Rumored deal between Riot and BAMTech heralds gaming’s next gold rush

Last week saw rumors of a potential $200 million deal between Riot Games and MLB’s streaming subsidiary BAMTech. While still a rumor, if true, the deal would be a strong sign of the next great gold rush for game developers: direct viewer monetization.

The game-viewership market is already established and massive (YouTube, Twitch, etc.), but most publishers consider the streaming ecosystem to be a marketing tool. Revenues take a meandering path to game developers in the form of increased awareness leading to sales. Esports, where the game developer pays league/teams/players to promote their product, sits at the starting line of a curve which will see the economics invert.