iWin Chooses Skillz to Power eSports Portfolio
Top game developer forges strategic partnership to release five new titles with the industry leader in mobile eSports
Mar 08, 2016, 09:00 ET
SAN FRANCISCO, March 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced that iWin, a leading cross-platform publisher and distributor of games, has selected Skillz to power its forthcoming eSports portfolio. As part of the partnership, iWin has disclosed plans to release five new mobile eSports titles. The company plans to use the Skillz Tournament Management System (TMS) as the competitive backend for all five games.
"eSports are all about scale and player liquidity, so you have to partner with the biggest and best," said CJ Wolf, CEO of iWin. "As the largest eSports infrastructure company, Skillz was the obvious choice for us as we launch our eSports portfolio. From fraud and cheating detection to player matching and analytics, Skillz has built a world-class solution."
The launch of iWin's eSports portfolio comes in the midst of tremendous industry growth. This is the third consecutive year of over 100% growth for eSports, and the industry is expected to exceed $4 billion in annual revenue by 2018. By comparison, the National Hockey League (NHL) generates roughly $3.9 billion in annual revenue.
As the most popular gaming platform in history with over 2.1 billion daily gamers, mobile has become a major driver for the recent growth of eSports. In 2013, mobile gamers earned less than 1% of all eSports prizes. Just two years later, in 2015, Skillz gamers earned 20% of the $80,000,000 awarded across all eSports.
iWin was founded in 2001, and boasts a dynamic team of gaming industry veterans, including former employees of Electronic Arts, Atari, SEGA, Zynga, Sony and GREE. The company has created award-winning games including Jewel Quest, Bubble Town and Jewel Quest Mysteries, and has published well-known licensed IP like Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100. iWin also provides a full suite of gaming solutions to Pogo, Yahoo, MSN and AT&T.
"iWin has an impressive track record in the gaming industry and we're thrilled to power their eSports initiative," said Andrew Paradise, founder and CEO of Skillz. "While mobile gaming already represents more than 20% of all eSports prizes, there are still many popular eSports without a major mobile success. Studios like iWin are going to change that."
iWin's first eSports title is based on the hit franchise Cubis, one of the most popular online games with over 20 million players worldwide. Players interested in competing can visit www.skillz.com on their mobile device.
Developers interested in implementing the Skillz Tournament Management System can visit www.skillz.com/developers or email [email protected].
About Skillz
Skillz is the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, having hosted more than 70 million tournaments for players in over 180 countries. Skillz allows game developers to seamlessly integrate eSports competitions into any mobile game, making eSports accessible to the world's 2.1 billion mobile gamers. As the eSports provider for over 1,600 game studios, Skillz accounted for more than 20% of all eSports prizes awarded in 2015. Founded in 2012, Skillz has offices in San Francisco and Boston and has raised over $28 million in funding from investors including the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Mets. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.
Press Contact
Roxie Bostwick
Skillz, Inc.
[email protected]
SOURCE Skillz