Put That In Your Pocket: Twitch Inks Deal With Vainglory Developer
Published: Apr 7, 2016 - Last Updated: Apr 26, 2019
Twitch, the well-known broadcasting and streaming company, and Super Evil Megacorp, the developer behind the successful mobile eSports game Vainglory, announced a three-year partnership last week.
The cooperation includes the broadcasting of the game’s championship on Twitch, and an eSports infrastructure for the game, which will be provided by Twitch.
MOBA for mobile is what it is
Vainglory had an amazing 2015, with over 150 million minutes watched on the Twitch platform. It’s currently by far the most successful mobile-only MOBA in the eSports scene; over 1.5 million enthusiasts tuned in to watch the Winter Championships alone.
With this partnership, Twitch and Super Evil Megacorp plan to bring the best and more frequent coverage of official Vainglory League events and the timing could not be better with the new spring VGL season already knocking on the door.
“This is a huge leap forward for us into the mobile space,” said Nick Allen, the director of eSports operations at Twitch. “These types of partnerships are few and far between, and it takes a very special partner… for us to get on board on this scale and this level.”
Vainglory expected to surge with increased coverage
Twitch and Super Evil Megacorp called the partnership a “multi-million dollar” deal, but did not give an exact projection because it’s unsure, for now, what three years might bring.
Vainglory’s exposure will definitely benefit from Twitch’s front page promotion and the social media coverage, but what’s more is the benefit of people’s power to run events, deal with sponsors, and similar skills that Twitch brings to the table.
According to Kristian Segerstrale, the COO and executive director at Super Evil Megacorp, the partnership will approximately quadruple the number of Vainglory’s eSports staff.
Game has proved its mettle
Vainglory, as a mobile MOBA, appeared to be pretty much out of place in the genre at first – the area is dominated by PC games like Dota 2 and League of Legends – but has proven itself in the industry and is now an established and well-known title.
Even Allen, who previously worked for League of Legends developer Riot Games, admits he was skeptical when he first tried Vainglory.
Allen said:
“I’ve played a lot of mobile games in the past, and one of the things they had always been lacking was the sort of finesse and feel for the game.
But actually playing (Vainglory) for the first time, it was super responsive. That led me to dive deeper into what’s this community like, how competitive is it. I realized it’s insanely competitive. My hesitation quickly turned.”
Teams of three can already register for the VGL Spring Season Championship open qualifiers at Vaingloryleague.com and battle for their share of the $80,000 prize pool.
Since: September 12, 2015
