ELO, a new community building studio led by esports and gaming veterans Roald van Buuren and Wouter Sleijffers, has officially launched.
Based in London, England, ELO said it is focused on putting the community back at the heart of video games by building bridges between game creators and game communities. ELO works with game studios, brands and capital to enhance the out-of-game gaming experience, grow communities and provide real solutions in gaming culture and innovation.
As studios strive to create compelling games for audiences, ELO will work directly with developers and publishers to create and execute community-focused go-to-market strategies that can play a pivotal role in a game’s success after launch.
ELO is built on three core principles: to serve, create, and invest in gaming communities. That’s because ELO believes in the power of the community and that games are made for the players.
To emphasize that, ELO has launched its ‘#PowerToTheGamer’ campaign to reinforce ELO’s belief in the power of the community before, during and after a game’s launch.
“Humans have always craved emotional connections and a sense of belonging,” said Roald van Buuren, cofounder of ELO, in a statement. “And while traditional ways of community are slowly disappearing, gaming has become the new town square for people to share experiences and build memories.”
Van Buuren added, ”But all too often, due to various reasons, the early focus from a studio is fully on the development of the game, rather than how it can engage players. At ELO, our goal is to represent the voice of the community while supporting developers by leading their go-to-market community strategy and execution so the developers can continue to focus on building great games.”
For the past year, ELO has been in stealth mode, working with industry leaders in gaming, and listening to the community, to identify the most important topics and issues facing studios and publishers.
Now, the team is ready to break out and bring its deep expertise in community building to the forefront. All games have the potential to build strong communities but the first step is making sure that a community is prioritized, fostered and given the foundation to continuously grow, the company said.
“Over the past few months, we’ve leveraged our networks to engage with people throughout the industry and from those conversations, one theme was consistent: community participation from origination to maturity has become an afterthought,” said Wouter Sleijffers, co-founder of ELO. ”This is due to various reasons, whether it’s investor pressure or lack of resources. But with ELO, we are providing an alternative and supporting studios and publishers by ensuring the community is getting as much attention as the game itself.”
ELO Group and its subsidiaries are based in the United Kingdom (London) and Qatar (Doha).