A Merger That Could Transform Entertainment

December 23, 2019 - Safehaven


What happens when you bring together the ‘godfather’ of motorsports racing and the media legend reshaping modern-day entertainment?

You get a mega deal for an exciting new industry.

You get the answer to the most pressing question facing entertainment today: How to bring the entire world to every major global event without taking them anywhere.

The media legend is Tom Rogers, the man who brought giants like Netflix and Amazon to our TV screens, the first president of NBC Cable, the revolutionary who created CNBC and MSNBC, forever changing the world’s coverage of business news...

He’s even landed in the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. 

The ‘godfather’ of motorsports and esports is Darren Cox, CEO of Torque Esports (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD), former Global Motorsport Director for Nissan and mastermind of The World’s Fastest Gamer.

He’s grown Torque into the leading company out there capable of connecting actual esports events and esports data.

They’ve announced the combination of 3 companies to dominate the gaming, eSports, news and streaming industry.

The deal creates a gaming-streaming company by uniting Torque Esports Frankly Media and Roger’s own WinView into Engine Media Holdings (ENGINE). 

It will forever change how we view sports because it combines Formula 1 madness with a streaming war and the biggest thing in data analytics for the streaming industry.

Here are 5 Reasons to keep a very close eye on Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) right now: 

#1 The Point Where This Segment Gets Transformed

Torque Esports is where Fortnite meets Formula One. It’s a wildly exciting meeting point that most recently saw the conclusion of The World’s Fastest Gamer 2019 with the winner taking home a cool $1 million. 

But that’s nothing compared to what comes next in a sector poised to see revenues top $1 billion by the end of this year, and nearly $3 billion by 2022

Not only does Torque own Eden Games, the developers of the official Formula 1 racing game, but it also owns Stream Hatchet, a leading business intelligence platform that controls the data goldmine from Twitch and Youtube and is the key to potentially billions in ad revenue made off of esports fans. It’s also set to acquire a controlling share in Allinsports, a leading provider of high-end esports racing simulators developed by ex-Ferrari engineers. 

Combine this with a state of the art esports arena for staging live global competitions in Miami--the first of its kind--and you have a company that’s just expanded into multiple arenas with WinView and Frankly. 

Frankly Media is also another innovator on the scene, with its OTT streaming service and news content management tech. Frankly provides streaming services of live and on-demand news for major media outlets, such as CNN and VICE, with over 1200 local broadcast stations across the country. Frankly already reaches 75% of American households--and no one’s even heard of it. 

And then we’ve got WinView, the brainchild of Tom Rogers, with an app that allows TV viewers to play games of skill in real time while they watch sports live on TV and win cash prizes. In typical Rogers fashion, WinView has 68 patents under its belt already, and another 1,200 patent claims for everything from mobile ‘in play’ games of skill and esports to live sports and the Holy Grail - sports betting. 

For Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD), the Formula-1 plus streaming darling of the esports segment, it means access to over 100 million active users.

As CBS News’ Lesley Stahl noted: “Rogers is a guy who gets things done … and he transforms companies along the way.”

#2 The Moment of Truth for Live Entertainment

Today’s rapidly transforming entertainment industry is about immersive experiences. It’s about being there, without being there. 

It’s about a secondary globalization and equalization of the live events. 

Entertainment programming is moving towards ‘on-demand’. That means ‘live’, and it means sports, esports and news. 

The demand is there. There is only one thing missing: How to turn this demand into new sources of revenue, and how to mass distribute the live experience.

That’s exactly what Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) looks to do, and now, through ENGINE, it will be covered from every angle.

#2 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 have a prize pool of $100 million for its 2019 World Cup.

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 sponsorship came from McLaren F1.

Series 2 this year offered the biggest esports prize in history: A $1-million contract to the winner - James Baldwin - of the 10-day, 12-race California Dreaming finale.


Source: Turnology

The 6-part documentary following the race will air on Youtube in early 2020.

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 earns massive brand exposure and enhances its position with partners in the racing world, particularly the Formula 1 brand

#3 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 games 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, Millennial 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. 

Torque has just launched an F1 pilot program on Twitch, to blur the lines between real race-car driving and the gaming world for those billions of younger would-be players. 

A 1.758 billion audience may soon look insignificant as this new generation enters the space. 

#4 A Definitive Monopoly on Streaming

The real coup here is Torque’s (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) acquisition of data intelligence company Stream Hatchet

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. 

In other words, it’s become strong player in data to the point that anyone in the industry who wants to grow their game may likely have to go through companies like Torque at some point.

Stream Hatchet is a major player in the space, and will be very competitive when it comes to providing this data.

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. 

Stream Hatchet is a major player in this space and already has years of data in its arsenal.

They’re trying to corner the entire esports market for streaming data …

And now they’re taking on the sports 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 Stream Hatchet can monetize data in a way that is entirely unique in the esports and streaming space.

#5 The Mega Deal Finish Line

Through World’s Fastest Gamer and Eden, Torque has tapped into the Formula 1 market. 

Through Stream Hatchet, it’s created a system that secures it a top slot across multiple industries. 

Through the deal with Rogers, Torque has expanded into one of the most important markets on earth. 

Torque (TSXV:GAME, OTCMKTS:MLLLD) has created a niche at the intersection of multiple massive industries.

Other companies that will play a pivotal role in the new gaming boom:

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.

Kinaxis Inc (TSE:KXS) is a provider of cloud-based subscription software for supply chain operations. The Company offers RapidResponse as a collection of cloud-based configurable applications. The Company's RapidResponse product provides supply chain planning and analytics capabilities that create the foundation for managing multiple, interconnected supply chain management processes, including demand planning, supply planning, inventory management, order fulfillment and capacity planning.

Kinaxis is a growing company, but the company has already carved out a significant piece of the pie. As a leader in its field, Kinaxis is a force which investors are keeping an eye on.

Jackpot Digital Inc. (TSXV:JP) is at the forefront of the digital gaming revolution, providing cutting-edge tech features, industry breaking mini-games, a wide variety of payment optionas and more. Additionally, Jackpot takes its regulatory responsibility seriously, and is fully compliant with all necessary regulations.

In addition to its online offerings, Jackpot Digital also offers a physical kiosk for casinos around the globe, allowing users to refill their accounts, fund gift cards, register for tournaments, and even allow casinos to add customized marketing displays.

Pivot Technology Solutions Inc. (TSX:PTG) focuses on the strategy to acquire and integrate technology solution providers, primarily in North America. It sells and supports integrated computer hardware, software and networking products for business databases, networks and network security systems.

Pivot has seen explosive growth so far, and with the acceleration of the fintech movement and the mobile tech industry, the company is sure to continue drawing investor interest.

Pivot is a standout of the bunch because it is not quite a gaming company, but provides tech that is absolutely essential in dealing with growing regulatory challenges, increasingly complicated IT issues and security of funds.

By. Chris Marsh

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