North American esports organisation OpTic Gaming has announced the acquisition of streaming engagement and monetisation tool Botisimo.
In June 2021, prior to the merger between Envy Gaming and OpTic which resulted in the current OpTic Gaming brand, the organisation invested in Botisimo through a Series A funding round.
Botisimo is a tool that helps content creators and organisations to help manage and monetise live streams using automation, analytics and stream overlays, among other resources. The tool, which launched in 2020, reports that it is currently being used by over 30,000 streamers across multiple platforms.
The investment by OpTic is seemingly part of a strategy by the organisation to bolster its assets and sources of income, reaching beyond the competitive niche. Over the last couple years, this has started to become a growing trend within the industry.
Some recent examples include 100 Thieves developing its own video game and Brazil’s Los Grandes acquiring the gaming tech company GEMU. Other organisations have begun to diversify their assets by investing in products, such as Spacestation’s energy drink, or in industries like music and fashion.
According to a statement by Adam Rymer, CEO of OpTic Gaming in the official press release, the organisation is aware of such a trend: “We believe a major path forward is in diversifying revenue opportunities and deepening our involvement in streaming, just as we’ve done in live events.
“We look forward to supporting the product development and scalability of what we believe is one of the most powerful tools a creator can use to engage with their audience.”
The founder of Botisimo, Oscar Armstrong, who will join OpTic as its Executive Vice President, Technology, commented: “Gaming and esports content make up a huge percentage of consumed livestreaming content and look forward to adding more and more of the industry’s biggest personalities and popular teams as users.”
Besides scaling the platform’s numbers and reaching new users, plans for Botisimo after the merger were not detailed. Also, financial details on the acquisition were not disclosed.