know a tech entrepreneur who, if he ever asked me what he should spend some money on, I'd have some very specific and very confident recommendations in esports that basically make the case for themselves. It's just a matter of whether you want to be engaged in the sector. Twitch lives in the esports sector, so further investment makes a ton of sense. Amazon lives in content delivery, investing in the number one provider putting out massive numbers (Twitch #3 in prime-time traffic I think?) in a sector showing exponential growth, with not only impressive charts to show all over the place but constant new visuals of thousands of spectators in sports arenas, it just makes sense.
Esports has arrived. The question is, who will profit? Who is positioned to accelerate its growth?
On December 10 2014 11:15 gulati wrote: censorship
No. Just no. I don't like this new feature any more than most but it is not "censorship."
@Tadl: I don't know everything you're talking about but Riot not wanting anyone to have leverage is not a mysterious thing or specific to Alex Garfield. Riot wants as much control over everything LCS as they can get, which isn't abnormal by any means but is more the core of motivation for that change than "oh no Alex Garfield."
On December 10 2014 11:44 BisuDagger wrote: I heard the deal was contingent on two things: 1. Idra unretires. 2. EG players now only play World of Tanks
E-sports while a relatively small market is still growing and Amazon wants someone already in the industry that knows how to advertise to gamers just in case E-sports actually makes it big.
Esports is small relative to major sports, or small relative to Amazon's main business (most things are), but it has clearly arrived and is growing exponentially. There's no "just in case" about it at this point.
My use of the word big would mean it growing into something that rivals sportsball. I don't see something like that happening until maybe 30-40 years from now (or more). There's also the problem that while DotA2 and LoL while easy games themselves are far more complicated than sportsball games which could make it harder to get new casual viewers. What I mean is that in a sportsball game you take a ball and shoot/kick/run it to a goal, which is very easy to understand. Observing a LoL or DotA game requires a relatively large amount of game knowledge before you can actually understand whats going on. I agree it's growing but I don't think it's "arrived" and I don't think it becoming my definition of big is a sure thing.
I mean that's a hell of a high bar. A thing can be big without being FIFA/NFL big. Not really sure why you would define "big" as approaching such scale.
But it has arrived in the sense that it is clearly profitable and has gained mainstream attention. The NYT now writes about it regularly. ESPN finally gave it a nod - and that was Dota, which is so much smaller than League right now. Esports is bigger than mainstream sports in some parts of the world, and has been for some time.
Not acknowledging the level of success esports has achieved already and the trajectory it's on just feels like pessimism to me.
And I acknowledge that League and Dota are more complex than soccer but not more complex than America's favorite sport, not as a spectator. Guy on your team goes forward with ball in football = good. Guy on enemy team dying in Dota = good. Real understanding of both sports requires a lot of time. Unlike NFL football though, anyone with a decent PC can boot up Dota2 and be playing the exact same game they are seeing the pros play. Most people will never have the opportunity to play 11-on-11 full-contact football. In that way it is far more accessible.
I mean look at this. This isn't LCS or TI. This isn't Korea or China. This is San Jose, last week.
On December 10 2014 11:44 BisuDagger wrote: I heard the deal was contingent on two things: 1. Idra unretires. 2. EG players now only play World of Tanks
Idra is on their HotS team now didn't you hear?
HotS is in alpha still. I would hardly call that unretired, but yes I was aware he played at blizzcon.
people say it's bad for one entity to own so much, but because eSports is so small compared to other sports, it really doesn't matter. Esports is at the stage where growth is still important. A major company investing this much is a good thing, because it legitimizes it a LOT in the west. This is a big fucking deal.
Elevating and being legitimized by a top company attracts other top companies to also invest. The capital for other companies to decide they want a piece and purchase a top western team is a pittance compared to the sponsorship costs for many other sports. The attraction Amazon's investment is bringing is worth many times more than a potential (not even close) monopoly. If Amazon did want a monopoly they could try, and that would just give more advertisement for other companies to get involved for the hero PR.
On December 10 2014 13:19 HomeWorld wrote: This doesn't makes any sense, twitch has nothing to gain from this.
Amazon now owns EG, Alliance, Team Tinker, CLG, the largest video game broadcasting website in the world, a tournament(Dota 2 League), and a casting studio. They gained a fuckton.
Untill contracts dont change and most salaries are laughably low (some doesnt even have salaries), im not sure we can call esports "big" as the definition of big, most players have to work/study to keep on going after their carrers are dead whitout any means to feel safe for it (unless you are from that 0.1% that keeps in the scene)
Even Dota 2 kills most carreers once a year (If you fail misserably and TI, you are dead... )
eSports needs some kind of law to achieve stability between employee and employers, so far its seems like its growing without anyone to keep it on check, players SHOULD demand some kind of way to manage to feel secure with this carreer and have motivation not to only play but to help it also, and not just doing for the sake of it
On December 10 2014 13:26 Faruko wrote: Agree that its getting bigger, but..
Untill contracts dont change and most salaries are laughably low (some doesnt even have salaries), im not sure we can call esports "big" as the definition of big, most players have to work/study to keep on going after their carrers are dead whitout any means to feel safe for it (unless you are from that 0.1% that keeps in the scene)
Even Dota 2 kills most carreers once a year (If you fail misserably and TI, you are dead... )
eSports needs some kind of law to achieve stability between employee and employers, so far its seems like its growing without anyone to keep it on check, players SHOULD demand some kind of way to manage to feel secure with this carreer and have motivation not to only play but to help it also, and not just doing for the sake of it
While I agree that stability is basically non-existent in Esports, I don't think player contracts, salaries, benefits, etc. should be any greater than the kind of ROI that they/their game brings in. Yes, it means that a lot of players will make peanuts, and a lot will vanish because of lack of financial security, but the alternative is creating a gigantic bubble that makes the industry collapse. Look at what sort-of happened in WC3, and that was just with Grubby and Moon.
That said, EG (and I guess now the GG umbrella?) seems to have a reputation for being a solid business, and I'm incredibly happy that an organization that's run professionally in this industry is the one that's getting rewarded. Hopefully it encourages more organizations to follow suit.
On December 10 2014 13:26 Faruko wrote: Agree that its getting bigger, but..
Untill contracts dont change and most salaries are laughably low (some doesnt even have salaries), im not sure we can call esports "big" as the definition of big, most players have to work/study to keep on going after their carrers are dead whitout any means to feel safe for it (unless you are from that 0.1% that keeps in the scene)
Even Dota 2 kills most carreers once a year (If you fail misserably and TI, you are dead... )
eSports needs some kind of law to achieve stability between employee and employers, so far its seems like its growing without anyone to keep it on check, players SHOULD demand some kind of way to manage to feel secure with this carreer and have motivation not to only play but to help it also, and not just doing for the sake of it
Oh for sure. But labor income and negotiating leverage in contracts, and the stability of their work, is a lagging indicator in any industry. Always. I don't agree with or endorse it, but it's the truth. The people at the top will get fat before the people at the bottom can have power.
I've commented many times here on the labor issues in esports so I quite clearly agree that issues exist, it's just not a good metric at this stage.
Guys, in all this analysis comparing eSports with traditional industries, you're forgetting something that could be something: In eSports there is a not so small group of consumers that communicate with each other, and can dictate some things by mutual consensus. We didn't make dreamleague fail miserably, but we did agree that it didn't deserve much, and it got less than other tournaments. Our opinion as a group matters, we make it matter, if we can make an event get 10% or 20% less money just because we as a group don't like it (for good reasons, not on a whine, don't think we can get the whole community to have the same whine). Does it matter, all things considered? Is it a relevant factor? I think it might be. Not game-changing, but relevant. We communicate and choose as a community, and our choices don't rule the market, but they're not meaningless either.
Or maybe it doesn't matter at all. Anyone thinks this could get it's own thread with one and a half pages of comments?
Amazon again WOW! "They make no money"!!! says Steve Ballmer
These guys sure know how to spend money on other folks trust. These good times come in cycles, this can only be a boom with an undeniable bubble bust coming around the corner. Don't lose it all in a "bad day" on the exchange and regret being greedy when its too late.
Be safe cash some of your $$worth$$ before its to late! I've known folks who have died over the grief of losing it all back in the dot-com era =[
I wonder what would become of twitchtv if amazon lost a incredible deal of value.
Amazon has operated on very thin margins for a long time. They can do this because they move absurd amounts of volume. Their revenue is fucking unbelievable. This isn't news: it is in fact how they have come to completely dominate their sector. Their investors all know this and are quite fine with it.
I was just at the exact steakhouse he's describing a few weeks ago for a friend's birthday (he works at Netflix and makes absurd amounts of money). It's swanky and expensive (check for three was around $600), and the steak was ridiculous. I've had some good steaks but oh my god. Also the hand-towels in the bathroom (in the downstairs wine-dungeon) were like disposable napkins.
Whaaaaaaa?! I guess the OneMoreGameTV connection wasn't as dead as I thought. So now the primary streaming platform owned by a big trade/content delivery site bought an e-sports conglomerate which owns several teams in one game...O_o
On December 10 2014 17:01 Zax19 wrote: Whaaaaaaa?! I guess the OneMoreGameTV connection wasn't as dead as I thought. So now the primary streaming platform owned by a big trade/content delivery site bought an e-sports conglomerate which owns several teams in one game...O_o
yeah, on the actual gaming side, it's a bit of a cluster fuck.
but no one involved on the amazon side or probably the twitch side cares about games, gamers, or esports. twitch is an advertising delivery platform, and EG is an advertising brand. that's what they get paid to be, and that's what they're going to hammer home.
freedom you can buy with money. you have money you get huge weapons you can do what the hell you want and shit on rules and no one will touch you and you can pretend to be the good guy too. Time, well thats true
I think Incontrols statement shows why twitch bought goodgame, i believe that EG and Alliance are not that important in the whole deal. Esports doesnt exist without sponsorships and GGA is the best at getting them. Streamingplatforms are popping up everywhere at the moment, but twitch just crushed the competition by buying GGA. They can now secure topquality streams through the sponsorshipcontracts. Because without sponsors less high quality playerstreams & no tournaments, etcetc
This looks like a defensive aquisition so that twitch can protect the marketshare it allready has. Good luck finding topquality streams as a up and comming streamingplatform, in the western scene they probably wont find to many.
Now I'm hoping even more that Valve will extend their own streaming platform and build up a huge competition for Twitch. I don't like this one bit.
As for Amazon not making money - it's because they reinvest huge portions of their profit, much more than most other companies do (see: Google and Apple).
On December 10 2014 17:53 govie wrote: I think Incontrols statement shows why twitch bought goodgame, i believe that EG and Alliance are not that important in the whole deal. Esports doesnt exist without sponsorships and GGA is the best at getting them. Streamingplatforms are popping up everywhere at the moment, but twitch just crushed the competition by buying GGA. They can now secure topquality streams through the sponsorshipcontracts. Because without sponsors less high quality playerstreams & no tournaments, etcetc
This looks like a defensive aquisition so that twitch can protect the marketshare it allready has. Good luck finding topquality streams as a up and comming streamingplatform, in the western scene they probably wont find to many.
Valve might give them a run for their money if they get serious about their streaming platform. Valve has way deeper pockets and depends less on sponsors for financing.
In fact, the amount of commercials I have to sit through just to watch some starcraft is sometimes driving me insane. I am absolutely not interested in buying a so-called gaming main board, so-called gaming ram, a so-called gaming monitor or overly expensive gaming peripherals.
With games like cs:go bringing 300k+ viewers on twitch (dreamhack), it makes sense for geoff to get in to other games (casting / hosting what ever). SC2 is doing very poorly in terms of growth compared to other games. It's almost a miracle EG hasn't dropped their sc2 yet, they must really like the game / fans etc revolving around it. But with Twitch in the picture, I think viewership becomes a more dominant figure in the equation. I don't think LOTV will change anything in the long term.
That being said, it's awesome that EG players are getting a chunk of the money. Even the potentially soon to be gone sc2 team will benefit from it. No doubt EG is and has been the best organization from player's point of view.
On December 10 2014 20:19 Jarree wrote: With games like cs:go bringing 300k+ viewers on twitch (dreamhack), it makes sense for geoff to get in to other games (casting / hosting what ever). SC2 is doing very poorly in terms of growth compared to other games. It's almost a miracle EG hasn't dropped their sc2 yet, they must really like the game / fans etc revolving around it. But with Twitch in the picture, I think viewership becomes a more dominant figure in the equation. I don't think LOTV will change anything in the long term.
That being said, it's awesome that EG players are getting a chunk of the money. Even the potentially soon to be gone sc2 team will benefit from it. No doubt EG is and has been the best organization from player's point of view.
Look at blizzard games for jeoff, I think that new dotalike game will be something he could do. Many gaming personalities mostly stick the their brands.
On December 10 2014 20:19 Jarree wrote: With games like cs:go bringing 300k+ viewers on twitch (dreamhack), it makes sense for geoff to get in to other games (casting / hosting what ever). SC2 is doing very poorly in terms of growth compared to other games. It's almost a miracle EG hasn't dropped their sc2 yet, they must really like the game / fans etc revolving around it. But with Twitch in the picture, I think viewership becomes a more dominant figure in the equation. I don't think LOTV will change anything in the long term.
That being said, it's awesome that EG players are getting a chunk of the money. Even the potentially soon to be gone sc2 team will benefit from it. No doubt EG is and has been the best organization from player's point of view.
EG has a pretty good and well known Dota 2 team you know.
On December 10 2014 17:22 tadL wrote: there are things money cant buy
I think most things that matter can't be bought with money. Like time or freedom.
As much as I agree with you about time (even then that's debatable, as once you're rich you don't slave away 10 hours a day for someone who doesn't care about you so you can get money to afford to buy a house from someone else who doesn't care about you in order to not die), look at all the rich people who get off scott free for doing bad things purely because they have money. Money can buy you infinite amounts of freedom if you have enough.
On December 10 2014 20:19 Jarree wrote: With games like cs:go bringing 300k+ viewers on twitch (dreamhack), it makes sense for geoff to get in to other games (casting / hosting what ever). SC2 is doing very poorly in terms of growth compared to other games. It's almost a miracle EG hasn't dropped their sc2 yet, they must really like the game / fans etc revolving around it. But with Twitch in the picture, I think viewership becomes a more dominant figure in the equation. I don't think LOTV will change anything in the long term.
That being said, it's awesome that EG players are getting a chunk of the money. Even the potentially soon to be gone sc2 team will benefit from it. No doubt EG is and has been the best organization from player's point of view.
EG has a pretty good and well known Dota 2 team you know.
Yeah sure. I was just making a point about new games that have overtaken sc2, and in an industry like this you seek growth in most cases. Mobas cs:go heartstone etc are growing while sc2 is declining. I didn't mean geoff is going to cast cs:go, but I'd be surprised if EG (or is it called what now?) doesn't get in to it also at some point. And it would make sense to drop sc2 at the same time.
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
I'd like to hear more about this. I know it's been common for events to have a contract with a streaming service (including Twitch) and I've heard of non-Twitch services contracting individuals but I've never heard of Twitch doing it. Unless this is some part of the "partner" program every streamer with a sub button is in, and I've never heard them even mention it what to speak of complain about it.
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
So you liked twitch, but you're disappointed cuz of that random sentence? A wild sentence with basically no information about anything at all? =) It's the internet, ppl will always hate on everything.
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
To be fair, I would also want my own players to use my own service while streaming.
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
To be fair, I would also want my own players to use my own service while streaming.
That is identical to every major sport or TV should. Production houses make TV shows and then networks lock them down. Its the same with sports.
On December 10 2014 13:19 HomeWorld wrote: This doesn't makes any sense, twitch has nothing to gain from this.
Amazon now owns EG, Alliance, Team Tinker, CLG, the largest video game broadcasting website in the world, a tournament(Dota 2 League), and a casting studio. They gained a fuckton.
holyshit 0_O never realized they had that much.
anyway I think this is a postive thing for the industrie
Well the thing with personalty in esport , if they are a player, is that they loose relevance easy without results. EG has proven this with their LoL Team and to a extend with their sc2 squad but as this is a side game lets focus on the really big one.
They build their Team around Krepo. They let him sell out hard and made commercials, streaming and everything and forgot to care about results. He admitted by himself that his stream numbers are going down and down because of missing results. And you can see this by so many "pro" gamers in so many other games.
Success is needed to keep you in this PR world. You don't have results you are done. This is something Alex still did not learn or he would have invested in EG LoL and not let the Team get a joke. But what he has shown that he did not care about the Game or the Gamers he wants to promote. He milks them and then let them fall if they dont bring what he needs. But he has to provide them things they need to. Ok here comes SC2 and he gave the players all and they kind of dissapointed from my point of view. After this disaster I would just say fuck you all, I milk you and throw you. But LoL and SC2 is not the same.
And the new Dota Clone of Blizzard? I hope all the old people make good money with it. Once the young hungry kids come they will pass out and no one will care. For me its like the candle in the dark. They grab it because it means some attention, some way back into the spotlight. And they gamble hard on the Blizzard Fanbase. They know they will be done once this game gets relevant or even all people can actually play it. So again I whish them only the best but they are not good enough to make it in the actual esport games so they try hard on this. What I do not understand, why did they all not go full on Hearthstone. Just copy decks, not much skill needed, a lot of luck. Its perfect for players that are not able to catch up to the top in any game it seems.
Yeah thats a lot of maybe negativity. But well this blind fanboy cheer hype stuff is annoying.
On December 10 2014 06:29 Qikz wrote: As someone who doesn't like the contracts twitch give out which locks people into their service I'm not seeing this as a good thing.
Wow, I never knew that twitch has shitty contracts like that. That is very disappointing. I wouldn't have expected that from them. :/
To be fair, I would also want my own players to use my own service while streaming.
That is identical to every major sport or TV should. Production houses make TV shows and then networks lock them down. Its the same with sports.
Agreed, just like how some other sponsorship brands make you use/ advertise their gaming products (chairs, mice, logos on uniforms, shout-outs, etc.). The sponsorship comes with the deal that you're going to represent and help sell their brand; simple as that. It's not just free money lol. Plus, nearly all (or all?) of the EG players already use Twitch so it's a moot point, and it's not like any of the other stream services are even remotely comparable to Twitch anyway...
As long as twitch doesn't prevent their teams from playing in tournaments that aren't streamed on twitch (anything on dailymotion or MLG.tv), good for them.
On December 11 2014 01:34 Sn0_Man wrote: According to tadL AG wanted a revenue sharing agreement with DreamHack.
lol
Like every professional sports team in the US has with its players and with the league. Not really shocked at all. This will be the fight every team is going to have if they want to stay viable.
On December 11 2014 01:34 Sn0_Man wrote: According to tadL AG wanted a revenue sharing agreement with DreamHack.
lol
Like every professional sports team in the US has with its players and with the league. Not really shocked at all. This will be the fight every team is going to have if they want to stay viable.
Essentially this. The more mainstream that gaming becomes the more we'll be witnesses to what capitalization does to everything. The business around esports will be just like the business done in all other markets, and it won't always be pretty from a competitive aspect but it's likely an inevitability.
On December 11 2014 01:34 Sn0_Man wrote: According to tadL AG wanted a revenue sharing agreement with DreamHack.
lol
Like every professional sports team in the US has with its players and with the league. Not really shocked at all. This will be the fight every team is going to have if they want to stay viable.
Essentially this. The more mainstream that gaming becomes the more we'll be witnesses to what capitalization does to everything. The business around esports will be just like the business done in all other markets, and it won't always be pretty from a competitive aspect but it's likely an inevitability.
Yeah, I don't really see it as strong arming as much as reminding events that teams support the players that bring them the viewers, and the team and players might deserve a little piece of the pie. Its not like Dream Hack is paying for EG health insurance or the salaries of the players, or the marketing of those players that got them to the point they are at.
Revenue sharing is an essential stabilizing element in professional sports. Of course, it has to be multilateral to achieve that effect. We're not quite there yet - paradoxically, the scene isn't stable enough for this stabilizing element to be viable - but if we never get there it's because competitive Dota didn't make it.
dreamhack's just as happy to bring in completely unsponsored 4sc as they are bringing in say fnatic. Yes EG are awfully popular and bring a lot of fans, but thats in large part because they are awfully successful as a dota team and have popular players.
Tournaments need Players. Players need "teams" aka sponsorship organizations.
This is contrasted to major sports leagues where tournaments need teams, and teams need players. The relationship is different. And interestingly, tournaments already have a revenue sharing agreement with players via the in-game ticket prize-pool building mechanism, as well as base prize pool etc.
So basically tournaments have very little incentive to suck up to sponsorship organizations. They don't need those organizations to survive. Whereas in major sports leagues those organizations ARE the tournament (more or less) and absolutely cannot be allowed to fail. Hence the differing approach.
This is from a dota perspective. It's not really wrong from an SC2 perspective though. Tournaments don't care if it's Liquid`HuK or EG.HuK who is playing, they care that it's a popular player with skill (huehuehue) who will draw viewers.
On December 11 2014 02:06 FHDH wrote: For the record - and I speak only for myself - I do not believe we need that video posted on every page of this thread.
Anyone who has worked for a company and gone through an acquisition knows that it can be a somewhat scary or unstable time. People might start to feel their job is in danger, it could be hard to trust what the acquiring company is communicating, and it just may be uncomfortable for a while.
Look for rebranding of logos or team in 1 - 2 months. Look for potentially big roster changes, acquisitions or firings 3 - 6 months down the road. Look for Business model changes 6 - 12 months down the road (for example the way you subscribe to an EG member on twitch).
congrats to all the hard work of everyone involved with EG,Alliance,etc. all the blood, sweat, and tears you guys put in are now paying off, much love to u guys, expecting amazing new stuff now
On December 11 2014 02:28 Smancer wrote: Just attacking this from a different perspective.
Anyone who has worked for a company and gone through an acquisition knows that it can be a somewhat scary or unstable time. People might start to feel their job is in danger, it could be hard to trust what the acquiring company is communicating, and it just may be uncomfortable for a while.
Look for rebranding of logos or team in 1 - 2 months. Look for potentially big roster changes, acquisitions or firings 3 - 6 months down the road. Look for Business model changes 6 - 12 months down the road (for example the way you subscribe to an EG member on twitch).
I don't think so. Esports is too new. The reason amazon bought twitch in the first place is because the guys running twitch know what they are doing and it would have been pointless for amazon to try and compete. The reason twitch is now buying the GG agency is because the GG agency knows what they are doing and it would be dumb for twitch to try and compete. Sure, things will change in the sense that they will be done on a larger scale due to more resources now being available but I highly doubt that heads are going to roll in the way you see it happening. In fact I think more people will be hired and those already there will assume higher management positions.
As far as roster changes are concerned, why would players suddenly find themselves teamless? The players are what makes this whole thing profitable. If anything they will add more players. That is kind of the point..... Don't be surprised if in a year a big chunk of the most popular players across a wide spectrum of games are working for the GG agency in some way shape or form. That is kind of where the scene is heading. if you are a player worth your weight in terms of relevance and exposure, you now have a much higher chance of being compensated fairly and professionally for it.
On December 11 2014 02:28 Smancer wrote: Just attacking this from a different perspective.
Anyone who has worked for a company and gone through an acquisition knows that it can be a somewhat scary or unstable time. People might start to feel their job is in danger, it could be hard to trust what the acquiring company is communicating, and it just may be uncomfortable for a while.
Look for rebranding of logos or team in 1 - 2 months. Look for potentially big roster changes, acquisitions or firings 3 - 6 months down the road. Look for Business model changes 6 - 12 months down the road (for example the way you subscribe to an EG member on twitch).
amazon isn't like google who lets you run your own company for 6 months, then comes in to do a re-interview for all your employees, and replaces those that don't pass with regular google employees. actually in this regard, google is lenient compared to other companies.
amazon isn't your typical company when it comes to m&a, they actually let their acquisitions have free rein. their hands off approach is a big reason why companies like twitch or zappos have decided to go with them over other buyers.
On December 11 2014 01:34 Sn0_Man wrote: According to tadL AG wanted a revenue sharing agreement with DreamHack.
lol
Not According to me. If even Richard Lewis talks on this its way known that he tried it with Dreamhack. And I heard it from old friends that are still in good contact with ESL. Its not my fault that you don't know what going on in the background. But esport is shady. People just dont really talk about in public.
Source, well check his youtube channel it was maybe on trashtalk or just ask him on trashtalk. He will speak about it and maybe his words have more weight than my for you.
Just one other example. Why is Day9 kind of out of business? Because we have better ones? Because we he does not attract people? Or because he acted like a fucking Diva and tournaments did not want to handle his attitude any more?
On December 10 2014 20:19 Jarree wrote: With games like cs:go bringing 300k+ viewers on twitch (dreamhack), it makes sense for geoff to get in to other games (casting / hosting what ever). SC2 is doing very poorly in terms of growth compared to other games. It's almost a miracle EG hasn't dropped their sc2 yet, they must really like the game / fans etc revolving around it. But with Twitch in the picture, I think viewership becomes a more dominant figure in the equation. I don't think LOTV will change anything in the long term.
That being said, it's awesome that EG players are getting a chunk of the money. Even the potentially soon to be gone sc2 team will benefit from it. No doubt EG is and has been the best organization from player's point of view.
Not sure what comparing viewers has to do with in this thread.
On December 11 2014 01:34 Sn0_Man wrote: According to tadL AG wanted a revenue sharing agreement with DreamHack.
lol
Just one other example. Why is Day9 kind of out of business? Because we have better ones? Because we he does not attract people? Or because he acted like a fucking Diva and tournaments did not want to handle his attitude any more?
because he got a full time paying job designing games and doesnt have to live on tournament scraps and youtube hits anymore?
Sounds like Geoff is finally going to get healthcare and benefits instead of being an independent contractor. Also funny that the first thing that EG did was to handout the cash. And based on the second part of the video it seems like Twitch could have just bought the entire infrastructure from under AG at a fraction of the cost. But then its not like either Twitch or Amazon care about their investors money so who cares, money fight!
Sounds like Geoff is finally going to get healthcare and benefits instead of being an independent contractor. Also funny that the first thing that EG did was to handout the cash. And based on the second part of the video it seems like Twitch could have just bought the entire infrastructure from under AG at a fraction of the cost. But then its not like either Twitch or Amazon care about their investors money so who cares, money fight!
Huh?
How do you just...buy it "out from under AG." That actually makes zero sense.
Also I cannot understand why some people here thinks Amazon throws money away. Operating with very small profit margins is not the same as not running an intelligent business. It's not that hard to understand.
Big news. First time a company this big takes over a ''big'' eSports corporation, yes? Not sure how this is going to pan out, but I highly doubt we're going to see much as consumers. Maybe awesome amazon/twitch/EG crosspromoting deals? Who knows. Pretty excited though. Even though EG has always been the ''hardass'' team, I think Alex Garfield really didn't sell out and he's actually genuine (like the majority, probably) about his intentions.
Sounds like Geoff is finally going to get healthcare and benefits instead of being an independent contractor. Also funny that the first thing that EG did was to handout the cash. And based on the second part of the video it seems like Twitch could have just bought the entire infrastructure from under AG at a fraction of the cost. But then its not like either Twitch or Amazon care about their investors money so who cares, money fight!
Huh?
How do you just...buy it "out from under AG." That actually makes zero sense.
Like this: "Dear E-sports employees, whether casters or producers, we realize that 99% of you are independent contractors with almost no job security or benefits and you are mostly working on passion. We would like to rectify this. Next negotiating cycle dont re-sign. We will give you a full time staff position with all the benefits."
Also I cannot understand why some people here thinks Amazon throws money away. Operating with very small profit margins is not the same as not running an intelligent business. It's not that hard to understand.
Choosing to throw away your already limited cash flow on fringe businesses instead of returning it to the shareholder is the definition of throwing money away. People invested into Amazon because they expected it to be the retailer of everything, not a company thats a second tier Apple, a second tier New York Times and a second tier Netflix. You could of course rightly argue that Bezos makes it perfectly clear that he gives 0 fucks about his investors -- he says it repeatedly in his letters but that doesnt change the fact that he wastes money on quasi vanity projects.
shareholders are one of the big reasons why worker get fucked all the time. Hey our shareholders are not happy, well lets fire some people for a short boost so they are happy and later we hire them back or put them into this garbage we have in germany...company's kick out people and hire the same over a time share agency that they own too to way lower conditions. Maximising profit for the need of the shareholders.
Companys should not put them in first place when it comes to their decisions. Not even on the top 2000. They are not interested in the company, the workers, the familys, the lifes that are tied to this company. they just care about their short profits.
ps: I do not like amazon that much because there are sectors where they pay really terrible but that they don't give a big fuck about their shareholders makes them somehow likeable.
You mean massive revenue? And shareholders aren't owed dividends. They bought a percentage ownership of a company with the assumption that that percentage will increase in value. It has. A fucking lot. Y'all fucking weird about Amazon around here.
Also lol at your whole scenario of buying it out from under AG. Come on man. There are so many reasons this was not attempted (other than "Bezos not respecting his 'investors'' [read: shareholders'] money").
Buncha fuckin Wall Street sharks up in this forum.
And ever rising expenses that are eating that revenue.
And shareholders aren't owed dividends. They bought a percentage ownership of a company with the assumption that that percentage will increase in value. It has. A fucking lot. Y'all fucking weird about Amazon around here.
People buy shares in companies because they expect a financial return. Turning around and selling those shares to the next guy might give the initial guy a financial return but the next guy is waiting for his. And as share prices continues to disconnect from earnings the odds of that last guy being paid out what he expected shrinks.
Also lol at your whole scenario of buying it out from under AG. Come on man. There are so many reasons this was not attempted (other than "Bezos not respecting his 'investors'' [read: shareholders'] money"). .
It wasnt attempted because the Twitch guys are friends with AG. To them Amazon's shareholders money is as meaningless as it is to Bezos. Twitch could simply create a division called "Esports" and have 300 positions that are analog to every org position EG has.
Well this has been an interesting non-lesson in the basics of stock market speculation. And a whimsical trip down fantasy land about a hostile takeover of GG's esports brands. Hope everyone enjoyed.
On December 11 2014 09:58 FHDH wrote: Well this has been an interesting non-lesson in the basics of stock market speculation. And a whimsical trip down fantasy land about a hostile takeover of GG's esports brands. Hope everyone enjoyed.
On December 11 2014 09:58 FHDH wrote: Well this has been an interesting non-lesson in the basics of stock market speculation. And a whimsical trip down fantasy land about a hostile takeover of GG's esports brands. Hope everyone enjoyed.
On December 10 2014 17:22 tadL wrote: there are things money cant buy
I think most things that matter can't be bought with money. Like time or freedom.
everytime you go to work, your time is bought money can buy pretty much everything and you'd be dumb to believe something else
yeah like money can buy oxygen and sunlight (NEEDED TO SURVIVE), love and friendship and the people who you have a privilege of meeting in your life, etc. Money can totally buy all of this, yeah, ur logic is sound (NOT)
On December 10 2014 17:22 tadL wrote: there are things money cant buy
I think most things that matter can't be bought with money. Like time or freedom.
everytime you go to work, your time is bought money can buy pretty much everything and you'd be dumb to believe something else
yeah like money can buy oxygen and sunlight (NEEDED TO SURVIVE), love and friendship and the people who you have a privilege of meeting in your life, etc. Money can totally buy all of this, yeah, ur logic is sound (NOT)
It's funny because money really can buy oxygen. And friends. (Not good ones but still)
Anyway, good for EG/GG. Glad to see an actual large company take an interest.
On December 10 2014 17:22 tadL wrote: there are things money cant buy
I think most things that matter can't be bought with money. Like time or freedom.
everytime you go to work, your time is bought money can buy pretty much everything and you'd be dumb to believe something else
yeah like money can buy oxygen and sunlight (NEEDED TO SURVIVE), love and friendship and the people who you have a privilege of meeting in your life, etc. Money can totally buy all of this, yeah, ur logic is sound (NOT)
You live on Earth dude. People pay other people to be their friends. Sunlight and air (quit saying oxygen, our bodies don't directly consume oxygen) are both markets available for purchase. A lot of people marry for money, some with no love involved and others with love involved, you can't judge that aspect of other people's lives. And yeah, you meet different people depending your your income and occupation. welcome to life my friend
This is truly the changing of an era. Its both a crowing achievement of Esports manifested in Alex Garfield (this guy survived for 10 years and actually thrived) and a new beginning with big corporations money (other than game devs).
As we're pretty much in the dark of the details, the only thing we know for sure is that change is otw for better or worse. Big money could either stay profitable while attempting to restructure esports and thus esports would grow a lot bigger (though it might lose some of its charms), or it could start losing money and decide to pull the plug and esports fragment back to its roots of small time operators fighting for survival.
On December 11 2014 08:15 Thalandros wrote: Big news. First time a company this big takes over a ''big'' eSports corporation, yes? Not sure how this is going to pan out, but I highly doubt we're going to see much as consumers. Maybe awesome amazon/twitch/EG crosspromoting deals? Who knows. Pretty excited though. Even though EG has always been the ''hardass'' team, I think Alex Garfield really didn't sell out and he's actually genuine (like the majority, probably) about his intentions.
Let's hope this pans out well!
Depends what you define big because there have been many flagship teams that got sold to companies like Samsung etc.
On December 12 2014 21:20 Kheve wrote: This is truly the changing of an era. Its both a crowing achievement of Esports manifested in Alex Garfield (this guy survived for 10 years and actually thrived) and a new beginning with big corporations money (other than game devs).
As we're pretty much in the dark of the details, the only thing we know for sure is that change is otw for better or worse. Big money could either stay profitable while attempting to restructure esports and thus esports would grow a lot bigger (though it might lose some of its charms), or it could start losing money and decide to pull the plug and esports fragment back to its roots of small time operators fighting for survival.
It is definitely an interesting time for esports.
Not sure if you can call something that's only existed for the past three or four years an era. Esports is still young, and if keeps growing as it is now, there will be more mergers like this.
On December 13 2014 00:30 ZenithM wrote: Dunno if you're aware guys, but Incontrol posted a v-log about his thoughts on the whole thing. Can't seem to find the link anymore though.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/eIrrvKf.png)
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