Tag: Gaming

Singapore – Bridgestone Asia Pacific, India, China (BSAPIC), a group company of Bridgestone Corporation, and racing sim series Forza Motorsport are partnering to launch the first-ever “Bridgestone Rivals: Race to the Top” virtual gaming competition. 

Through this partnership, Bridgestone will be the first tyre manufacturer to partner with Forza Motorsport, one of the top simulation racing video games globally, in this latest instalment of the game, featuring participants racing the Lamborghini Huracán STO on the Hakone Grand Prix within the game.

From 20 June 2024 to 10 July, eligible racers can compete in the “Bridgestone Rivals: Race to the Top” event to unlock an exclusive in-game Bridgestone Racing Suit and set their fastest time to stand a chance to win attractive prizes worth up to USD$1,000. Within the game, racers will be taking on the virtual Hakone Grand Prix, a motorsports mecca built to host every level of racing with a spectacular view of Mount Fuji. 

Surrounded by the sublime beauty of the Japanese countryside on the shores of Lake Ashi, the circuit is a futuristic showcase for flat-out speed with long straights, wide turns, and a few heavy braking zones. The final winners will be announced based on the fastest lap time recorded at each participating location, spanning across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and South Korea.

This partnership also aligns with the Bridgestone Group’s vision of continuing to provide the “excitement of driving” 10 or 20 years from now by contributing to the development of a safe, secure, and enjoyable car culture and motorsports culture through a wide range of sustainable motorsports activities such as e-sports, and by supporting mobility experiences that move people’s hearts. 

As part of Bridgestone E8 Commitment, the company aims to fulfil its corporate promise for “Emotion: Committed to inspiring excitement and spreading joy to the world of mobility.”

Lennard Kwek, director of brand marketing and communications at BSAPIC, said, “We are very excited to embark on this partnership with Forza Motorsport. It is an incredible opportunity to connect with a new generation of motorsports enthusiasts and create memorable experiences in motorsport among people of all ages and abilities. This partnership underscores our unwavering commitment to promoting a dynamic motorsports culture – and we are excited to finally bring this commitment to the virtual realm as well.”

Singapore – We Are Social Gaming, the gaming-focused division of global socially-led creative agency We Are Social, has announced three distinct new offerings to help brands, publishers and developers cut through in gaming spaces.

The first one is the gaming division aiming to simplify theprocess of getting non-gaming brands into the gaming space by showing them there are levels to play and multiple ways to win. For We Are Social, there is no “one size fits all” approach – as bespoke solutions put clients and their products and the centre of conversation at a time where gaming is shaping culture.

In addition, the agency is also offering game developers and publishers a full-funnel, connected and amplified approach to socially-led product marketing, with a focus on brand building, conversion, and player retention across new and existing titles.

Lastly, We Are Social also taps into its broad roster of clients and connections to create meaningful partnerships with brands and developers, introducing each to new audiences. 

We Are Social Gaming consists of a global squad of more than 50 of the agency’s most skilled gaming and esports experts from multiple disciplines, who work across We Are Social’s entire client portfolio to identify gaming opportunities for brands in all sectors and industries. 

Some of its gaming clients include Activision/Blizzard, Riot Games, Sony, Twitch, G2 and Fnatic, and it has worked with non-gaming brands such as Uber Eats, Vodafone and Renault on gaming-focused campaigns over the last few years. 

Rachel Rakowski, global head of gaming at We Are Social said, “It’s safe to say that gaming is no longer niche – it has firmly cemented itself as part of culture and as such is one of the most sought-after media spaces for brands today. However, gaming spaces are not like traditional media, and there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach. Brands and developers need to think differently to cut through the noise.”

She added, “This is why we’ve launched our three new offerings, which will give companies from any sector or industry an opportunity to connect with gaming communities in a number of different ways. We’ll be focused on work that’s rooted in culture, driving connections between people, communities, and brands, all while crafting messages meaningful to our clients’ audiences and providing meaningful ROI.” 

Manila, Philippines – Digital financial services platform Atome has partnered with Mastercard to allow Atome card holders in the Philippines to convert their rewards points into gaming credits via the Mastercard Gamer Xchange (MGX). 

In this partnership, MGX will facilitate a convenient exchange to help gamers in the Philippines convert their rewards points into gaming credits across nearly 4000 game titles in a spend-and-earn exchange. 

Up until March, gaming enthusiasts using the Atome Card to shop can obtain as much as ₱2,000 worth of gaming credits. 

This partnership offer follows the recent upgrade of the Atome Card, which now allows Filipino consumers to shop and ‘buy now and pay later’ anywhere as long as Mastercard is accepted. 

Magic Tang, head of cards business at Atome, said, “We’ve seen a very strong take-up for the Atome Card, especially among digital-native Gen Z and millennial users in the Philippines, with one of the top use cases for the Atome Card being online purchases. We see a strong synergy in this partnership with Mastercard’s MGX platform as it provides Atome Card holders and gamers access to a wide range of gaming credit options.”

Also speaking on the partnership, Kaveri Khullar, senior vice president for consumer marketing and sponsorships at Mastercard, commented, “MGX bridges the world of rewards to the thriving global gaming community, offering an innovative and seamless redemption solution in a new category. From eSports viewers to console and smartphone gaming enthusiasts across a range of demographics, it opens new connections to the world’s fastest-expanding entertainment market.”

She added, “As the Philippine gaming market anticipates further growth in the next few years, this partnership with Atome is a fantastic example of how innovative payment experiences are evolving to connect consumers to their passions.”

Manila, Philippines – A new study by Omnicom Media Group (OMG) has found that Filipino gamers have the lowest propensity to spend PHP 620 and above in a month on in-game purchases compared to their APAC counterparts. Gamers in China, for example, spend at least three times more and those in Hong Kong spend two times more.

According to the report, the concept of creating value for Filipino gamers is crucial because when they do spend on microtransactions, the reasons are value-specific, e.g. when there is a sale (50%), in-game power-ups (36%), gifts (31%), a treat for oneself or someone else (31%), and limited-time release (29%).

In general, 50% bought an in-game skin, character, or accessory in the last three months. Other items purchased during the period included battle/season pass (38%), gears/weapons (33%), extra lives, hints, or boosters (29%), and gaming currency (28%).

The report notes that while gaming is a popular activity in the Philippines, oly around 61% of Filipino gamers identify with the label ‘gamer’, on par with the APAC average and sharing similar sentiments as counterparts in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, around 28% do not consider themselves gamers and 10% are unsure. Across all generations, those do not associate with the term ‘gamer’ share two common themes for its definition: time spent playing and device played on.

The top reason was respondents only gaming on their smartphone (44%), like those in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. Some also said gaming is not their only hobby (35%) and that they do not play enough (33%).

According to the report, while these items offer brands a variety of opportunities to create in-game collaborations, companies might see lower than expected conversions due to low average monthly spend. Also, these branded collaborations might only work if there is high brand affinity and if they offer value to gamers. In turn, branded microtransactions require a variety of exciting, urgent, and emotional messaging to persuade gamers to purchase.

Mary Buenaventura, CEO at OMG Philippines, said, “While Filipino gamers might experience Internet challenges such as penetration and speed, one should never underestimate the opportunities in gaming. This research indicates that most gamers can no longer be stereotyped as hermits in their dark rooms. Instead, they are highly mobile and are playing during breaks or during their daily commute, thereby democratising the gaming experience.”

She added, To succeed in this space, brands are encouraged to invest on game development or in-store gaming experiences that meet the high expectations of Filipino gamers’ and offer them original, real-world moments.”

United States – The Walt Disney Company has announced that will be acquiring a US$1.5b equity stake in Epic Games, alongside a collaboration to create a new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. 

Moroever, players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.

Robert Iger, chief executive officer at The Walt Disney Company, said, “Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”

Meanwhile, Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder at Epic Games, commented, “Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio. Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”

Lastly, Josh D’Amaro, chairman at Disney Experiences, said, “This will enable us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a broad audience in ways we have only dreamed of before. Epic Games’ industry-leading technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them.”

Disney and Epic Games has long been engaged with hundreds of millions of players through Fortnite content integrations, season collaborations, in-game activations, and live events, including the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus, which drew more than 15.3 million concurrent players.

Singapore – Tech giant Microsoft has announced that it will be laying off 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox, with primarily layoffs occurring at Activision Blizzard, and some Xbox and ZeniMax employees getting affected by the cuts, according to reports from The Verge.

Occurring just after Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the company has decided to proceed with the layoffs to follow a sustainable cost structure plan that will support the growth of the business.

Alongside the layoffs, Mike Ybarra, president of Blizzard, and Allen Adham, chief design officer at Blizzard, have both decided to leave the company, with a new president being appointed by Microsoft for the following week. 

Blizzard’s previously announced survival game has also been cancelled as part of these changes. Addressing this, Microsoft said that it will be “shifting some of the people working on it to one of several promising new projects Blizzard has in the early stages of development.”

Talking about the layoffs, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft, said, “As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team.” 

“The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws,” he added. 

Notably, these layoffs come just a few months after some big Xbox leadership changes saw Sarah Bond promoted to Xbox president, leading all Xbox platform and hardware work. Matt Booty was also promoted to president of game content and studios, which includes overseeing Bethesda, ZeniMax studios, and Activision Blizzard.

Furthermore, it is also worth noting that these layoffs occur at the same month as with Riot Games, Google, Discord, Twitch, Unity, and eBay, among others.

Singapore – In-game mobile advertisements are leading gamers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) area to stop gaming, according to a new research by Omnicom Media Group (OMG) APAC. The poll included 12,204 people who were asked to rate their attitudes toward advertisements while playing mobile games.

Most of the participants report that commercials often cause them to stop playing games. Respondent preferences include wanting in-game advertisements to rotate within a gaming environment or to be seasonal. Some claim that these advertisements don’t inspire people to make in-person purchases, while others say they remember a brand for future transactions.

It is worth noting that engaging in-game encounters are crucial for drawing in players, and by bringing these encounters outside of the virtual world, businesses can make a bigger impression. When playing games, APAC players indicate a desire for material rewards from the real world, especially when it comes to mobile game advertisements.

Moreover, brands can create their own games, host gaming events, and offer in-game and real-world incentives linked to in-game successes as ways to entice and please mobile gamers. Aware of the potentially large expenses associated with developing original content, companies may decide to take advantage of the released titles like Fortnite and look into ways to create new worlds or distinctive experiences within those well-known gaming environments.

Furthermore, value is a major motivator for over half (47%) of APAC gamers, who want to get the most out of their gaming experiences at the lowest possible cost. This group is more likely to make in-game purchases or microtransactions during sales events (47%) or when they need power-ups (37%). Furthermore, a sizable portion confines their purchasing to limited-edition releases (30%) or sees such purchases as gifts for particular occasions (32%).

Speaking about the research, Nina Fedorczuk, OMG APAC’s chief enablement officer, said, “The gaming universe is an incredibly exciting one and there are numerous opportunities for brands and marketers. We need to understand the different nuances within the gaming ecosystem, including the types of moments gamers experience. For example, they can connect with friends via gaming over the weekends and be fully immersed in the experience but also play a quick puzzle game during a weekday commute.” 

She added, “It is no longer enough to treat gamers as a niche audience because almost everyone is a gamer. Brands need to find the sweet spots for this audience, and think hard about how they can add value to the gaming experience, instead of blatantly interrupting it.”

Seoul, South Korea – Google Cloud announced that NCSOFT, a global game developer and publisher, will be using Google Cloud’s AI infrastructure to power its in-house large language model (LLM) set, VARCO LLM.

Through Google Cloud’s LLM, NCSOFT will be developing a variety of AI-powered game services such as dynamically generated game content, enhanced player engagement, and customer service chatbots. 

This latest collaboration builds NCSOFT’s long-standing relationship with Google Cloud, and the company has continued to steadily expand its global services and advance technology using Google Cloud solutions such as Vertex AI and BigQuery.

Previously, NCSOFT leveraged Google Cloud Tensor Processor Units (TPUs) to develop VARCO LLM and has been training its models for the past year. By utilising Google Cloud TPUs, NCSOFT was able to optimise performance and cost of large-scale AI training workloads.

Speaking on this partnership, Lee Yeon-soo, head of NLP Center, NCSOFT, said,  “NCSOFT has been a leader in bringing AI technology to the gaming industry for over a decade. We are committed to using AI to create new and innovative experiences for our players. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Google Cloud to further explore the potential of generative AI in games.”

Meanwhile, Jack Buser, director for games, Google Cloud, commented, “Through this partnership, NCSOFT is able to bring new kinds of immersive experiences to players, underpinned by our powerful AI infrastructure that makes it easy to train and scale VARCO LLM.”

New York, USA – Global financial services company Mastercard has recently opened applications for their new program, the ‘Mastercard Gamer Academy’, a first-of-its-kind development program from Mastercard that will provide 10 gamers the connections, mentorship and skill sets needed to pursue their passion for esports as a career, all while fostering a more inclusive gaming ecosystem.

The program is set to kick off in early 2024, offering participants the opportunity to have all-expense paid trips to major esports events, access to seasoned esports professionals from G2’s roster, in-person and digital sessions with mentors that also feature workshops, and a comprehensive educational curriculum covering brand engagement, marketing, content creation, event execution and more.

Curriculum highlights will be captured in a series of episodes for fans to enjoy and learn more about the various opportunities in gaming and esports. Mastercard cardholders will get early viewing access on Mastercard’s Priceless website.

This initiative from Mastercard is one in a series of continued efforts within the gaming industry, becoming the first global partner of the world’s largest esport, League of Legends, in 2018. Earlier this year, the brand also extended its esports sponsorship to include Valorant Champions Tour  and VCT Game Changers.

Anyone that is 21 or above is welcome to apply in the program and interested applicants are required to submit their entry before December 17, 2023 on the Mastercard Gamer Academy website and complete an online form and video that showcases their passion for gaming and esports.

Taking about the initiative, Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, said, “As a global sponsor of some of the biggest, fastest-growing esports, we’ve seen firsthand the incredible passion gaming evokes among players and fans alike. With the Mastercard Gamer Academy, we celebrate the incredible growth of esports, and we are proud to invest in gaming’s dynamic and diverse future.”

Meanwhile, Romain Bigeard, general manager of League of Legends at G2 Esports, commented, “Our strength in esports is our community, and how we stand together for the love of the game. The Mastercard Gamer Academy is an extension of this community, bringing people together for a program unlike any other.”

“The Academy is designed to cover all areas of esports to highlight different career paths in the industry. We want to give the participants, as well as people watching at home, the opportunity to gain experience and learn from some of the most talented and well-respected people in the industry. Our goal is to create a clearer pathway to a career in esports, to inspire and motivate people looking to launch their career,” he added. 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Popular soft drink brand Mountain Dew and video game title PUBG have teamed up to relaunch the ‘Dew Challenge’ in Malaysia, which pushes boundaries once again by bridging virtual and reality bringing an immersive and unique experience to the youth, at the same time promoting vibrant, active lifestyles.

Aimed at catching the hearts of sporty, adventurous youths and aspiring PUBG players, everyone can expect an immersive gaming experience packed with new and fresh ideas through this collaboration.

Starting 1 October, interested participants can purchase a 400ml bottle of Mountain Dew, head to the Dew Challenge website at dewchallenge.com and key in the unique code located under the bottle cap to complete their registration and redeem prizes.

The launch will be accompanied by a treasure hunt, drawing inspiration from in-game mechanics. Just like how players parachute onto their desired drop zones on a map, the treasure hunt will begin with participants choosing the region where their journey begins. Likewise, just as players scavenge for weapons, armour and supplies from a loot box at the beginning of a game, participants will scavenge for loot boxes that lead to extra leader board points and more before the tournament.

Meanwhile, customers in Klang Valley will witness a special Dew Challenge roving truck will be bringing excitement to you at various locations including universities, partner outlets, night markets, commercial shopping spots and more. To redeem exclusive merchandise and sampling products, visitors can take part in a number of PUBG inspired activities including, a special Mountain Dew x PUBG vending machine, an immersive shooting gallery and a gaming jam session, where further prizes are up for grabs.

Amy Gan, vice president of marketing at Etika, said, “We are especially excited for this instalment of the Dew Challenge. It truly is representative of Mountain Dew’s commitment to our consumers who seek to live life authentically. With the pandemic chapter closed, we can now bring the virtual to reality in a one-of-a-kind experience for Malaysians who are ready to break out of the norm and try something new. We want people to push their boundaries and live their best, most vibrant lives.”

She added, “It’s the first time a brand has done something of this scale and it is only possible because we have such an amazing team and partners, especially PUBG, who share our vision and believe in this idea as much as we do. We would like to encourage everyone to join, gamer or not, and be a part of this historic journey with us.”