SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The mobile eSports industry just received a major endorsement this week. Trip Hawkins, the charismatic videogame pioneer who founded Electronic Arts (EA), has joined forces with Skillz to help bring eSports to the world’s most popular and accessible platform.
Hawkins, who will serve as a strategic advisor to Skillz, believes the future success of eSports relies heavily on the availability of competitive play on mobile gaming’s most popular and fastest growing platform.
It is estimated that over 1.5 billion people play video games on mobile devices worldwide. Until recently, however, eSports (defined as competition for cash prizes within video games) have only been available to gamers who compete on consoles or PCs. Skillz, a San Francisco based startup, has developed a proprietary platform that enables eSports tournaments to be played inside of mobile games, creating an entirely new sector of the gaming industry.
As a competitive tournament platform, Skillz can be integrated into any new or existing mobile game, enabling peer-to-peer competition. Though the offering is relatively new, Skillz is already reporting partnerships with over 350 game developers and is operating more than 100,000 tournaments per day across hundreds of mobile titles. The company has said that players competing in Skillz-enabled games are winning more than $10,000 per day on average.
Hawkins, widely revered as one of the gaming industry's most influential luminaries, said that he was drawn to the company’s mission of bringing eSports to everyone, and is excited to “help Skillz emerge as a leader in this promising sector of the gaming industry.” He went on to say, “Skillz enables confident gamers to prove themselves in a more intense arena, paving the way towards gamer professionals that play for spectators."
“Trip brings invaluable insight and experience to our business,” said Andrew Paradise, CEO and founder of Skillz. “To have one of the most respected and revered names in gaming on our team is really a testament to just how big mobile eSports will become. Our intention is to enable competitive tournament play into every mobile game, no matter the genre.”
Players interested in competing can visit skillz.com/play on their mobile device or visit www.skillz.com/games from their PC.
Developers interested in implementing the Skillz SDK can visit: www.skillz.com/developers.
Want to become a Skillz affiliate? Please visit: http://skillz.com/affiliates/
For press materials, please visit: skillz.com/presskit
About Skillz
Skillz is the worldwide leader in mobile eSports. Skillz believes in making mobile games more fun and competitive for players while making game creation more lucrative for developers. Skillz enables new direct revenue for game developers, while enhancing rather than interrupting the gamer experience. Founded in 2012, the company has offices in San Francisco and Boston. Skillz has raised $13.3M in funding led by Atlas Venture and launched its proprietary platform in April 2013. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.
