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In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss Fortnite hosting an indie animated film festival, Toronto planning to build a spaceship-like esports venue, Soulja Boy launching yet another gaming console, Vindex hiring a former Starbucks executive to run Belong Gaming Arenas, data from a study in the UK on gaming purchases, the NHL announcing a multi-year deal with DreamHack, Entropia Universe having the most expensive in-game purchases ever, and so much more!

In this episode, we discuss Shopify creating their own Starcraft II esports organization (the Shopify Rebellion), HP Buying HyperX from Kingston Technology for $425M, TikTok parent company ByteDance doubling down on gaming with Nuverse in the war against Tencent, Facebook Gaming promising to host more than 90 community tournaments, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss the recent Nintendo Direct announcements, Huawei reportedly producing a gaming console, Netflix producing an anime based on DOTA, PC gamers spending $4.5B last year on their setups, EA’s Todd Sitrin believing “that control isn’t everything” and how that relates to their esports efforts, pigs learning to play video games with their snouts, accessories company dbrand selling black PS5 covers and taunting Sony to sue them, Esports Entertainment Group raising $30M, Unity selling a $45 education bundle to learn how to make your own game, and so much more!

In this episode, we discuss Valheim shattering Steam records and the bigger trend of “out of nowhere” hits, the International Olympic Committee prioritizing “virtual sports” over esports, Abu Dhabi offering a visa for esports workers, Saudi Arabia investing $3.3B in gaming companies, esports booming in the Middle East, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss Ubisoft’s earnings call and stock price fall, EA acquiring Glu Mobile, whether Zynga is an acquisition target or will be independent forever, Astralis opening a flagship store in Tivoli Gardens and the potential of gaming in theme parks, North Esports dissolving, IKEA announcing their first gaming products, and so much more!

In this episode with special guest Ben Paro (Sales Director for Esports and Gaming at YouGov), we discuss YouGov’s process with brands and consumers, tons of interesting statistics collected by the YouGov team, how gamers self-identify, the relevance of gaming post-pandemic, the vast increase in gaming since the pandemic, disposable income among gamers, gaming vs streaming, the LoL demographic in the US, the success MasterCard has had with their LoL partnership, the Apple/Fortnite dispute, a sim racer getting recruited to drive a real race car, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss the embedding of ads in games, Epic Games Store users claiming 749M free games in 2020, talent agency UTA signing FaZe Clan as a client, Nintendo cancelling StarFox TV series after Netflix leaked plans for Legend of Zelda series, Google officially shutting down Stadia Games without ever releasing a game, EA Sports bringing back college football gaming, Elon Musk wiring up monkeys to play video games with their minds, and so much more!

In this episode with special guest Matt Archambault (Head of Partnerships at Riot Games), we discuss the business and future of Riot Games, how Riot approaches partnerships and sponsorships, why all the most valuable esports teams have League of Legends franchises, how Riot has evolved from a one game company to a publisher with multiple titles, how Riot approaches different geographies with different solutions and why they’re going back to China for Worlds, what trends Riot is closely watching, the incorporation of ads into games, when Riot plans to launch their much-anticipated MMO, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss GameStop’s stock going wild and what it means for the company, Microsoft’s gaming revenue growing 51% in Q4 2020, Microsoft reversing their Xbox Live Gold price hike after receiving backlash from gamers, a 7-Eleven store’s gaming makeover, Activision merging Vicarious Visions into Blizzard to help with troubled projects, VR taking over the workplace, Esports Entertainment Group finalizing the acquisition of Helix Esports and ggCircuit, and so much more!

In this episode with special guests Ujesh Desai (GM of Gaming @ Logitech) and Vincent Tucker (Director of Strategy and Innovation @ Logitech G), we discuss the history of gaming at Logitech, successes and failures at Logitech G, product development insights from Logitech G, the benefits of being vertically integrated, trends that Logitech G is excited about, how Logitech G interfaces with the esports community, authenticity in product development and marketing, the future of hardware in the gaming industry, brain-computer interfaces for gaming, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss Allied Esports selling their World Poker Tour asset for $78.25M and exploring the sale of their esports business, the world’s richest esports pro buying a $2.2M mansion, Adidas treating esports deals like media partnerships not sponsorship deals, 2020 being the biggest year for gaming hardware in almost a decade, Razer finding new ways to reach profitability, Rob Gronkowski and TFue posting a workout video together, Epic pledging $20M for Fortnite esports in 2021, Fortnite facing backlash from pros, and so much more!

In this episode, we discuss Call of Duty consistently topping the game sales charts, Hangzhou Spark and Bilibili Esports (a subsidiary of the Bilibili streaming platform) raising $28M in a funding round, streaming numbers surging 69% in 2020, Xbox and PlayStation reportedly looking into new studio acquisitions, PlayStation reportedly losing a major exclusive this year, and so much more!

In the latest podcast after-show, we discuss Ping An Bank sponsoring Bilibili Gaming, Lucasfilm Games being “the future of Star Wars gaming”, Motorsports Games raising $60M in their IPO, Dr Disrespect commenting on the current gaming “nightmare”, the Heroes of the Storm esports scene surging, Razer building the ultimate gaming chair concept, Super League Gaming raising another $8M to cover losses, Playtika eyeing a $10B U.S. listing, Venn and Blast joining forces, and so much more!

In this episode with special guest Brad Tenenholtz (CEO at Corporate Esports Association), we discuss video games replacing music in youth culture, Warner Music making an ‘eight-figure’ investment in Roblox, Xbox head Phil Spencer wanting to make Cloud Gaming (Project xCloud) games available for purchase without a subscription, Minecraft Earth shutting down in June 2021, untold stories of Microsoft’s attempted gaming acquisitions coming to light, and so much more!

In the first post-podcast livestream of 2021, we discuss a chess grandmaster topping the esports prize money rankings, the most watched Twitch channels of 2020, Huawei removing Tencent games from its app store temporarily due to a promotional agreement dispute, Riot presenting a complete revamp and rebrand of LCS, esports and sports betting being approved with new bill in Puerto Rico, Fall Guys adding a new G2 skin, the perfect guide on investing in esports, recent studies showing no direct correlation between playing violent video games and violent behavior, and so much more!

In this (big numbers!) episode, we discuss Roblox raising $520M led by Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer Investment Group, Star Citizen raising $339M and still without a release date, Epic Games buying a shopping mall to serve as their new headquarters in 2024, EDG parent company SuperGen Group building a $1.5B International Cultural and Creative Esports Center in Shanghai, and so much more!

In the last post-podcast livestream of 2020, we discuss Sony developing 7 TV shows and 3 movies based on PlayStation games, WWE launching a gaming series with Ronda Rousey, Wale and more, Among Us hitting Google’s number one trending video game of 2020, our picks for game of the year, and so much more!

In this special year end bonus episode of the Business of Esports, we look back at 2020, we look forward into 2021, and bring you highlights and predictions in celebration of the new year!

In this episode, we discuss LCK leading all esports leagues in 2020 with 136.6M hours watched, the possibility of Microsoft moving out of the console game leading to this being the last of the great console wars, Allied Esports partnering with Trovo and what it means for the streaming wars, and so much more!

In this post-podcast livestream, we discuss Riot making an MMO set in the League of Legends universe, gaming company Skillz going public after merger with Harry Sloan’s Flying Eagle, Nintendo shutting down PlayVS collegiate Super Smash Bros, E1337 introducing a joke of an esports apparel brand, Epic Games store now offering Spotify, scientists using gaming technology to help vets identify cows by their markings, Henry Cavill spending over $3000 on his gaming PC, PepsiCo unveiling Mountain Dew Game Fuel e-shop for gamers, KFC introducing their new gaming console that also keeps your chicken warm, why esports is a multi-billion dollar opportunity for forward-thinking investors, and so much more!