Twitch and Super Evil Megacorp, the makers behind mobile esport game “Vainglory,” have inked a three-year partnership.
This new partnership, the first of its kind for a mobile esport on the streaming website, includes a multi-million dollar investment from each company and a multi-pronged program across sales, promotions, broadcasts and live events as well as working to set up the official “Vainglory Championships.”
“Vainglory” was an obvious place for Twitch to start when it came to beginning promotion of touchscreen esports. It marked the fastest growing mobile game on the streaming site in 2015, with 150 million minutes viewed; during its Autumn Championships, 1.5 million people tuned in to watch.
“The esports industry has been dominated by PC and console titles, but ‘Vainglory’ is ushering in a new mobile games movement,” Nick Allen, director of esports operations at Twitch, said. “The incredible engagement ‘Vainglory’ has garnered on our platform is a testament that our community welcomes the convergence of epsorts and mobile gaming.”
Twitch will work to expand “Vainglory’s” presence on the site through promotions of broadcast events and on the game’s most popular streamers and personalities. They also plan to dedicate a team to help run esports event for the game as well as handle sponsorship and merchandise sales.
“We’ve been working closely with Twitch since even before the global launch of ‘Vainglory,’ and their massive, wildly passionate gaming community has helped our game develop a loyal and growing following,” Kristian Segerstrale, COO and executive director at Super Evil Megacorp, said. “By working with Twitch in this new and expanded capacity, we’re going to be able to bring our esports programming to the next level and provide better and more frequent coverage to fans.”
