This is where Fortnite meets Formula One. And it’s a wildly exciting meeting point.
When the next champion crosses the finish line as The World’s Fastest Gamer, they will get a $1-million prize.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in a sector that Goldman Sachs predicts will top $1 billion by the end of this year, and nearly $3 billion by 2022.
And while the Fortnite 2018 World Cup was one of the biggest events in esports ever, with 40 million players competing for a total prize pool of $30 million, The World’s Fastest Gamer has an important edge.
This is exactly where real sports meets esports. It’s where Fortnite meets Formula One. It’s the best of both worlds..
The company behind the World’s Fastest Gamer is Torque Esports (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD), and when you lift the hood on this company, it’s got some serious horse power that goes way beyond this prestigious racing event.
In a gaming market that’s bigger than Hollywood …
Torque has its foot slammed on the gas, and it’s tapping into multiple gaming sectors.
That includes a data-collection and processing service that will dominate the industry…and a top-tier video game developer linked to the Formula One brand, Porsche and Nintendo.
But that’s not all…
Torque is minting REAL race car drivers, and the winner of this season’s WFG will be thrust into real-world professional motorsport career.
This could be the biggest breakout story in the esports arena.
For Torque, it’s just one of a collection of huge moves inside this same, exciting new space.
Here are 5 reasons to keep a very close eye on the Torque finish line:
#1 From $50B to $120B In Only 3 Years
Gaming revenue has tripled since 2000—rising from less than $50 billion to more than $120 billion per year.
This industry is now officially bigger than Hollywood. Major video game releases—Activision’s Call of Duty or Square Enix’s classic Final Fantasy VII—can cost tens of millions of dollars to produce.
Fortnite, a wildly popular third-person shooter, will hold its World Cup in 2019, with a prize pool of $100 million.
The four biggest esports events of 2018 generated 190.1 million viewing hours. The potential audience for esports in 2019 could be as high as 438 million people.
Series 1 of World’s Fastest Gamer was broadcast in 48 countries through 86 global broadcasters, including ESPN, CNBC and Fox Sports. The show reached an estimated 400 million households, and the principle a partnership came from McLaren F1.
Series 2 is already under way, and the media value potential from this single event is estimated to be $15 million. It’s set to blow way past that 400-million viewership, broadcast in over 50 countries by over 100 networks.
This time around, the key partner is Aston Martin, with a prize pool of $1 million.
And no expense has been spared when it comes to branding: Torque has recruited some of the biggest names in racing, including former F1 Team Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello and 2x Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya.
Through this premier esports event, Torque can earn further brand exposure and enhance its position with partners in the racing world…
#2 The High Street of Game Development
Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) has acquired a video game developer—Eden Games, a racing game company that specializes in developing racing games including those linked with the Formula One brand.
Eden’s F1 Mobile game has already been downloaded 13 million times since its launch in September 2018.
Through Eden, Torque has access to a whole range of popular gaming brands, and partnerships with some of the biggest names in racing. In September it secured exclusive partnerships with Porsche and Nintendo.
Eden rolled out Gear Club Unlimited 2 in 2018, and plans to roll out additional racing games in the coming years across both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. And Stream Hatchet, the premier name in esports data analytics, can deliver what no other data firm can match—quality data on trends in esports and on-line gaming.
Right now, Formula 1 is gunning for another trophy—this time, with younger players.
The average F1 fan is around 40 years old. The average Twitch audience is 21.
Last year, F1 had an audience based of 1.758 billion, and 490.2 million unique viewers globally.
That’s a huge fan base, but it’s nothing compared to Twitch, which boasted 9.3 billion hours of streams watched last year.
That’s where Formula One’s 1.758 billion audience could become significantly bigger…
#3 The Data Edge
The real coup here is Torque’s acquisition of Stream Hatchet data intelligence company.
All of the biggest names in tech—Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, the gaming platform Steam—desperately need data from within the esports and streaming space in order to understand its trends and market to its customers.
When it comes to data intelligence in the esports industry, Torque is quickly becoming a major player.
Twitch is a data gold mine. Every sports rights holder out there right now knows that Twitch is the number one outlet for their content. It’s squeezing out all traditional channels.
Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) is already the leading authority for providing data to sports rights holders, agencies and sponsors.
They’ve already made a huge splash in the esports market for streaming data …
Now they’re taking on the same for the sport and entertainment industries.
Right now, the data that Stream Hatchet collects is also sold to major gaming developers who can use it to further develop products for the gaming community based on feedback and user interaction. And through licensing fees and reporting fees it can monetize data in a way that is especially interesting in the esports and streaming space.
Up next, Stream Hatchet takes advantage of its strong position in the data collection market to target the traditional sport and entertainment industries.
#4 The Godfather of Motorsports Racing
Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) has the an advantage on the competition in this space because it’s had a four-year head start.
Before the industry realized how vital data was to growth, Stream Hatchet was in the background, collecting esports data and delivering analytics to major tech and gaming firms to better understand trends.
Always ahead of these trends has been the “Godfather” of motorsports esports, and the mastermind behind the World’s Fastest Gamer—Darren Cox, CEO of Torque and former Global Motorsport Director for Nissan.
For over a decade, Cox has been transforming gamers into professional race car drivers. This isn’t his first rodeo in terms of blurring the lines between reality and gaming. He keeps taking it to the next level.
Between 2008 and 2015, Cox ran the GT Academy program—a racing and gaming program that transformed gamers into professional drivers. Cox has brought on quality brand ambassadors—Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari, and 2x Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya—to expand Torque’s reach.
He’s grown Torque into an elite esports conglomerate, and perhaps the only company out there capable of connecting actual esports events and esports data.
Cox sees more than the road ahead—he sees this entire arena and it’s paved with data, the best in gaming, million-dollar prizes and a global audience that is growing by the minute.
#5 The Finish Line Isn’t Far
Through World’s Fastest Gamer and Eden, Torque has tapped into the huge automotive market.
Through Stream Hatchet, it’s created a major player in the data market that secures it a top slot across multiple industries.
Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) has created a niche at the intersection of two massive industries— something that no other company has managed to do.
Esports is a growing sector within a much bigger gaming industry that is projected to hit $300 billion by 2025.
The total number of gamers in 2019 is projected to hit 2.4 billion.
Controlling the data in a market of that size is any media moguls dream.
It’s a simple as this:
A little-known company backed by the mastermind of World’s Fastest Gamer and the ‘Godfather’ of motorsports for the esports world is not only associated with the massively popular F1 brand and a host of others, it’s also secured for itself an interesting position in the esports streaming data market.
And no one’s going anywhere without this data.
From a business perspective, the World’s Fastest Gamer trophy goes to Torque itself, for seeing the trends before anyone else did.
Other companies looking to get a leg-up in the gaming boom:
Blackberry Ltd. (NYSE: BB, TSX:BB) made its name as a cell phone manufacturer, and essentially created what we now know as a smartphone, but many don't realize that Blackberry is actually providing mobile cybersecurity for government agencies worldwide. Not only that, it has played a pivotal role in the global gaming boom.
Blackberry’s bets on less popular emerging tech plays has really paid off, according to its latest earings rounds, and as one of the companies that essentially paved the way for digital gaming, it’s sure to remain a favorite innovator among innovators for some time.
Stars Group Inc (NASDAQ:TSG, TSX:TSGI) is a world leader in the online and mobile gaming industry. With a focus on maintaining high regulatory standards while simultaneously offering a wide range of products across multiple platforms, Stars has solidified its place among the gaming hierarchy.
In December, Stars Group secured a major partnership with the National Basketball Association in order to use data and league marks across their digital sports betting offerings.
Scott Kaufman-Ross, Head of Fantasy & Gaming, NBA explained, "This dynamic partnership will be another way to create authentic fan engagement with league logos and official NBA betting data, while leveraging Stars' global expertise to further optimize the fan experience."
Rogers Communications Inc. (NYSE:RCI, TSX:RCI) is the biggest internet and cable provider in Canada with over 10 million subscribers across the country. While it is not necessarily a dominate force in content creation, it has set itself apart from its competitors with its growing customer base and advertising dominance.
Rogers is also a go-to internet provider for a large number of corporations dependent on reliable connections and high quality support.
ePlay Digital Inc. (CSE:EPY ) creates technology that helps TV networks, esports teams and leagues and even venues cut through the noise to reach their target audience. The company brings together multiple platforms to create engagement across social media, traditional media, streaming, and more. With a team built from sports, esports, and gaming experts, ePlay knows the video game industry inside and out. That’s why they’ve secured partnerships with companies including Time Warner Cable, ESPN, Sony Pictures, AXS TV, Intel, AXN, Fiat, CBS, Cineplex, and others.
Kuuhubb Inc. (TSXV: KUU) is a company active in the development and acquisition of lifestyle and mobile video game applications. Its strategy is to create sustainable shareholder value through its groundbreaking AI and big data applications suggest that its stock is currently undervalued, but it’s not likely this opportunity will last for much longer.
Though it’s focus is on mobile video games, Kuuhubb’s innovative technology makes it a likely target of acquisition and could be a key player in the mobile industry.
By. Meredith Taylor
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