Following Azubu’s acquisition of Hitbox back in January, the company has now announced a relaunch as Smashcast. The new platform can be found at www.smashcast.tv.
All traffic that would previously otherwise be directed to Hitbox or Azubu will now go straight to Smashcast. Additionally, there’s a new mobile application and those with an existing application will have it reset to the updated company name and feature set.
One of the new features includes the Hype-O-Meter, intended to increase viewer engagement and tightly couple the broadcaster-to-viewer connection.
“We’re excited to announce the new company name and brand resulting from the merger of Hitbox and Azubu,” said Mike McGarvey, CEO of Smashcast. “Smashcast will launch with a new hype feature for viewer engagement which represents just the first step in our long-term vision to create the best broadcaster-to-viewer experience in the world of esports and competitive gaming.”
The Company also announced that it has launched a 4K-ready content production studio in Vienna, Austria. It shows the company means business as it looks to fully integrate itself into the esports world.
“The new Vienna production facility is a key next step for us in ensuring the quality of support we provide our broadcasting and publishing partners,” commented Martin Klimscha, European Managing Director. “We wanted specifically to ensure that we are differentiated from our competitors not only from our platform and technology excellence, which includes full 4K and 360 VR support, but from the quality of streaming content as well.”
According to the press release, advertising currently represents 70% of revenue, with subscriptions and donations at 15%. The Company is targeting new products in affiliate marketing, interactive sponsor-based advertising, virtual goods sales, sponsorships and in-game betting to close the gap in ARPU between the esports market and other, more traditional, professional sporting businesses around the world.
The company is targeting significant growth in active viewership via a combination of 1) Improved broadcaster-to-viewer user experience; 2) High-quality content produced in-house; and 3) Differentiated, lowest-cost technology solutions.
Esports Insider says: Azubu has been a fairly controversial figure in the esports company. Alas, two companies now join forces and they’ve relaunched under a new swish looking platform. It’ll be interesting to see if thy can truly rival the likes of Twitch.
