Game publisher Hi-Rez Studios and esports team organization World Esports Association (WESA) announced that Facebook will be the exclusive livestreaming partner for the new Paladins Premier League.
The move takes Facebook further into esports, which is on its way to becoming a $1.5 billion industry by 2020, according to market researcher Newzoo. The Paladins esports league will launch in the fall with 10 teams from WESA, and it will give amateur players a path to compete at a professional level through Facebook Groups. This is one of Facebook’s deepest dives yet into organized esports. Every esports observer has said that ultimately, broadcast revenues will generate the most revenue for esports, as it does with traditional sports leagues.
The Paladins Premier League is the newly-established, official esports league of Hi-Rez Studios’ first-person shooter game Paladins, which has more than 15 million players worldwide. Professional players in the league will earn a minimum salary and teams will participate in revenue sharing of league profits.
“Hi-Rez Studios has a long history in esports, and we’re thrilled to work with Facebook on this next chapter of professional Paladins play,” said Todd Harris, cofounder of Hi-Rez Studios, in a statement. “We’ve seen a worldwide appetite to play Paladins competitively, and we’re excited to share our team shooter with millions of gamers on Facebook. With Facebook’s global reach and community building tools, we expect Paladins esports to continue its explosive growth on both a grassroots community level and at the highest tier of play in the Paladins Premier League.”
The Paladins community will enjoy top-tier gameplay, quality live coverage and community-based features that encourage interaction and bring players closer together. A weekly Paladins Esports Show on Watch, Facebook’s new platform for shows, will bring news, insights and analysis of the competitive scene.
“We are thrilled that Facebook has joined us as we work with Hi-Rez and the WESA teams to grow the Paladins Premier League into the world-class competition that the game deserves,” said Ken Hershman, executive chairman and commissioner of WESA, in a statement. “We look forward to working together with Facebook on new and exciting ways to grow and engage with this exciting community.”
It’s a nice win for Facebook, but it has a ways to go to catch up with livestreaming giants like Amazon’s Twitch and YouTube. It certainly looks like esports is a new battleground among these titans.
“Every day, through Paladins Global Series, fans around the world are connecting in meaningful ways through Facebook Groups,” said Leo Olebe, director of global games partnerships at Facebook, in a statement. “We are excited to bring things full circle by making Facebook the home for professional Paladins Premier League esports content too. Hi-Rez’s use of Facebook to discover new player talent and elevate players to a professional stage is a great fit for the community-driven platform we’re building for the gaming video ecosystem.”
Paladins Premier League livestreams will kick off in fall 2017 on Facebook.
The PC Gaming channel is presented by Intel®‘s Game Dev program.
Subscribe to the PC Gaming channel
Thanks for your interest in the PC Gaming channel
Select the products you would like to subscribe to:
Country required
Subscribe
Facebook’s original programming debuts to fill massive reality TV void
If you wake up every morning believing the world would be a better place with more reality TV shows, then Facebook has wonderful news for you.
The social networking company has released its first two original video programs: Ball in the Family and Virtually Dating.
“I like the way my hand goes through your entire neck,” says Bachelor Number One to open the creepy Virtually Dating. “This is like porn music. What are you guys trying to make us do here?”
Later, he adds, “This is kinda creepy.”
“It’s like a sad dance,” his date replies.
The fork you will need to stab your eyes out after watching is apparently sold separately.
I am old enough to remember when a company like Netflix launched its original programming by creating actual original programming that was actually great, with House of Cards. Though after five seasons, frankly, I am now wishing someone would do to the series what Claire Underwood did to Tom Yates this season.
But we live in a reality TV world, with a reality TV president. So it seems otherwise sane companies like Apple feel totally okay investing their money in nausea-inducing reality programming.
And so cometh Facebook.
Following the debut of Virtually Dating on Wednesday, today we have the first two episodes of Ball in the Family. The drama, such as it is, follows the story of former NBA player LaVar Ball, who has three extremely talented sons aiming to follow in dad’s footsteps to play pro ball. Oldest, Lonzo, is a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers. The second, LiAngelo, is a UCLA freshman. The third, LaMelo, is still in high school.
Ball also owns an apparel company called Big Baller. The first episode opens with the three sons wearing Big Baller clothing. So, basically, the series can be seen as a gigantic ad campaign paid for by Facebook.
Shameless marketing aside, the first two episodes follow the reality TV series template. Lots of fast cuts. People talking to the camera. Attempts at provocative statements. Patriarch Ball yelling about how great he is and how hot his wife is, and the sons telling us that we don’t really know their dad. Etc., etc., etc.
The most notable thing about it appears to be the fact that it only appears on Facebook, which hopes to use this to drive interest in its video-watching service, Watch, which is currently in limited rollout. The big question will be whether the platform drives more discovery and sharing of such shows.
For instance, we can embed an episode like this to give it even more free exposure:
Facebook’s Oculus patents lightweight smart glasses
Facebook-owned Oculus has patented a lightweight smart glasses concept that would be able to “augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements.”
The patent shows a pair of glasses that look like basic shades, which would force the electronics to be packed in tightly, similar to the first version of Google Glass. Instead of having to look up to see the augmentation, Oculus plans to use all the glass as a display.
See Also: Facebook finally adds virtual reality app to the social network
Three members of the advanced research division at Oculus, including one that previously worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens, published the patent application, according to Business Insider.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the ‘end goal’ for AR is lightweight glasses at the company’s developer conference last year. That goal may be a few years away from reality, with Oculus chief scientist, Michael Abrash, recently saying that AR glasses won’t replace smartphones until 2022.
Four of the five major U.S. tech companies are working on smart glasses. Apple patented a design similar to Oculus that allows mixed reality and content layered on-top of real world environments; Microsoft is building the more expensive HoloLens; and Google has Glass.
Amazon is the only one that has not shown interest, more focused on quirky ways for drones to fly around cities.
Between now and the augmented future, Oculus is expected to launch a whole range of virtual reality headsets for all types of consumers. A sub-$500 standalone headset could launch before the end of the year, and mobile headsets are reportedly in the pipeline.
Wargaming will stream 1,000 hours of World of Tanks gameplay on Facebook Live
World of Tanks is rolling out on your newsfeed. Wargaming is partnering with Facebook to stream over 1,000 hours of video centered on its popular take on online shooters. In addition to livestreams of gameplay, this deal includes historical content, interviews with players, and coverage of esports events, such as the World of Tanks regional and final tournaments.
Leo Olebe, director of global games partnerships at Facebook, says that online games like World of Tanks also attract a lot of engagement from fans on social media. Though it might seem like a niche game, it has a huge following — last year, around 140 million players all over the world were playing it on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
“There’s a few factors that make Wargaming a really good fit for the gaming video ecosystem we’re trying to build on Facebook,” said Leo Olebe in an email. “First, it always comes down to the fans — Wargaming’s community is truly global with a large contingent coming from Europe, and that connects really well to the global audience of gamers we have on Facebook.”
Another factor, according to Olebe, is Wargaming’s existing efforts to engage fans through video. The developer is already active on the popular livestreaming platform Twitch, where it has over 65,000 followers. Its YouTube series Inside the Chieftain’s Hatch stars its director of militeria relations Nicholas Moran, who explains the engineering of actual tanks. Wargaming prides itself on the historical accuracy in World of Tanks, and it seems that its fans are equally enthusiastic.
Gaming-related videos are slated to generate $4.6 billion this year with an audience of 665 million. Facebook has been courting these viewers with its latest initiatives, teaming up with ESL to livestream esports events. And its partnership with Blizzard Entertainment enabled players stream games like Overwatch directly from the Battle.net online platform.
“We’ve seen a really strong response across the board from viewers of gaming video, and it spans a wide range of content from live to on-demand,” said Olebe. “While our initial results are encouraging, [we’re in the] early days for us on the gaming-video front. We are always looking to learn and try new things and team up with partners that take a similar philosophy.”
Phone Tricks 