How MTG became the leading brand in e-sports
The global gaming industry was estimated to be worth around $159bn in 2020, and MTG are right at the forefront of that, writes Martin Friel
The traditional view of gamers is overweight, pasty-faced basement dwellers frantically blasting away with their cheese puff-stained fingers, powered by nothing more than endless cans of Monster.
But like all stereotypes, there’s no truth in this view. The reality is that gaming has long since emerged from the basement and gone mainstream.
The global gaming industry was estimated to be worth around $159bn (£120bn) in 2020, a 9.3 per cent increase on the previous year with projections suggesting that by 2025, it will be worth as much as $268bn.
But it’s not just the size of the industry that may cause surprise. The demographics of gamers could not be more different to the stereotype. Across Europe, it is estimated that 50% of the population aged between six and 64 play video games, with women making up 47% of all European gamers.
It is becoming so mainstream that one of the world’s largest gaming and e-sports companies, Stockholm-based MTG, is banking on gaming becoming the main form of entertainment for all age groups in the not too distant future.
Led by president and CEO Maria Redin, MTG is the leading brand in e-sports (competitive and league-based gaming) and an emerging power in the mobile gaming world. And MTG’s mission to disrupt the world of entertainment is nothing new, as Redin explains.
It’s not just entertainment because many of the games also have a social and community feature. Our job is to make them relevant and I am certain that this is the new form of entertainment
“Traditionally we were a Swedish TV company and we filled the channels with US shows, and we disrupted a lot of existing monopolies. But we have evolved and in 2015 we launched the gaming division, which at the time we called MTGX,” she says.
“We did it to disrupt ourselves. If people are going outside traditional broadcasting, where are they going? We started the diversification by taking on a betting company (since sold) and that set in place our buy-and-build strategy.”
That buy-and-build strategy has seen it make five key acquisitions in recent years, bringing a spread of styles, geographic locations and demographics to their gaming portfolio.
“Our strategy is to buy and then grow in the e-sports and gaming space. Those are the areas where you will pick up those customers who are moving away from traditional media,” says Redin.
But they are not alone in their appetite to acquire. Redin explains there is a quite a strong consolidation trend emerging in the gaming sector and they are all looking for two things – diversification of the game portfolio and reaching new audiences.
“As you diversify, you discover more revenue streams. Traditionally, we have been focused on in-app purchases but with more game genres being acquired and developed, we are adding advertising and premium features revenue,” she says.
The business is split into two divisions – e-sports, which accounts for one-third of revenues, and game publishing which accounts for the remainder – and while the pandemic has had a significant impact on e-sports revenues, mobile gaming has seen a surge in the same period. According to one estimate, the first three months of 2020 were the biggest quarter for mobile game downloading ever, with more than 13 billion game installations taking place.
It is this staggering and seemingly ongoing growth that Redin and MTG are banking on to power their disruption of the world of entertainment. These kinds of numbers start to give some weight to Redin’s belief that gaming will one day soon become the predominant form of entertainment for most of us.
“The gaming market will continue to evolve but will increase in importance,” she says, pointing out how she observes the way her kids blend gaming with their social interactions.
“It’s not just entertainment because many of the games also have a social and community feature. Our job is to make them relevant and I am certain that this is the new form of entertainment.”
While she says she has never felt judged or measured by her gender, she does concede that the industry is still very male-dominated, but she wants to change that.
“I always measure people on performance and always believe that I have been treated in the same way. Of course, I can see there are more males in the industry, but we need to work on that and create more diversity in our businesses.”
She says that while she doesn’t see herself as a role model per se, she does hope that her experience and her profile can inspire other women to consider a career in the world of gaming, a world where women make up roughly half of all users.
“As a leader, I need to make sure we find talent that looks different to what we look like. And it’s not just about gender – it’s about all types of diversity,” she says.
This diversity will be crucial if MTG is to succeed in its global ambitions, as in order to appeal to as wide a demographic as possible, the company and the games it produces have to reflect the diversity of users out there.
But the future success of gaming is not only dependent upon recognising and catering to the need for greater diversity. Maria is looking to data and blockchain to help plot out the future of MTG.
“People underestimate the amount of data we use. Gaming is about two things – one is the game creation and then the other part is being guided by the data. How are players using it and how can we make it more exciting for them?
“But there are macro trends at play too. The rollout of 5G can help us on the gaming side with faster data which will create more opportunities and higher conversion rates. The other one is blockchain – how will that change the development of new games with players buying tokens and re-selling them? We are observing and testing all of that,” she says.
While politicians and the nation’s worry-warts have long concerned themselves with the supposedly negative impact of gaming on the nation’s youth, gaming itself has quietly worked its way through the generations and other demographics to find itself sitting on the precipice of delivering a genuine revolution in entertainment.
Gaming isn’t about to emerge from the basement to go mainstream. That has long since been the case, and if Maria and MTG deliver on their ambitions, it won’t be too long before we find ourselves turning to our games before the TV as a way to relax and unwind.
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