Esports Entertainment Group, Inc., an esports entertainment and online gambling company, today announced the closing of its acquisition of Helix eSports LLC (“Helix eSports”) and ggCircuit LLC (“ggCircuit”).
“With the completed acquisition of Helix and ggCircuit, we have created the most diversified, US-listed esports entertainment asset in the entire ecosystem,” stated Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group.
“These acquisitions significantly strengthen our Play, Watch, Bet Strategy, adding state-of-the-art esports entertainment centres, an esports-focused vertical enterprise software business, a best-in-class esports analytics platform, and a player-vs-player skill-based wagering platform to our diversified asset base. Together with what we have already built, Esports Entertainment Group has unparalleled scale, and we are on our way to becoming a global industry leader.”
ggCircuit is a B2B software company that provides cloud-based management for LAN centres, a tournament platform, and integrated wallet/point-of-sale solutions for enterprise customers. ggCircuit has over 1,000 connected locations and has worked with enterprises such as GameStop, Dell, Best Buy and Lenovo as well as universities such as Ohio State, Syracuse and North Carolina. Their ggLeap product has over 60 million hours of usage by over two million unique gamers on tens of thousands of public gaming screens inside centres worldwide.
Helix eSports owns five esports centres, including two of the five largest centres in the US, where they deliver world-class customer service, esports programming and gaming infrastructure. Helix offers a variety of experiences including casual play, competitive tournaments, STEM programming, high school leagues, large groups and esports bootcamps all with the goal of levelling the playing field in esports and providing equitable access to technology. Their centers have become the destination for social and competitive gamers alike with monthly tournaments and unique experiences.
Helix also owns Genji Analytics (“Genji”), an esports-proven, publisher-trusted analytics provider. Using sophisticated computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning tools, Genji delivers cutting-edge broadcast optimization and talent scouting analytics. Genji works with leading esports publishers and sports leagues, such as FIFA and the NBA 2K League, to power activities like combines, drafts and data-driven business decisions. Genji has also launched products into Helix eSports Centers that create customized tournament experiences, leveraging both idle computing capacity and unique proprietary data sources. Revenue streams include platform sales to publishers and leagues with plans to expand to all competitive players looking to enhance their gameplay through analysis, fair competition, and roster optimization.
The acquisition also includes LANduel, Helix’s proprietary player-vs-player wagering platform, built-in Unity, that allows for skill-based wagering on third-party video games. LANduel’s consumer-facing application enforces strict four-factor authentication to ensure fair play and ID verification. LANduel also holds close relationships with several major game publishers to ensure events and wagering follow community guidelines. LANduel is currently working alongside the New Jersey Department of Gaming Enforcement on a pilot program. Once the model is proven at the Helix eSports locations, LANduel can easily be scaled to other centres throughout the US across the ggCircuit network, and eventually into the homes of gamers through ggCircuit’s proprietary at-home product suite.